2018 Seasons Greetings!

Dear INSEAD Alumni, Dear Friends,

In the name of the National Alumni Association let me wish you happy holidays and joyful celebrations with your families.

I would like to take this opportunity to report on our achievements over the past 6 months. You may download the video and listen to the full report HERE or at the end of this message.

In summary:

  • 23 events held across Canada and all chapters in the past 6 months
  • 3 new clubs launched:
    • The Women in Business Club
    • The Entrepreneurship Club
    • The Technology Club
  • A relaunch of the mentoring programme was completed with 15 pairs of mentors and mentees matched
  • A new NAA Canada website (you are here :))
  • A dedicated Facebook page (NAA Alumni Association Canada)
  • A dedicated LinkedIn page
  • And a monthly newsletter are available to all alumni in Canada
  • We are pleased to report a 20% increase in active memberships over the past 6 months!

If you have not yet renewed your membership, we encourage you to visit my.insead.edu where you can reset your password, settle your membership fee and update your profile and preferences.

Last but not least, we launched the first Business as a Force for Good Award together with the INSEAD Alumni Fund and recognized 5 Canadian companies for their best business practices during a ceremony held in Toronto last Month in presence of Dean Ilian Mihov. Other INSEAD alumni associations are joining us and will launch the Award as well. We are very proud to have paved the way for what will become a global NAA initiative!

I will end up my message by acknowledging my team of NAA volunteers for their dedication and all their achievements in the past year. Our Association would not have accomplished so many projects without their support. Thank you!

I look very much forward to meeting with you all in the next year.

Happy holidays and a Merry Christmas!

Yours sincerely,

Magali Depras
President NAA Canada

INSEAD launches its 1st Annual Business as a Force for Good Award

Links to Newswire Full Release and Pictures

TORONTODec. 7, 2018 /CNW/ – The INSEAD National Alumni Association in Canada launched its first ever Business as a Force for Good award at a gala ceremony in Toronto last week.

The award and accompanying event is the first of an annual tradition that the INSEAD National Alumni Association in Canada looks forward to seeing grow in the future.

Magali Depras (President, INSEAD NAA Canada), Brett Miller (IAF Trustee) and the winners of INSEAD’s 2018 Business as a Force for Good Award (CNW Group/INSEAD)

It developed this award to help fulfil the international business school’s mission of social responsibility by recognizing Canadian companies that have demonstrated, through their actions and practices, leadership that embodies “Business as a Force for Good.”

INSEAD’s Dean Ilian Mihov and about 100 Canadian alumni attended – and Bullfrog Power, a small energy company that is helping Canadians transition to cleaner energy sources, became the winner of the prestigious award.

INSEAD, the Financial Times’ top ranked MBA program in the world for two consecutive years, was founded almost 60 years ago in France with a mission to establish a new kind of educational institution that unites people, embraces diversity and leverages business to promote good.

“Bullfrog and the other category winners presenting exemplify INSEAD’s values and understand the principle of business as a force for good, and that positive societal impact can be at the core of a company’s operations while still achieving its business goals.” said Dean Mihov.

Bullfrog was among 20 nominated businesses that competed for the award. Five of these nominees were specific category winners and delivered presentations at the ceremony to make their case for the final award.

Telus won for the best corporate social responsibility practice. Quebec City based XpertSea won in the startup category for its extraordinary work in sustainable aqua farming.

As a social enterprise that uses innovative technology to provide underserved communities around the world with access to the latest and best learning content available online, the Rumie Initiative was the winner in the not-for-profit category.

The winner for INSEAD’s corporation category was Hatch, a mining company with operations across the globe and company initiatives that focus on the environment, diversity and inclusion, safety, and community.

Bullfrog Power, meanwhile, has been helping Canadians transition to cleaner energy sources and systems since 2005. “Our business has never strayed from a vision of a clean and healthier future and I’m honoured to accept INSEAD’s Business as Force for Good award” said John Wilson, VP of Information Technology for Bullfrog.

In his closing remarks, Dean Mihov congratulated the event winner Bullfrog Power and all category winners for their inspiring visions. “Your companies are leading examples of INSEAD’s mission in showing the business community that business can indeed be a force for good.”

ABOUT INSEAD

As one of the world’s leading and largest graduate business schools, INSEAD brings together people, cultures and ideas to develop responsible leaders who transform business and society. A global perspective and cultural diversity are reflected in all aspects of its research and teaching.

With campuses in Europe (France), Asia (Singapore) and the Middle East (Abu Dhabi), INSEAD’s business education and research spans three continents. The school’s 154 renowned Faculty members from 40 countries inspire more than 1,400 degree participants annually in its MBA, Executive MBA, Executive Master in Finance, Executive Master in Change and PhD programs. In addition, more than 11,000 executives participate in INSEAD’s executive education programs each year.

In addition to INSEAD’s programs on its three campuses, INSEAD participates in academic partnerships with the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia & San Francisco); the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University near Chicago; the Johns Hopkins University/SAIS in Washington DC and the Teachers College at Columbia University in New York; and MIT Sloan School of Management in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In Asia, INSEAD partners with School of Economics and Management at Tsinghua University in Beijing, and China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) in Shanghai. INSEAD is a founding member in the multidisciplinary Sorbonne University created in 2012, and also partners with Fundação Dom Cabral in Brazil.

INSEAD became a pioneer of international business education with the graduation of the first MBA class on the Fontainebleau campus in Europe in 1960. In 2000, INSEAD opened its Asia campus in Singapore. In 2007, the school inaugurated a Centre for Research and Executive Education in the United Arab Emirates and officially opened the Middle East Campus in Abu Dhabi in 2010.

