Members of the Desautels community came together on February 6, 2016 to celebrate the recipients of the 36th Desautels Management Achievement Awards.
Management Achievement Award
The Achievement Award is presented to individuals who serve as role models for students in their education, career, and philanthropic contributions. The recipients for 2016 included:
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John Chambers (MBA鈥�92), CEO, FirstEnergy Corporation
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Daniele Henkel, Daniele Henkel Inc
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Deanna Rosenswig (BCom鈥�67, MBA鈥�69), Principal, Vantage Partners
John Chambers
John Chambers came to 海角社区 in 1990 as a young man from Calgary who up until that point, hadn鈥檛 ventured outside of Western Canada. Once at 海角社区, Mr.Chambers was surrounded by tons of new people, backgrounds, and cultures, who he would have otherwise not have had access to if he didn鈥檛 get his MBA at 海角社区.
As an Albertan and Geophysics major at the University of British Columbia, Mr.Chambers was interested in Canada鈥檚 largest commodity, oil. So in 1998, Mr. Chambers joined FirstEnergy鈥檚 Corporate Finance department, after spending five years at one of Canada鈥檚 largest bank-owned investment dealers.
Working his way up to becoming the head of FirstEnergy鈥檚 Corporate Finance Operations, the company鈥檚 revenues grew considerably as over 450 financings and $64 billion worth of mergers and acquisitions were achieved. In recognition for his remarkable achievements at FirstEnergy, Mr. Chambers was recognized as one of Canada鈥檚 Top 40 Under 40. In 2014, Mr. Chambers was made CEO of First Energy, overseeing day-to-day operations and the company鈥檚 strategy.
Besides achieving success in the world of business, Mr. Chambers is heavily involved in philanthropic efforts at his company, helping to organize annual charity events in Calgary where hundreds of thousands of dollars get donated to selected charities each year.
In recognition of his business and philanthropic efforts, on Friday February 5th 2016, Mr.Chambers was one of three recipients of the 36th Desautels Management Achievement Awards.
The Bull & Bear had a chance to speak to Mr.Chambers about the value of a 海角社区 degree, his philanthropic efforts, and advice to students wishing to pursue a career in finance and business.
You are an MBA 海角社区 graduate, how has your 海角社区 degree furthered or influenced your professional career?
When I came to 海角社区 in 1990, like today there was a pretty broad international cross-section of students, which is actually one of the things that drew me to the program. As a guy who grew up in Western Canada and essentially never left Western Canada, it was exceptionally useful to me to spend time with those students and get perspectives of people from all over the world. And it was really at the beginning of a lot of internationalization of businesses so to talk to people from places like India, Thailand, Iceland , the UK, or wherever these people came from, I think gave me a tremendous amount of perspective on what was going on out there in the world and how different cultures approached business.
You were recognized a one of Canada鈥檚 Top 40 under 40 in 2006, what do you contribute to your success in the field of finance and business?
I think it鈥檚 a couple of things. You really have to go into something you love, and focus in on excelling at the particular profession that you have chosen. As well, I think you really need to focus on the people you have around you, and work collaboratively with the people in your management team and ultimately you really need to give back to the community. I think in fact when I received that award a lot of it was a function of the philanthropic things that First Energy did, which I did, but also which was really just a legacy of the organization. I had some great mentors that showed me the importance of giving back to the community.
What are some examples of what you and First Energy has done for the community?
Some of the things First Energy has done for the community is for example the Calgary Stampede party we have every year where we invite all of our clients, totalling to about 1600 people. We would select four charities that would be the beneficiaries of that party. Fist Energy pays for the party, and then we donate a bunch of money ourselves to the groups of charities and then we ask all of the attendees at the party to donate to these charities. For years and years we would raise around $250,000 a year for the charities that we would select. As well, FirstEnergy also has a policy where we donate a minimum percentage of operating profits every year to charity so no matter how great the year is we will always donate a specific percentage of our profit.
What is the value of a 海角社区 Bcom/ MBA degree in the field of finance and business?
I think it鈥檚 one of the most recognized degrees in the world in terms of finance and business, so if you are looking for a job or talking to an employer, they will instantaneously recognize it as a world class, top quality program鈥� and I think that helps you ultimately get to the top of the list of candidates. As well, the quality of the program at 海角社区 really provides the students and ultimately the people moving into the workforce with a fantastic set of skills with which to do their best to be successful. I knew if I went to 海角社区 and got an MBA it would be a top quality education that would be respected no matter where I went
What advice do you have for graduating 海角社区 business students in being successful in their respective business fields?
