Ted Rogers School of Management Strategic Plan 2025-2030
This spring, the Ted Rogers School launched its Strategic Plan for 2025-2030. The plan is a blueprint for growth, building on our strengths and developing new streams of expertise to shape the future of business education and prepare the next generation of business leaders. Our faculty and staff attended town halls, heard the proposed content and provided feedback that was fundamental to developing this Strategic Plan, which is a roadmap to help us deliver on our mission and vision.
In this issue
Celebrating Advisory Council Members
The G. Raymond Chang Outstanding Volunteer Awards
The G. Raymond Chang Outstanding Volunteer Awards celebrate the exemplary generosity of alumni and friends to Toronto Metropolitan University, with 34 award recipients in 2025. This year’s ceremony honoured three Ted Rogers School Advisory Council members: James Desmoulin (Business Management ’95), member of the Entrepreneurship Advisory Council, Akil Bishop (Information Technology Management ’02), member of the MBA Advisory Council, and Thomas Turner, member of the Sales Leadership Program Advisory Council. Join us in congratulating them for their generous efforts and many contributions!
James Desmoulin Business Management ’95
Akil Bishop Information Technology Management ’02
Thomas Turner Sales Leadership Program Advisory Council
Full circle impact: Danny Su and TMARE launch new scholarship to uplift TMU’s future leaders
We’re excited to announce the launch of the TMARE Real Estate Leadership Award, generously established by Danny Su (Real Estate Management ’18), Vice President of Value and Risk Advisory, JLL and member of the Real Estate Program Advisory Council, in collaboration with the Toronto Metropolitan Alumni in Real Estate (TMARE) alumni group. This initiative recognizes students who not only excel academically, but also demonstrate leadership and community involvement. Through private contributions and fundraising led by TMARE, the Real Estate Leadership Award is guaranteed for the next five years. Your support can help to sustain and expand this scholarship in the future, empowering the next generation of real estate leaders.
Ted Rogers School is proud to announce and celebrate the 2025 Top Co-op Employers for their unwavering support of student success. These awards spotlight the remarkable companies that have gone above and beyond to empower Ted Rogers Co-op students with real-world, career-defining opportunities.
By providing meaningful experiential learning opportunities, these employers are not only shaping careers—they’re actively supporting the Ted Rogers School’s mission to create an inclusive and collaborative community dedicated to elevating business and society.
Ten Ted Rogers School students had the opportunity of a lifetime this summer when they presented their business ideas at the 2025 World Expo in Osaka, Japan.
The students travelled to Tokyo and Osaka for DMZ Japan’s Global Entrepreneurship Exchange Program. Over the week-long program, they partnered with students from Japan’s Chiba University to exchange knowledge and pitch their business idea and product NAMI, a curated wellness experience that could help transform Japan’s sake industry on a global scale. The Global Entrepreneurship Exchange Program was hosted by DMZ Japan in collaboration with TMU and Chiba University and with support from Global Affairs Canada.
The Ted Rogers MBA has been named a Tier 1 Green MBA by the editors of CEO Magazine. As one of only four Canadian MBA programs included in this international list, the Ted Rogers MBA was selected based on its percentage of core courses focused on ethical, social and environmental impact, as well as experiential learning opportunities, university-wide sustainability initiatives, faculty research, delivery methods and accreditation.
“This year’s Green MBA Rankings showcase business schools that are championing sustainable business practices and, in so doing, developing responsible leaders capable of driving meaningful change,” the magazine said.
This past spring, Canada’s premier SportsTech accelerator, Future of Sport Lab (FSL) announced its selection of ten innovative startups for its acclaimed incubator program. The 2025 cohort features a diverse range of ventures spanning AI, athlete training, fan engagement, wearable technology and athlete wellness — including several Canadian-founded companies and a startup led by former NHL star Mike Weaver and Canadian Olympian Jill Moffatt.
The corporate trend of retreating from diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, evidenced by recent decisions by Google and Home Depot to withdraw as sponsors from this year’s Toronto Pride, reflect a broader, worrying shift in corporate approaches to social responsibility. Alison Kemper, Associate Professor, Entrepreneurship and Strategy at the Ted Rogers School, weighs in on this emerging trend, which she argues is influenced by changing political climates and business considerations.
Recent policy developments, Kemper says, include executive orders to regress on federal DEI programs and to increase legal scrutiny of corporate diversity initiatives. The article analyzes more on the impacts of social and environmental issues on business strategies, and their rollbacks on the rights of sexual minorities and other marginalized groups.
Alumni spotlight
Ted Rogers School’s 2025 Rising Stars
Ted Rogers School graduates Graham Beer (MA-MBA ’24), Belinda Bonsu (Human Resources Management ’15), Nella Brodett (Law and Business ’15), Karim Mohammadi (Hospitality and Tourism Management ’17), Danny Su (Real Estate Management ’18), and Dakota Whyte (MBA ’24) have been named among TMU’s Rising Stars for 2025, a recognition celebrating recent alumni who are setting new standards in leadership, innovation and service. Honoured as Innovators, Changemakers, Emerging Leaders and Community Builders, these alumni are reshaping their industries and driving meaningful change. Read more about Bonsu, Brodett and Whyte and their stories in this Q & A, where they reflect on their time at the school and discuss lessons from their career path.
