Location: SSB W256, Schulich School of Business
Day: Tuesday, March 5
Time: 7:00-8:00 PM

Guest Speaker: Angie Draskovic, Founder and CEO, Zoe Alliance

Angie is an accomplished executive, whose experience comprises a unique blend of 25 years of business and non-profit leadership in corporate and entrepreneurial settings. As a senior executive in telecommunications, she established footholds for start-up businesses in competitive markets, implemented new business models for established businesses and led teams to achieve unprecedented sales results of over US$700 million.

Most recently, Angie has invested the past 5 years in the development of ZOË Alliance, a for profit social purpose business that harnesses corporate spending to help developing global communities grow their economies resulting in an innovative and sustainable approach to poverty alleviation and exclusion. In 2012, Angie was invited to speak at TEDxToronto to share the broader concept of Social Sourcing.  Her vision is of a society that intentionally chooses to purchase up to 10% of planned spending from companies that employ people living in poverty, adults with disabilities or other social enterprises.

Having dedicated herself to life long advocacy for people in developing communities, she volunteers as a board member and advisor for several charitable organizations. When she is not working or volunteering, Angie enjoys learning Spanish, thought provoking books, and long hikes with her husband of 25 years and their two children.

Sustainable Value Creation Speaker Series

Location: SSB W256, Schulich School of Business
Day: Tuesday, February 26 (Note new date)
Time: 7:00-8:00 PM

Guest Speaker: Hany Assaad, Co-Founder of Avanz Capital

Hany  is a respected senior investment and finance professional with over 26 years of experience, including serving as CIO in IFC’s Private Equity Funds Group. He was with the IFC for over 20 years including leading their Private Equity Funds Group and managing IFC's investments in clean energy, extractive industries, infrastructure and healthcare. He held various positions across IFC with regional responsibilities in companies, financial institutions and funds covering the Middle East & North Africa, South & Southeast Asia and Emerging Europe, with transactional experience in Latin America and Africa.

Hany was also right-hand-man to James Wolfensohn when he was president
of the World Bank. He is a co-founder of Avanz Capital, his own private equity firm focusing on emerging markets, where he is Chief Portfolio, Risk & Compliance Officer managing the sourcing, screening and negotiating of investments, as well as risk management.  http://www.avanzcapital.com/

Hany will talk about impact investing for poverty alleviation and
sustainable development.

Sustainable Value Creation Speaker Series

Location: SSB W256, Schulich School of Business
Day: Tuesday, February 5
Time: 7:00-8:00 PM

Guest Speaker: Dr. Ken Simiyu, Program Officer, Grand Challenges Canada

Ken Simiyu is a Program Officer at Grand Challenges Canada. He leads the Stars in Global Health program that is designed to enable innovators in low- and lower-middle-income countries and Canada to develop their bold ideas with big impact to improve global health conditions. Dr. Simiyu also co-leads the Point-of-Care Diagnostics portfolio, which is a partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation designed to create a new class of point-of-care diagnostics that will be easy to use, low-cost, multiplexed and able to assess disease stage and provide information on prognosis. In addition, he supports the development and implementation of other Grand Challenges Canada initiatives.

Before joining Grand Challenges Canada, Dr. Simiyu provided marketing research and business development expertise to the Kenyan government, the Kenyan Trypanosomiasis Research Institute and international pharmaceutical companies based in Nairobi,Kenya. In Washington,DC, Dr. Simiyu worked with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) as a health policy consultant.

Dr. Simiyu completed his PhD at the Institute of Medical Sciences,University of Toronto, where he focused on health innovation in developing countries. Specifically he focused on identifying health technologies developed in Africa and developing pathways to commercialize them, including business innovation. His research interests focus broadly on how technologies can move from the “lab to village”. Dr. Simiyu received a Bachelors degree in Veterinary Medicine and Master’s degrees in Veterinary Public Health and Business Administration from the University of Nairobi, Kenya, and completed a Masters in Public Health degree at George Washington University,Washington, DC.

Sustainable Value Creation Speaker Series

IRIS is hosting its 4^th Annual Earth Hour Event in collaboration with human rights and environmental groups from both Keele and Glendon Campus. Join us Wednesday, March 20^th for an evening filled with food, poetry, music and games. The event kicks off near the sacred fire by Stong Pond with an opening ceremony from Professor Robin Cavanagh. Following this, we will take a short walk into Michelangelo's Restaurant, located in the basement of the Atkinson Building. Make sure to grab a good seat to hear an invigorating presentation by Brad as well as sustainability-related poetry readings from an array of talent! But don't think this event is just a show! We have fun games and lantern-making workshops planned to make sure you're energized while we keep the lights off. Add a Sustainability Club Fair, acoustic music and dinner into the mix and you have the ingredients for an unforgettable night! And did we mention it's all FREE?!

Earth Hour began in 2006 when the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in Sydney, Australia introduced the plan to turn off lights for an hour to take a stand against climate change. Since 2008, Earth Hour has become an international event; Toronto was the first city outside of Sydney to adopt Earth Hour! Earth Hour is a day of celebration and recognition for greater innovation in sustainability. We welcome you to join our Earth Hour event and raise the standard of action against climate change here at York University.

Outcome: Last year, over 150 students came out to the Earth Hour event to participate and increase their awareness about building a sustainable earth! Will you be there with us this year?

