I’m Vincent, a student at the Ivey School of Business with a background in International Relations from my first two years of study at Western University. In both my past work and opportunities that I hope to pursue in the future, sustainability and social impact reside as key focuses for my professional development. From working on the EDI sub-committee on Ivey’s LEADER project to interning as a human capital consultant, I strive to make a personal impact for the communities that I am present in–hoping to ensure that tomorrow will be a better place for my peers and generations that will follow. In my spare time I enjoy swimming, listening to music, and reading. 

What is your personal definition of sustainability?

As I continue to educate myself, I realize that sustainability revolves around defiance. After reading Naomi Klein’s “This Changes Everything”, I’ve learned that sustainability is less of a purely environmental initiative and more a movement that centers on how individuals can push against entrenched capitalist norms that ratify the climate crisis. In the past, I would have thought that sustainability can be promulgated through small lifestyle changes, however, it has now become a corporate pillar/mainstay of CSR initiatives and requires larger scale decision-making to make a difference. The goal of sustainability for me is to ensure that resources aren’t being misused when they can be dedicated to supporting a better future for friends and family.

What role do you see sustainability playing in your professional career?

My ambition to study International Relations coming into university was heavily influenced by the thought of working in sustainability and social impact. Since elementary school, I watched my mom and dad travel around the world as UN statistic advisors attempting to make their mark through international policy. While going through the same thought process, all the work that I’ve pursued has focused on the core goal of ensuring that those around me and my future family have equal opportunities as I did growing up. As a way of paying it back, my goal is to develop skills in the business space by working as a Human Capital consultant to ensure that labourers are receiving equitable treatment in the workspace in an effort to promote social responsibility for incoming hires. Following this, I hope to leverage my people skills to make a transition into the policy space by reassuming my background in international relations. My goal for working in policy specifically ties to the sustainability space as I want to work as an environmental consultant for an NGO. As such, I hope to find myself in situations where my work has a direct impact in making the world a more hospitable and caring place.

What sustainability projects have you been engaged in?

In Ivey, the main sustainability and social impact organizations that I have engaged in are UNICEF Western and Ivey’s LEADER project.

For UNICEF, I am currently the organization’s Connections Director and my responsibilities involve creating connections within London’s local community to build avenues for Western students to get involved as volunteers. This role has taught me a lot about the various initiatives in my immediate environment people are engaging into to promote sustainability. For example, we partnered with the Northwest London Resources Centre to provide hygiene products for immigrant families new to London.

For Ivey’s LEADER project, I am both a curriculum coordinator but I also serve as an EDI committee member to assist in the development of more equitable hiring and operating processes within the program. Specifically, over the past semester and a half I have been working with the committee to develop surveys that gauge whether the recruiting process is accommodating for all members of the Ivey community, which will be translated into action items to ensure that engaging with LEADER is a fulfilling process for all applicants.