Alexis Stackhouse (MBA ’23) launched Global Elevation Network (GEN), a platform that curates in-person experiences that use technology in creative ways to offer more authentic, meaningful paths to connection.
Initially conceptualized as her MBA Capstone Project, Stackhouse developed GEN into a start-up after being inspired in large part by the community building and event organizing she did through the Black Business Graduate Students Association (BBGSA) at the Ted Rogers School, where she served as Vice-President.
Faculty and research updates
Congratulations to our Faculty Members
Promoted to Full Professor
Dr. Rupa Banerjee, Human Resources Management & Organizational Behaviour
Over the summer, the Government of Canada announced new funding to support the research of 70 faculty experts from TMU. Congratulations to our faculty members who received Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Discovery Grants and Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) grants to support their following innovative projects:
2025 NSERC Discovery Grant
Dr. Anatoliy Gruzd – "A Stable Diffusion? – Analyzing the Impacts of Generative AI on the Production and Consumption of Visual Content on Social Media"
Dr. Shengkun Xie – "Interpretable and Explainable Machine Learning Techniques for Automobile Statistical Plan Data"
Dr. Xingwei (Nancy) Yang – "A Multi-Method Approach to Capturing Social Influences and Dynamics in Social Networks"
Dr. Morteza Zihayat – "Fair and Adaptive Search in Dynamic Attributed Graphs"
2025 SSHRC Insight Development Grants
Dr. Mehak Bharti – "Mind Over Markdowns: How Mindfulness Counters the Allure of Discounts"
Dr. Peter Fisher – "Toward a Better Understanding of the Design of Forced-Choice Personality Assessments: Putting the Theory to the Test"
Dr. Anatoliy Gruzd – "Moderating the Machine: The Role of Soft Moderation in AI-Generated Content on Social Media"
Dr. Atefeh (Atty) Mashatan – "From firm-internal to firm-external cybersecurity coopetition: Paving the way for organizational cyber-resilience"
Dr. Laleh Samarbakhsh – "Measuring climate uncertainty cost for Canadian insurance firms"
Dr. Vessela Stamenova – "The Value Proposition for payers and users of Generative AI Message Drafting in Healthcare: A Mixed-Methods Study"
Dr. Xingwei (Nancy) Yang – "Support Beyond Boundaries: Using Online Groups to Fight Mental Illness"
Dr. Aoran Zhang – "The Impact of Political Ideology on Capital Market: Does right-wing populism leaning media affect Initial Public Offerings?"
In memoriam
Wayne McFarlane
The Ted Rogers School community has lost one of its best friends; Wayne McFarlane passed away on Friday, January 31. He was 78. For 15 years, Wayne served as Executive in Residence at the Ted Rogers School, a role he generously used to help advance the careers of MBA students. Whether it was making himself available for practice job interviews or opening his expansive network of contacts to help students make connections, providing words of encouragement to anyone who faced setbacks or celebrating someone else’s achievements, Wayne was a tireless champion of the Ted Rogers School and the people who learn and work there.
“Wayne brought a jolt of joyous energy every time he entered our building,” said Dean Cynthia Holmes. “His commitment to helping others and his belief in the value of what our graduates have to offer was boundless. He was a vibrant example of how a single person can make a difference for others in ways both great and small.”
Wayne was instrumental in establishing what we now call the Business Career Hub, which supports Ted Rogers School students to be job-ready. He helped create the school’s Top 200 Program and helped establish the School of Accounting and Finance and MBA Advisory Councils.
Wayne’s family has requested that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Wayne McFarlane Scholarship at the Ted Rogers School.
Our hearts go out to the family and friends of Wayne - he was a dear friend to the Ted Rogers School, and he will be deeply missed by all those whose lives he touched.
Participate
Dean's Circle
As an Advisory Council member, your leadership and influence have already shaped the futures of our 12,000+ students at the Ted Rogers School. Yet, significant challenges remain — especially for students facing financial barriers.
To continue driving impactful change, we invite you to join the Dean’s Circle. With a contribution of $85 a month, you can provide essential support in areas such as food security, emergency relief and experiential learning. Your commitment can make the difference between a student merely getting by and truly thriving.
We motivate our students to get involved, lead, compete and stand out with employers. But sometimes without support, even the most promising students are forced to sit out. Consider supporting the Boardroom Bound Fund, and help our students show up with confidence and seize the opportunities that will define their future. Together we can make sure that possibility doesn’t feel out of reach. Learn more about the impact you can make.
The Ted Rogers School is home to Canada’s largest business co-operative education program with 3,000+ student participants. Designed in collaboration with industry leaders, the program ensures students are equipped with the skills to meet the changing needs of today’s business world.
On average, students who participate in the Ted Rogers Co-op program earn nearly $56,000 over a 16-month work term. In the past eight years, the program has, through its employers, helped students earn $188 million.
If you are interested in hiring Ted Rogers School Co-op students at your organization, please read more about the process and benefits.
► We welcome your feedback, suggestions and questions. Please email Habibah Haque, External Relations and Inclusion Coordinator at habibah.h@torontomu.ca.
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In April 2022, Ryerson University announced our new name – Toronto Metropolitan University – which will be implemented in a phased approach. Learn more about our next chapter.
Ted Rogers School’s 2025 Rising Stars 