You are invited to come and hear , Nadine Gudz, Director, Sustainability Strategy at Interface speak to us about Interface's incredible and continuing journey to becoming the first sustainable industrial company in the world ("Mission Zero™"). Interface is a pioneer in sustainable business and has had significant impact on the practices of many other companies.

Nadine Gudz is an accomplished speaker and has served as the Director, Sustainability Strategy, at Interface since December 2007. In this position, she has leveraged and expanded Interface's leadership position in order to advance the company’s Mission Zero™. She also serves as Board Director at Rethink Sustainability, a hub for Senior Leaders who want to optimize sustainability & innovation for business success.

Attendance for the event is limited, and we ask you to register at: http://forms.schulich.yorku.ca/sustainabilityspeakerseries2

We look forward to seeing you on Jan 22.

An initiative of the Work in a Warming World Research Programme.

When: Friday, January 25, 2013, 5:30-7:30pm

Where: Victoria College at University of Toronto, Alumni Hall. 91 Charles St. West. Toronto, On, M5S 1K7

Join us for an early evening Panel of leading labour environmentalists and activist intellectuals to discuss the hard challenges and creative strategies for labour leadership on global warming.

Speakers:

Karen Hawley, Environmental researcher and educator (Ottawa)

Donald Lafleur, 4th Vice-President, Canadian Union of Postalworkers (Ottawa)

Isabelle Ménard, conseillère syndicale--environnement Confédération des syndicats nationaux (Montréal)

Andrea Peart, National Representative, Health, Safety and Environment, Canadian Labour Congress (Ottawa)

Joe Uehlein, Director, Labor Network for Sustainability (Washington, D.C.)

Across the planet, the world is browning, not greening. Greenhouse gas emissions continue to grow and grow, and strategies for slowing global warming remain ineffective.

The world of work is a major producer of GHGs. But can work also be a leading site for reducing greenhouse gasses? Can workers and their unions lead the struggle to slow global warming? The question is central to decent work in the 21st century.

Work in a Warming World (W3) is a community-university research initiative of the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada. W3’s Public Panels have been held in Fredericton, Vancouver, and Toronto, in 2010, 2011 and 2012.

This year, W3’s International Panel brings together labour environmentalists and academics from Canada and the US to discuss the hard issues that unions face, and to share the strategies that work. The hard issues have, to date, kept unions from playing the major role they can and must play in the struggle to slow global warming. Labour’s strategic creativity, however, is less well-known.

The Panel is free, but registration is essential. Seating is limited.

Please click here to register.

Don’t miss the NMA’s premier event of the year! The 2013 Cross Sector Collaboration Conference will explore collaborative action across public, private and non-profit sectors to scale solutions capable of addressing persistent social challenges.

Breakout Session will feature IRIS Projects

The Schulich Nonprofit Management Association is hosting the 2013 Cross Sector Collaboration Conference on Friday, February 1st. This conference will explore collaborative action across public, private and non-profit sectors to scale solutions capable of addressing persistent social challenges. Keynote sessions by James Temple (Director of Corporate Responsibility at PwC) and Ratna Omidvar (President of Maytree).Ellie Perkins and Clara Stewart-Robertson will be part of a breakout session that will feature York University collaborations with the Jane/Finch Community, that are also IRIS projects. This session will be moderated by IRIS Coordinator Annette Dubreuil. For more information, click here.

Delegates at the Conference will have the opportunity to:

• Learn about Cross Sector Collaboration: what it is and its role in solving our social challenges at scale in the 21st century

• Discover and discuss Cross Sector Collaboration in action through three Breakout Industry sessions (i) Creating change in our Communities: Collaboration at a Local Level (ii) Collaborative Action for International Development in the 21st Century (iii) Social Finance: Harnessing Collaboration to Solve Problems at Scale

• Innovate ways in which Collaboration can create lasting social impact

Keynote sessions by James Temple (Director of Corporate Responsibility at PwC) and Ratna Omidvar (President of Maytree)

Date: FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2013

Venue: Schulich School of Business Building

Time: 8:30am – 1:00 pm

Cost: $40 ($15 for NMA Members)

Sustainable Value Creation Speaker Series

Thursday January 10th from 12:00 until 15:00
Vari Hall| 4700 Keele St., Toronto, Ontario

Calling all treaty people, Indigenous and settler people alike! Please join us in a round dance flash mob and 'Teach In' in solidarity with Idle No More and Chief Therese Spence. Our unity against the Harper Government's omnibus Bill C45 (and others) is Theresa's strength. Our knowledge, our power.

Round Dance - Vari Hall at 12 pm sharp
Teach In - 1-3pm in North Ross 203

Anishnawbe Professor, Robin Cavanagh and Professor Anna Zalik, both of the Faculty of Environmental Studies will be our quest teachers.

Please wear red, bring Indigenous national flags and supporting signs and banners. Some sign suggestions are:
-We Are All Treaty People
-Honour Our Treaties
-In Unity with Chief Theresa Spence
-Settler in Solidarity

Why January 10th?...

"For me to say that, I'm not afraid to die, I wouldn't be honest. As I stated, when I began the hunger strike (on the 12th of December) if we do not see anything positive, thirty days after the start on Jan. 10/13, I'm willing to give my life so future generations can survive and enjoy the many gifts from the "Creator". I have a lot of very good reason to want to live, and I have a lot of faith in all of the Aboriginal People and our Sisters and Brothers of other color, who are in this struggle to save "Mother Earth" for those that are living and those not yet born." Chief Theresa Spence