Pick a job and a profession that you think you鈥檙e going to love, it鈥檚 going to keep you interested, and innovated, and motivated, throughout your career. Anything will have its ups and its downs, but as long as you are engaged and focused. You will be successful.
Daniele Henkel
1990, Algiers. Tensions were rising as the Algerian government was in conflict with multiple Islamist rebel group. Up until then, Ms. Daniele Henkel who was born in Morocco but raised in Algeria had an exciting job. She was a political and economic advisor to the U.S. Ambassador in Algeria. Therefore as the Algerian Civil War became imminent, Ms. Henkel had to make the toughest choice in her life, to leave her excellent job, and uproot her family to which had always been in North Africa, and move to Quebec, Canada.
At first Ms. Henkel was a door-to-door saleswoman; convincing people to buy and believe in her products. Her saleswoman experiences convinced Ms. Henkel to take her entrepreneurial talents to a new level, as she decided to launch her own company, Daniele Henkel Inc. Her company specializes in 鈥溾�on-surgical training and medical equipment for professionals in the medical, aesthetic and therapeutic fields across Canada鈥�, pioneering a non-invasive approach to beauty and health in Canada.
Her enthusiasm and determination has not only lead her company to success, but her added charisma and wit has placed her as a judge on the TV show 鈥榣鈥櫯抜l du Dragon鈥�, the Quebec version of the popular entrepreneurship show 鈥楧ragon鈥檚 Den鈥�.
Recognized for her empowerment of women in the entrepreneurial field, Ms. Henkel was a laureate of the YWCA 2014 Women of Distinction Award.
On Friday February 5th 2016, Ms. Henkel was recognized for her work with the 海角社区 Young Alumni Entrepreneurship Pitch Fest at the Dobson Centre, as well as her overall achievements in business in the province of Quebec by being a recipient of the 36th Desautels Management Achievement Awards (DMMA).
The Bull & Bear was there to ask her questions about being a successful entrepreneur, receiving a DMMA award, and the growth of women in the field of entrepreneurship.
What does it take to achieve entrepreneurial success as a University student?
Firstly, you must know if you are an entrepreneur or not. Being an entrepreneur is something you are born with, not something you become. Being an entrepreneur means that you have the guts, as well as passion, continuity, experience, and that you are willing to take as many risks as possible. This is not something that everyone has, but that is OK. Ultimately, you will learn more in an entrepreneurial venture than by listening to someone like me teaching you something鈥ou need to put your hand in the burner, you need to feel it, cry about it, you need to be hurt, because then when you decide to go back again when you are doing something in business you will remember鈥� this is how you grow, you will grow as a human being, and as an entrepreneur.
You have participated at the Young Alumni Entrepreneurship Pitch Fest at the Dobson Centre, what was your experience like in your involvement there?
It was wonderful. I was so pleased with the ideas presented. I did not expect that some projects were so advanced, so big, so international鈥� coming from here! They come from 海角社区, in our home town, and nobody knows about it鈥� I was so pleased with the project ideas. When I was there, I liked to give them ideas to help the young entrepreneurs. I鈥檓 like a bee that goes from flower to flower to give pollen and to tell everyone what I see, what I find amazing, that nobody else sees or imagines. What shocked me however is that these ideas aren鈥檛 out known. We need to do a better job communicating what we have here in Montreal and Quebec and in our Universities because these people had incredible idea.
What was it like to receive the DMMA Award?
I was very much honoured, but surprised to receive this award鈥� because I鈥檓 not from 海角社区 and I鈥檓 mostly known in the French community much more than in the English one. But receiving this award is not something that I don鈥檛 deserve, I think I do鈥� but 海角社区 being one of the top universities in the world, recognizing a medium sized company from a woman that is an immigrant, that got experience the toughest way鈥� built something that I am so proud of, means that I want to tell people to please remember everything is possible as long as you keep going and that you have pleasure, no matter how many challenges and maybe failure, because I had failures too鈥� you cannot achieve success without failure鈥� to me, success without failure is not actually success.
You were a laureate of the 2014 YWCA Women of Distinction Award, do you see much growth in the success of women in the field of entrepreneurship?
