As part of the Sobey School’s ongoing drive towards broader engagement and building a more meaningful connection with practice, BBI and Sobey teamed up to put forth an event surrounding Rural Black Businesses. The primary focus was to highlight rural black businesses, to hear from these owners, and to provide them with a network of support moving forward. This event created meaningful discussions between leaders, and those who provide support to entrepreneurs. The room was full of students, entrepreneurs, and community members.

On the evening of Tuesday, January 31, the Sobey School of Business held its inaugural Sobey Innovator Speaker Series event, featuring Founder and CEO of Peace by Chocolate, Mr. Taraq Hadhad. Mr. Hadhad and his family immigrated to Canada from Syria during the Syrian War, and founded Peace by Chocolate in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. Mr. Hadhad spoke to the audience about his story, instilling a message of tenacity, compassion and championing the skills of immigrants coming to Canada.

On October 13, 2022, for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began, attendees of the Sobey School of Business’s fourth annual Women in Business event, Women in Retail: Impacting Our Communities With Purpose, gathered in person to highlight women in retail, their journeys and the impact they have on their communities.

Women in Retail included three panels of women experts in retail, a Keynote address by Founder & CEO of The 7 Virtues Barb Stegemann, a discussion with journalist and author Janice Landry, and The Pop-Up-Shop & Networking Hour, a mini-event created for entrepreneurs to promote their products, business or services to attendees. A post-event social at The Cable Wharf Kitchen & Patio followed.

As part of the Sobey School’s ongoing drive towards broader engagement and building a more meaningful connection with practice, the Career Guidance & Networking event allowed current Graduate students to hear from leadership representatives in the work field. The theme of this conference was “Leaders of the next generation”. The primary focus was career guidance and networking. These conversations gave insight to current graduate students. This gave graduate students an opportunity to learn more about how to succeed in different sectors of the work field.

Saint Mary's University has the exciting opportunity to present three African Nova Scotian trailblazers in the The Triune Summit, Speaking Their Truths. This hybrid event was held on March 31, 2022 in partnership with the Saint Mary’s University Office of Diversity Excellence to celebrate Black excellence. This event showcased The Honourable Donald H. Oliver, CM, ONS, QC; The Honourable Dr. Mayann Francis, ONS; and celebrated Canadian poet, George Elliot Clarke. During this memorable evening these three African-Nova Scotians read from their memoirs, shared their experiences and their journeys.

The Sobey School of Business Executive in Residence, Ian Smith joined for the first hybrid Sobey Scholars Network event on March 29, 2022. This event celebrated it's newest members, recent grads and held a discussion on the power of diverse teams and the role of women leaders in making the workplace more diverse and inclusive. The event showcased special guest speakers, which included Michael Medline, President and CEO at Empire Company Limited and its wholly-owned subsidiary Sobeys Inc.

On March 18, 2022, the commerce society held an in-person follow up to their virtual speakers showcase on March 4, 2022 to celebrate the 47th Annual Business Event Gala. The gala provided a chance for event speakers, local business leaders, students, faculty and alumni to connect while the commerce society presented the 2022 Commerce Society Awards.

2022 Commerce Society Award recipients:

• Full-time professor of the year: Dr. Paul Dixon

• Part-time professor of the year: Jackie MacKay

• Commerce Society member of the year: Jay Blake

• Commerce Society Community Service Scholarship: Shayne Edwards

• Husky Leadership and Tenacity Award; nomination based: Grace Morrison

Guest Speakers:

• Mark McIntosh, Community Engagement Manager, Phoenix House

• Sara Napier, CEO, United Way Halifax. (Keynote for March 4th)

This year, the commerce society chose to donate their $5 collection from every membership to United Way. During the event, they were able to present Sara Napier with a cheque to United Way for $285.

Winners of the 2022 Charter Day award, the Sobey School of Business Commerce Society is a student run society at Saint Mary’s University. Their goal is to provide students with networking opportunities, as well as business and university resources, while helping to inspire peer to peer engagement. The 2021/2022 team is comprised of undergraduate students pursuing a commerce degree at the Sobey School of Business:

• Morgan Baker-Tucker, Co-President

• Chelsea Greenham, Co-President

• Manav Khera, Vice President

• Ishaan Singh, IT Director

• Tara Haughton, Financial Director

• Logan Waters, Communications Director

• Yasmine Hussain, Social Media Director

• Carmen Scott, First-Year Student Representative

• Rashae Hart, Academic Engagement Officer

• Sophia Hein, Volunteer and Fundraising Coordinator

• Queen-Esther O. Okundonor, International Student Engagement Officer

Thank you to all the members for their hard work, and organizing and showcasing a wonderful two-part event! Please enjoy some photos from the March 18, 2022 in-person event.

On March 3, 2022 our Sobey School Co-Alumni-In-Residences, Bradley Farquhar and Joe Power the Co-Founders of Purple Cow Internet, provided our Sobey School MBA cohort a Professional Development session. Students gained an inside look at what it is like to start your own business, along with the different stages that a business owner might experience. You can view a recording of the presentation here and see some shots from the session.

Additionally, on March 3, 2022 the David Sobey Centre presented their Distinguished Retailer Speakers Series, featuring Brian Hill Founder and CEO of Aritzia. You can view the full recording of the event here.

Please be sure to check out the Saint Mary’s COVID-19 Protocols which were update on January 21, 2022 and can be found here. To ensure that we are prioritize our in-person teaching, learning, and research, the Network has ensured that all events will be conducted virtually for the next month. Please feel free to explore our upcoming events pages for many informative activities that we have planned for the next few months including our Sobey School Alumni-in-Residence Showcase on January 27, 2022. If you missed out on our Sobey School Executive-in-Residence Showcase or our other events and webinars, you could find the recordings in the resources section of Network! Stay tuned for more updates!

The Saint Mary’s University community and the Sobey School of Business family are celebrating the holiday season while respecting the COVID-19 safety protocols. The safety of our students, faculty, and staff is the single most important priority for our university administration. Therefore, in response to the recent escalation in COVID-19 infection rates, SMU is adjusting the COVID protocols to keep our community safe and healthy. Please follow the most up-to-date changes in SMU COVID safety protocols here . From our family to yours, we are wishing all our students, faculty, and staff a wonderful holiday season. We cannot wait to see you in the new year. In the meantime, please check out our upcoming activities page to find out the exciting programs we are planning for the year 2022.