For my 11th birthday, I asked for a cookbook and a KitchenAid. Born and raised just outside of Toronto, I grew up playing soccer and nurturing my love for baking and eating as well. I am passionate about mental health awareness, food insecurity, and creating a more sustainable agriculture system in Canada. I love to spend time with friends and my favorite activities include going for walks, playing cards, and watching movies. As a first-generation university student, I believe education is an incredible privilege and therefore serve as the Executive Director on the LEADER Project at Ivey. 

What is your personal definition of sustainability?

A favorite quote of mine is "We can't just consume our way to a more sustainable world" by Jennifer Nini. To me, sustainability requires decision-making with transparency, creativity, a focus on the future, and a willingness to make sacrifices. In the current climate crisis, urgency is needed, and every day we make decisions on whether or not to purchase sustainably. At the public policy level, our decisions can impact future generations. Additionally, as future business leaders, adopting a sustainable strategy could pay dividends in the long run, if we can overcome the desire for short-term monetary returns. 

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

I live to eat, not eat to live. My passion for food and cooking has led to me to explore ways to cook with limited waste, source sustainable ingredients, and eradicate food insecurity in Indigenous communities. From a family of South African immigrants, I aim to fill the gap in the market for a South African restaurant in downtown Toronto. I plan to implement sustainability initiatives that provide clear business value through leveraging vertical farming, implementing energy efficient appliances, and eradicating food insecurity through daily donations and shipments of excess produce.  

I hope to begin my career in strategy consulting, focusing on how to form sustainable business models, whilst creating value for all stakeholders. Specifically, I want to learn how to take control and ensure that in each step of the supply chain, from sourcing to procurement is limiting the amount of carbon emitted, simultaneously reducing the energy and water consumption in the value chain. Additionally, I plan to leverage my passion for consumer behaviour through studying the impact of “sustainable branding” on consumer perception, and how acting as a sustainable company can influence the buying process. I believe marketing is underutilized, and through creating urgency, businesses can build returns.  

What sustainability projects have you been engaged in?

To begin, at TD, in addition to my key role, the company presented a challenge to all summer interns: to integrate a new Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) initiative into any service line assigned to us randomly. As the leader of my team, I proposed an electric vehicle loan program that would operate within my own workstream of business banking, supporting the adoption and accessibility of electric vehicles. Overall, my team placed first among 20 teams of interns and 200 interns, winning the conference. Additionally, our proposal was referred to TD's auto finance team and ESG SVPs for further exploration. 

Secondly, at Deloitte, I worked on a proposal for an oil and gas company on how the retail of oil and gas would change with the growing trend of electric vehicles. Given that charging takes significantly longer than refueling, we faced a unique challenge in determining how convenience stores could become a new hub, and how sustainability initiatives would impact other workstreams in the business. In sum, my previous two projects highlighted the ubiquity of sustainability across all industries and the need for us all to prepare for its impact in the coming decade.