On July 18, the Ian O. Ihnatowycz Institute for Leadership will host its annual Ivey MBA Leadership Day – a day dedicated to the development of our students as leaders. The MBA class will have the opportunity to have a first-hand look at the development of good leadership and leader character from some of Canada’s most respected practitioners.
The day will begin with a panel of leaders representing a broad range of perspectives and will focus on the learning that happens to good leaders throughout their lives – the experiences and influences that enable leaders to know what to do, how to act and how to lead during tumultuous and trying times. Three proven leaders will participate in the panel:
Stephen Virgin
Strategic Advisor to the CHRO, Canada Revenue Agency
Laurence Mussio
CEO, SIERC Canada and Chair, The Long Run Initiative
Jeannine Pereira HBA '95
Director, Talent Development, EY Canada
Keynote Address: Thomas d'Aquino
Thomas d’Aquino is an entrepreneur, philanthropist, corporate director, educator, and #1 national bestselling author. He is Chairman of Thomas d’Aquino Capital and Chairman and Chief Executive of Intercounsel Ltd., a private venture development and strategic consulting company.
Mr. d’Aquino’s business career spans over four decades. He has served as a Director of Calgary-based Coril Holdings Ltd. and as the Lead Director of Canada’s largest technology provider company, Montreal-based CGI Group Inc. He also has served as a Director of Manulife Financial Corporation and his involvement in the financial services sector has included experience on the advisory boards of investment banks Schroders and Lazard. From 1972 to 1975, he worked with an international management consulting firm in London and Paris. He started his own business in 1975 winning strategic consulting mandates from a number of leading companies in Canada, the United States, Europe and Asia. From 1981 to 2009, he served as Chief Executive, President and member of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives (CCCE), an organization composed of the chief executives of 150 of the country’s leading enterprises and pre-eminent entrepreneurs.
Acknowledged as one of Canada’s most influential thinkers and strategists, Mr. d’Aquino has chalked up four decades of achievement in shaping fiscal, taxation, international trade, energy and environmental policies. Canadian historian, Jack Granatstein, lists Mr. d’Aquino as one of the one hundred most influential Canadians of the twentieth century. Canadian author Peter Newman in his 1998 book “Titans” describes Mr. d’Aquino as “the most powerful influence on public policy formation in Canadian history”.
He is the author of numerous publications including the influential book Northern Edge: How Canadians Can Triumph in the Global Economy. Mr. d’Aquino has addressed audiences in forty countries and in over one hundred cities worldwide. In February 2023, his new book, Private Power - Public Purpose: Adventures in Business, Politics and the Arts was published by Penguin Random House and it immediately vaulted to #1 national bestseller.
Mr. d’Aquino is the recipient of numerous honours including the Order of Canada, the Order of Ottawa and the Queen Elizabeth II Golden and Diamond Jubilee medals for service to Canada. He also was named a Knight Commander (Commendatore) by the President of Italy and was awarded Mexico’s highest foreign honour, the Aguila Azteca by the President of Mexico.
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