Post-secondary students from across Canada will have a chance to brainstorm ways to improve workplace mental health and wellness and win up to $15,000 through the 2025 Systems Innovation Challenge, delivered by Innovation North’s Studio in partnership with BMO Academy.
The challenge, which officially launches today and includes various stages through to February 2025, is centred on systems thinking, a holistic approach to problem-solving which involves analyzing issues more broadly and interrelatedly. Although necessary, systems thinking is currently not commonly taught or widely applied in educational systems or workplaces. Innovation North’s Studio is closing this gap by partnering with Canadian corporations to equip leaders with the mindset, knowledge, tools, and methodologies they need to make a difference on a global scale.
Teams that embark on this transformative learning journey have a chance at being awarded up to $15,000 from Ivey and additional opportunities to partner with Innovation North.
Mental health and wellness: a complex, growing challenge
Similar to last year’s Studio Challenge with Walmart Canada, participating student teams will tackle a broader complex challenge in the first stage – this year, focused on mental health and wellness. Select teams will advance to the second round in which they will work closely with BMO to tackle a related, but more focused, problem.
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Mazi Raz, MBA ’05, PhD ’14, an assistant professor of strategy, will deliver the Challenge and lead the virtual workshops, along with Tima Bansal, a professor of General Management, Sustainability, and Strategy and Valen Boyd, a fourth-year PhD candidate. Raz said he encourages leaders in all sectors or ranks to take a systems-approach when dealing with complex problems.
"Our habitual ways of thinking – often reductionist and linear – may provide a comforting illusion of control in problem-solving. However, complex challenges demand that we expand our cognitive toolkit,” he said. “We must cultivate the ability to perceive holistic contexts, recognize emergent patterns, integrate multiple perspectives, and respond with nuanced adaptability. This mental agility allows us to embrace the interconnected nature of complex systems and craft more robust, sustainable actions.”
As lead partner, BMO will collaborate closely with participating teams to imagine effective ways of positively affecting the mental health and wellness of its employees, customers, and communities.
“BMO is committed to fostering a workplace culture where mental health and wellness is not just talked about, but part of who we are as a company. We’re also passionate about learning and skill development, which is why we’re incredibly proud to have BMO Academy partner with Ivey’s Innovation North and students across Canada to tackle this complex, growing challenge,” said Larissa Chaikowsky, MBA ’04, U.S. Chief Human Resources Officer and Head, Talent Reskilling and Acceleration at BMO.
Introducing the 2025 Systems Innovation Challenge
The 2025 Challenge is open to all post-secondary students across Canada. This includes undergraduate, graduate, and PhD students at any university or college in all disciples. No prior knowledge about systems thinking or expertise in mental health or well-being is required. Students must form a team of 3-5 members and submit one application per team.
The 2025 Challenge will take place over two stages:
- The Nurture Stage (November to December 2024) – Includes a series of five virtual workshops, aimed at transforming how students think about and approach innovation solutions to systems-level problems; and,
- The Navigate Stage (January to February 2025) – Open to select teams from the previous stage. Kicks-off with an in-person showcase followed by opportunities for closer collaboration with BMO, culminating in a final presentation.
Applications are now open and close on Friday, October 11 at 11:59 p.m. ET. Learn more at the Systems Innovation Challenge Information Session, October 1, 6-6:30 p.m. ET (details on the 2025 Systems Innovation Challenge webpage) or contact innovationnorthstudio@ivey.ca.
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