Events
Bollywed / Singh Family panel discussion
October 23, 2023

From left to right: Chandan Singh, Frank Barbera, Roop Singh, Kuki Singh, Chandni Singh, Sarab Singh and Janie Goldstein
On October 23, 2023, the Family Business Institute welcomed the cast of CBC TV’s family business reality show, Bollywed, to a highly successful inaugural event. The owners of Chandan Fashion, the Singh family, joined Dr. Francesco Barbera for a candid panel discussion about their business and the lessons learned from two generations. Before the panel discussion, Dr. Barbera led an informative lecture on adaptation and innovation in the family business, and a video featuring the Singh family was produced to share in future family business classes.


150 attendees
45 minute lecture
Panel discussion
Post-event video
Plaque with the Singh Family
A plaque with a photo of the Singh family and members of the institute was produced and presented to the family and now adorns their family store, Chandan Fashion.

Watch: Family Business Institute welcomes "Bollywed" Family
A team of undergraduate students represented Ted Rogers School in Vermont, USA in 2023 and 2024 at the Schlesinger Global Family Enterprise Case Competition and earned a podium spot both years. Students received a rewarding once-in-a-lifetime learning experience where they met students and executives from approximately 12 countries spanning 4 continents.
2024
2023
TEA Event



Kudos to the student club organizers –
Pictured above: Janie Goldstein (FBI), TEA representatives, Amanda Tattoli (STEP Canada), Alex Albarelli, Amanda Edwards, Francesco Barbera (FBI)
Two student clubs - Toronto Entrepreneurship Association (TEA) and TEDxMetU - collaborated on a case competition event focused on family business.
The first day of the event featured Dr. Francesco Barbera, the FBI’s Academic Director, providing an overview of selected family business concepts and an introduction to fundamental case competition strategies. The day also featured a motivational speaker.
The second day of the event had each team present their analysis on family business case written by the FBI just prior to this event. Given the students were brand new to case competitions, the judges were very impressed with the teams’ outputs – and found it incredible that these first and second year students had never participated in case competitions before. Definitely building a core skill!
The attendees were surveyed and while most of them were not involved in a family business, 83% stated they want to learn more about family business!
Special thanks to the case competition judges:
- Dr. Francesco Barbera, Academic Director, Family Business Institute
- Amanda Edwards, TRSM alumna, past winner of the global family business case competition (2023)
- Alex Albarelli – KPMG Private Enterprise
- Suha Suleman Lalani – Microsoft AI Specialist, TMU Alumna

Congratulations to the winning team – and all teams who used their limited spare time to learn, analyze the case and present.