Ronald Alphonso Award champions MBA students who reinvent their careers

Triple alumnus and serial entrepreneur Ronald John Alphonso is remembered by his eldest son Jonathan Alphonso as a family man skilled at brainstorming ideas to generate wealth. Ronald was a proud graduate of the Master of Business Administration (MBA) program at the Ted Rogers School of Management — the degree that helped him reinvent his career.

In memory of Ronald, who died in 2025, the family honoured the beloved husband and father by establishing the Ronald Alphonso Award. Because reinvention was such a defining part of Ronald’s career, this annual award will support a full-time MBA student in financial need who is reinventing themselves as part of a career transition with $3,000 toward their education.

“My dad owes a lot to TMU — from undergrad to pursuing his MBA at age 50 in 2008,” said Jonathan on the family’s decision to establish an award at TMU, the same university community that supported his father and the family’s success. “No individual is fully self-made. You exist in a community of people. You’re brought up by people around you. It makes sense to give back to the people and the organization that brought you up and helped you accomplish what you wanted.”

Jonathan followed in his father’s footsteps and graduated from the same MBA program in 2022. He is now the Managing Director and Principal Broker at Mortgage Broker Store, the business Ronald founded after completing the MBA program with a specialization in technology and innovation. Mortgage Broker Store works with homeowners facing eviction from power of sale and foreclosure, giving them a second chance to stay in their homes or sell to pay off their debts. 

“The Ted Rogers School of Management is fostering the next generation of business leaders to innovate and make meaningful change to their lives and in their communities. The Ronald Alphonso Award is empowering students to reach for their potential,” said Cynthia Holmes, Dean of the Ted Rogers School of Management. “My sincere thanks to Ronald’s wife, Helen Eliopoulos-Alphonso, their son Jonathan and the entire family. Thanks to the Alphonso family’s generosity, Ronald’s legacy of resilience, growth and reinvention will encourage graduate students to be bold and pursue new paths to success.”

Journey to entrepreneurship

Born in 1958 to Guyanese immigrant parents, Ronald grew up poor in Scarborough, Ontario, and as a child, he worked to help his parents make ends meet. Ronald started studying here when TMU was known as Ryerson Polytechnical Institute, earning his Diploma in Retail Management (1981) and a Bachelor of Business Administration (1984).

“[From the time he was very young,] my dad was relentless in looking for ways to make money and find out how to be profitable,” said Jonathan. “He was trying dozens of things.”

This personal drive led to an early fortune in the VHS and CD/DVD wholesale business that transformed Ronald’s life — until the boom turned bust with competition from rivals like Blockbuster and HMV. 

“In 2007, he closed up shop in the wholesale video selling business because it was no longer making money,” said Jonathan. “He wanted a new perspective, and around that time, TMU had just established its MBA program.” Ronald’s wife,  Helen, encouraged Ronald to return to his alma mater and, in 2009, he graduated with his MBA. 

“Dad went back to TMU when he was stuck in a rut, gained new perspective and passion in business, founded the private lending mortgage company the next year — and then things really took off,” said Jonathan. 

Ronald served as his company's principal broker, real estate investor and private lender, and developed a reputation for being dedicated to his clients. His entrepreneurial pursuits would take him across Europe and the U.S., and Jonathan notes that his father maintained an “incredible, incredible energy” for seeking out opportunities. “He would go to bed thinking about business, and wake up with the same stream of consciousness, still thinking about that certain business idea,” said Jonathan. “That being said, he was still the greatest dad ever.”

Life lessons from a family man

Ronald’s greatest happiness was raising three sons — Jonathan, Christian and Alexander — with Helen, his wife and best friend of 37 years.

“Despite how single-minded my father was about business, family always came before that,” said Jonathan. He vividly recalls family vacations and his dad coaching his brother’s baseball team. And while his father “looked into all sorts of businesses,” Ronald steered clear of ventures to which he didn’t want his family exposed, no matter how potentially lucrative.

Ronald never wanted his kids to struggle like he did, cleaning and doing odd jobs as a child. That’s in part why the Ronald Alphonso Award will prioritize MBA students in financial need.

“This award,” said Jonathan, “is meant to give students an extra financial push to help them be successful. So someone with good business ideas, who wants to go to business school, is not prevented by circumstance.”

With lessons learned from his entrepreneurial father who had a passion for business, Jonathan has advice for current and future business students: “Work hard and do your best but, at the end of the day, enjoy what you’ve built, take care of your family, and take care of yourself,” he said. And whichever path you choose, “Make sure the passion is there. The work will still be hard, but if it's something you really enjoy, you will find the energy to make it happen.”