TRSM celebrates donors and volunteers at Appreciation Reception

A student-developed app designed to help small community grocery stores compete with big chains has captured the Ted Rogers School of Management annual Dean’s Student Award for Social Innovation.

The award, to the makers of the OneStop (opens in new window)  app, was presented on March 28, 2019 at the TRSM Donors and Volunteers Appreciation Reception, which was held at Torys LLP’s Bay Street offices. The award of $2,000 is used by the winners to advance the project or to donate to another cause and is funded by alumni and other external TRSM supporters. Some 65 individual and corporate donors, volunteers, TRSM Advisory Council members, student groups and staff were on hand.        

OneStop is an online platform that addresses the needs of local grocery stores and unemployed youth by helping them gain economic opportunities. The application allows small grocery stores to promote and sell their produce and products, while offering same-day delivery. With a focus on helping cultural grocery stores, OneStop plans to highlight and spread Toronto’s caring and diverse culture.  Funds from the award will be used to support the team in finishing their prototype to help local businesses expand their customer base while increasing employment for marginalized youth.

TRSM and its students have benefited from transformative philanthropic support, said Sean Ingram, TRSM’s Executive Director of Advancement.

“You have helped us build a school with a strength and reputation to attract great students, great faculty and great leadership,” he said, citing that in 2007, Ted and Loretta Rogers’ $15 million gift to name the school provided essential support to students and faculty, and Bill and Catharina Birchall’s $2 million gift two years ago enabled the incredible growth of the Ted Rogers Co-op program. 

Dean Daphne Taras expressed her appreciation of donor-supported scholarships and awards to help reduce students’ financial stress so that they can focus on their studies. She pointed out that 60% of TRSM students are visible minorities and 70% are on the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP), so scholarships and awards are important in integrating new Canadians into society. 

Dean Taras also highlighted some of TRSM’s achievements that donors helped make possible, including the tremendous growth of the Co-op program, which will have 1,500 students starting this Fall, and the Bootcamps that help prepare our students for the workforce.  

OneStop was one of 14 projects submitted for the award this year by students who led initiatives locally and globally, and entries were voted on by TRSM students, faculty members and staff.

Videos of the three finalists were shown throughout the event, and Dean Taras and Michael Benarroch, Provost and Vice-President, Academic at Ryerson University, presented this year’s Dean's Student Award to OneStop, which was submitted by Accounting & Finance student Anthony Garcia.

The two other finalists for the Dean's Student Award were CAMH One Brave Night for Mental Health (opens in new window)  (Lili Cao, Law & Business) to support the CAMH One Brave Night initiative, and Project Secure (opens in new window)  (Dilpreet Matharoo, Business Management), which is a sustainable environmental solution for food waste in Toronto.

Business Technology Management co-op student Rhyan Mahazudin, winner of the 2018 TRSM Business Leadership Award, was the final speaker of the evening.  He talked about his journey at TRSM and the opportunities he has had thanks to the support of donors and volunteers. 

Mahazudin needed financial support to pursue his studies at TRSM and applied to every scholarship and award he qualified for.  He received several scholarships and awards from both the ITM program and TRSM each year, and thanks to these funds and the salary from his co-op placements, he is proud to say that he is graduating debt-free.

“Your support matters,” Mahazudin says. “You are able to provide a journey for these students to help them achieve greatness.”  He hopes to support TRSM students after he graduates as well because he wants to give back to the school has given him so much.