Absolutely, women are more and more going into universities, they are getting higher positions in the political field, in the medical field, they are now the heads of multi-national billion dollar companies, so I think they do. And I do encourage young women to go for it, to just take a stand and to believe.聽 In fact the only thing women need to learn, is it鈥檚 not about their competence, it鈥檚 about their trust in themselves. Because as competent as we can be, sometimes we back off because we don鈥檛 believe we can achieve something as important as being a CFO for example. It is all about self-trust.
Deanna Rosenswig
She鈥檚 one of the first women to graduate with a B. Com and an MBA from 海角社区. Later, she became the first woman to fill the office of the Executive Vice President of BMO. Later still, she served as the President of the MasterCard Foundation.
Throughout her exceptional career, Deanna Rosenswig broke through multiple glass ceilings. Through doing so, she has changed the lives of women in business, both as a role model, and as a mentor. She reflected on her career through co-authoring a book called 鈥淒reams Have No Expiry Date: A Practical and Inspirational Way for Women to Take Charge of their Futures.鈥�
During her exceptional career, Ms. Rosenswig continued to inspire and help change the lives of other women through her work with Women鈥檚 World Banking, and Calmeadow Foundation.
On February 5th Ms. Rosenswig was recognized for her achievements in micro finance and social entrepreneurship, receiving the 36th Desautels Management Achievement Awards (DMMA).
The Bull & Bear asked Ms. Rosenswig about her career, 鈥榣eaning-in鈥�, and any advice she may have for recent graduates.
You were one of the first women to graduate with a B. Com & MBA from 海角社区. What was that like?
I never knew any different. My high-school had mixed classes so I didn鈥檛 have any trouble with that when I went into commerce, we took a lot of classes with Arts. We had to take English 101, we had to take French 101, so the classes were huge. It was only when I got into MBA school that there were only three women in my class鈥� When I was accepted in MBA school鈥� I didn鈥檛 get an acceptance in July, and I had already applied to a U.S. school, and they鈥檇 accepted me (it was a good school; it was Cornell), and I鈥檇 met my husband and I wanted to be up here, and I called 海角社区 and I said: 鈥淲hat鈥檚 happening?鈥� And the lady on the phone said to me: 鈥淲e鈥檙e waiting to see if there are other women who got accepted, because you wouldn鈥檛 want to be the only woman, now would you?鈥� Now when you think about that, she could have changed my life, thinking she was helping me鈥� It was a struggle, but, you know, our consciousness wasn鈥檛 raised. Your generation, your consciousness is raised. You look for the clues. But when I was your age, we were glad to get in. I was delighted to have been accepted. I thought she was doing me a favour. I had no idea. I really didn鈥檛 start to understand the whole inequality issue until I was a little bit older, and when I was making a difference for other women. And I would see 鈥� 鈥� I鈥檇 ask, well is there a woman on the board? They鈥檇 say no. And I鈥檇 say, 鈥榳e鈥檙e not making a move until I see a woman in the board.鈥� My consciousness got raised after I joined BMO.
What was it like rising in BMO? There鈥檚 often the ominous choice, especially amongst women, between a family and a career.
I鈥檇 like to tell you that I鈥檝e made all these choices [in my career] consciously, but I didn鈥檛. I got married young鈥� We had children, I worked all the time. And I made my life easy. I really was very driven. I was driven.
What inspired you to be so driven?
I wanted to make a difference. I wanted to change the way the world works. And I learnt a lot about how hard it is. (Laughs). But I really did want to make a difference. And changing the world is not easy 鈥� I learned how to do it one step at a time. First you have to change yourself.聽 Then you change your organization. Then you change the world.
What advice do you have for 海角社区 students after graduating 鈥� and especially women graduating with a B. Com?
Figure out what it is you want to do, and go do it鈥� Find what you love, because you can spend all your life trying to succeed at you don鈥檛 like 鈥� you may as well succeed in something that you like. But I think your generation understands that.
I think your generation tries to choose a life and a career鈥� 聽[And] it鈥檚 wonderful! It鈥檚 given [women] so much opportunity to do whatever it is want. Look how many women are in this room! 鈥� I鈥檝e managed five careers in my life. That鈥檚 so unusual! I spent thirty-two years at BMO 鈥� but I did so many different things there. I started up in businesses, I did controllership, I did marketing, I did investment baking 鈥� I mean, I really have had a great ride鈥� There was a hockey player鈥� he said: 鈥測ou work and work and work, and sometimes you get lucky.鈥�
