Reciprocate
Reciprocation is a community-engaged practice that centres social conscientiousness and an objective to strengthen community capacity by giving back and reorienting power. Currrent students and alumni act at the forefront of this practice, using their skills and collective motivations to offer opportunities for professional development, organize a range of supports and build inclusive spaces.
In this section:
The student culture inside the Ted Rogers School continues to evolve, as a new generation of leaders move beyond calling for embedded institutional EDI priorities and expressly require tangible, meaningful action. With empowered student leaders, the Ted Rogers School community sharpens its vision for transformative justice and institutional change, paving an enriching path forward.
Ted Rogers Students’ Society (TRSS) and Student Association for Indigenous Growth in Economics (SAIGE)
Personalized Land Acknowledgement
During the 2024-25 TRSS annual general meeting, TRSS organized a teaching session for student group leaders to learn how to deliver more meaningful and impactful land acknowledgements at the Ted Rogers School. In order to ensure the session centered the Indigenous student experience and knowledge, TRSS executive staff invited Sierra Lefave, the President of the Student Association for Indigenous Growth in Economics (SAIGE), formerly Treaty Relations in Business Education (TRIBE), to lead the planning and presentation of the session. SAIGE prepared a Land Acknowledgement Toolkit – a resource guide with best practices – with the goal to circulate this among TRSS student groups to enable them to deliver culturally competent and meaningful land acknowledgments, with an extended goal for the toolkit to be shared among student groups in other faculties across TMU.
Photo: Sierra Lefave (left) and Saije Catcheway, student leaders of SAIGE.
Black Business Student Association (BBSA)
The Black Business Student Association continues to be one of the most active and impactful student clubs, organizing relevant and compelling events and initiatives on and off campus. Their work to create safe spaces and to remove barriers to opportunities for the Black student community builds community capacity and enriches the student experience at the Ted Rogers School. Last year, BBSA organized two major events:
Women of Colour event
The Women of Colour event was intentionally designed to centre the experiences of women whose voices are often marginalized in professional spaces. Speakers were invited from a diverse range of business sectors including a restaurant owner, a consultant and the co-founder of a hotel to share their journeys with students. Through fireside chats and intimate roundtable discussions, participants heard directly about the challenges these leaders faced navigating barriers of race and gender, and how they portrayed resilience and leadership in their respective fields. Equity and inclusion were embedded throughout the event. Beyond their representation on the podium, even the catering was provided by businesses owned by women of colour, ensuring economic empowerment stayed central to the initiative. Inclusion was woven into the event’s design at every stage. From ensuring that all voices in the room were heard, to curating spaces where dialogue was safe and affirming, the goal was to create belonging for women of colour in spaces where they are often underrepresented.
This event brought together 90+ students of colour and connected them with professionals in companies such as Fidelity, CGI, OPTrust, BDO and many others.
BBSA Conference: Breaking Barriers and Building Success
The annual BBSA Conference: Breaking Barriers and Building Success focused on introducing Black students to the world of consulting and giving them access to opportunities that are often hard to find. Industry leaders and diverse employees from firms like KPMG and Accenture were invited to share their experiences and meet directly with our members. The sessions combined panels, networking and open discussions, so students could learn what consulting is really like and start building relationships with professionals in the field.
One of the highlights of the conference was a live case activity where students worked in teams to solve a real consulting problem and present their ideas. This gave them hands-on experience with the type of work consultants do every day, while also building teamwork and problem-solving skills. The case challenge made the event interactive and gave students an opportunity to show their talents directly to industry professionals. For the participants, it was about breaking barriers, building confidence and showing that Black students have a place in consulting and beyond.
Ted Rogers Pride Alliance (TRPA)
In the past year, the Ted Rogers Pride Alliance organized a variety of events and initiatives which bolstered student engagement, fostered belonging and supported social causes. The club was successful in building partnerships and securing corporate funding, receiving $20,000 from internal and external partners to sustain programming and expand its impact. This ensured that most TRPA events were free and accessible to all students. Some of these events and initiatives included:
Annual Charity Dance Night: Raised funds for Maggie’s Toronto, supporting local sex worker advocacy and community care.
Let’s Talk EDI: A TED Talk–inspired workshop which explored equity, diversity and inclusion through engaging storytelling and discussion from speakers from EY, Canada Post, CBC and TD.
Inaugural Queer Prom: Created a safe and inclusive community space for Ted Rogers School students and beyond, with over 150 attendees.
Career Fair: Connected queer students with seven companies such as CIBC, RBC, Scotiabank, OPTrust and more, enhancing access to career tools, opportunities and corporate visibility. This is the first time that there was a career fair specific to the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, and it featured several professionals from internal Pride employee resources groups within those companies.
Short Film Project: Produced a creative film for Queer Prom to highlight and celebrate student voices.
Trans Awareness Initiatives: Collaborated with TMU Lights for Trans Awareness Week and Trans Visibility Day, illuminating the campus with the Trans Flag colours.
Luminous: Queer Business Conference (Flagship Event): A two-day, panelist-driven conference celebrating 2SLGBTQIA+ excellence in the corporate world which featured 30+ speakers and mentors, over 10 recruiters and more than 90 attendees. The program included workshops, networking, mentorship roundtables and one-on-one industry interactions, as well as diverse performances (drag, violin, sitar) and a Gala. It also featured innovative elements like a short film screening, a speed networking session (connecting students with more than five professionals) and a Speed Interview Competition with a $1,000 prize pool.
Raina Abesteh (left)
Raina Abesteh Award
Ted Rogers School graduate Raina Abesteh launched a new award to support Black, Indigenous and racialized undergraduate students at the Ted Rogers School. This year, the two inaugural recipients of the Raina Abesteh Award were selected and received financial support for the 2024-25 academic year.
“I met with one of my award winners and was moved by her determination and resilience, despite the challenges that she has encountered. I understand how vital having support can be, and the Raina Abesteh Award is my way of helping students overcome barriers to reaching their goals.”
- Raina Abesteh, Global Management ’15, MBA ’22