Around the world and over the decades, INSEAD continues to conduct cutting edge research and to innovate across all its programs to provide business leaders with the knowledge and sensitivity to operate anywhere. These core values have enabled INSEAD to become truly “The Business School for the World”.

 

Launch of the Hoffmann Global Institute for Business and Society

Largest individual donation in INSEAD history establishes new global institute for business and society

INSEAD, The Business School for the World, has received a €40 million commitment from André Hoffmann and his wife Rosalie.

This landmark gift, the largest by an individual in the school’s history, establishes the Hoffmann Global Institute for Business and Society. In acknowledgement of the Hoffmann family’s support, INSEAD decided to refer to them in the name of the Institute.

On the occasion of the formal signing, Mr. Hoffmann says, “Transformational change towards true sustainability will not take place without a new generation of leaders who are willing and able to change the status quo. This Institute is poised to help future leaders understand the importance of societal and environmental returns alongside the traditional financial approach, creating shareholder value while lifting up people and protecting our planet.”

With initiatives on INSEAD campuses in Europe, Asia and the Middle East, the Institute promises to bring fresh perspectives and innovative solutions to the most intractable global issues that threaten our sustainable future.

Executive Director of the Hoffmann Global Institute for Business and Society, Katell Le Goulven, who recently joined INSEAD from UNICEF, says, “The Institute is envisioned as a transformative force at INSEAD and beyond. It aims to forge leaders, managers, and entrepreneurs who align the interests of their organisations with pressing social and environmental challenges. By leveraging research, learning and partner engagement – and through walking the talk at INSEAD – the Institute can contribute to delivering business value with positive societal impact.

The Institute will explore issues such as ethics, gender balance, humanitarian operations, social impact, sustainability, tech for good, wealth inequality and other topics related to the role of business in society. The Institute is widely engaging the entire INSEAD community around strategy, governance and execution. It is already reaching out to partners, including ChangeNOW, the largest positive impact summit in the world.

Ilian Mihov, Dean of INSEAD, expressed his appreciation for this historic gift: “Establishing the Hoffmann Global Institute for Business and Society underpins INSEAD’s vision of business as a force for good. Many of our twenty-first century challenges cannot be addressed by governments or NGOs alone. Business leaders must rise to the challenge – integrating sustainability, responsibility and social impact directly into the decisions they make. This is where the Hoffmann Institute holds great potential to accelerate progress towards a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable future.”

We are deeply grateful to André and Rosalie Hoffmann for their extraordinary support, and for their contribution to the positive, real-world impact of INSEAD on business and society,” he added.

At INSEAD, Mr. Hoffmann has served on the Board of Directors, Alumni Fund Board, National Alumni Associations and as Chair of the Audit Committee. The couple have championed thought leadership at the school in many ways, including the establishment of the André and Rosalie Hoffmann Chair in Family Enterprise. In 2015, André and Rosalie Hoffmann made a commitment to sustainability at INSEAD through a gift towards the Leadership Development Centre on the Asia Campus, which was awarded a Platinum Green Mark by the Building and Construction Authority of Singapore for its incorporation of best practice environmental design and construction.

Mr. Hoffmann is the Vice Chairman of Roche Holdings, Switzerland, a highly innovative pharmaceutical company established by his great grandfather in 1896. He also serves on the board of Genentech Inc. in California, USA. He has contributed to the development and success of Inovalon Inc., a data driven, cloud based, analytics company providing meaningful insights into the US health system.

Mr. Hoffmann also focuses his efforts on nature conservation and sustainability. He served on the boards of Wetlands International, the Global Footprint Network and WWF International as Vice-President for seven years. He is the President of Fondation MAVA, a leading European conservation foundation committed to conserve biodiversity, and President of Fondation Tour du Valat, a world-renowned research institute primarily active in the conservation of Mediterranean wetlands.

Mr. Hoffmann firmly believes in business as a force for good. As a member of the board of SystemIQ, he helps transform economic systems in line with the Sustainable Development Goals. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the World Economic Forum and of the Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution in San Francisco.

Mr. Hoffmann studied economics at the University of St. Gallen and holds an MBA from INSEAD.

Business as a Force for Good Award

In the years following World War II, Georges Doriot came up with the idea that the world needed a new kind of educational institution—one that united people, embraced diversity, and leveraged business to rebuild nations and promote peace. He envisioned an institution that could make a meaningful contribution to society.

That institution was INSEAD.

In the decades since its founding, its belief in using business as a force for good has come to define who INSEAD is, what it stands for and how it (and its Alumn) aims at conducting itself in the World.

INSEAD National Alumni Association Canada and the INSEAD Alumni Fund are proud to launch “Business as a Force for Good” Award, recognizing Canadian businesses who have demonstrated thought-leadership with respect to “Business as a Force for Good”.

If you know a Canadian business, big or small, that you consider a champion of corporate social responsibility, achieving meaningful societal impact and sustainable results, we would love to hear from you!

Nominations to the “Business as a Force for Good Award” are open to everyone and to all Canada-based businesses – and must be received no later than September 30th 2018!

It is fast and easy – just answer 5 questions HERE and send it to [email protected]!

Nominees will have the unique opportunity to present on stage during the “Business as a Force for Good” Gala evening held November 29th in Toronto in presence of Mr Ilian Mihov, Dean of INSEAD.

The INSEAD “Business as a Force for Good” Award is a wonderful opportunity to recognize and to give visibility to the most innovative and impactful companies in Canada. We are looking to hearing from you!