Zain Bashah, EMBA ’24, was initially drawn to Ivey because of his interest in experiential learning, but once there, he found one of the aspects he cherished most were the relationships he developed with his classmates and the network that he built.

“I always wanted to pursue higher education, and I was drawn to Ivey because I thought the Case Method was interesting. I’ve always been an advocate of applying what you learn, and it seemed like at Ivey, you were applying it as you went,” says Bashah, Senior Consultant at CGI.

“I found that the Case Method took what you needed to know in order to solve problems and asked you to apply that right away to real-life business situations, which is a really powerful way to learn.”

At Ivey, he found a lot of what he was learning was also directly applicable to situations he faced at work.

“The key was the confidence that I would bring to those suggestions because I was learning from the best and I was seeing these concepts being applied with real cases and real businesses – and they were being discussed by 60 of my peers,” he says.

“When I spoke about those things, I spoke with some gravitas because of that backing.”

For Bashah, working (and sharing knowledge and perspectives) with his classmates also helped broaden his thinking about both his current job and the future.

“It exposed me to new areas I could be interested in and potential career opportunities to keep in mind for myself,” he says. “I also realized that a lot of us were dealing with the same kinds of problems in the workplace, and it was helpful in sharing ideas about how to solve some of those problems.”

He still keeps in touch with many of his classmates, whether it’s to talk about work and strategies, or dream of possible ventures they may start one day. Sometimes, he says, he and his former classmates just talk about their families and interests – all of which Bashah says has helped create “a fuller life experience and lifelong relationships.”

Another program highlight was the EMBA Discovery Expedition, which for his cohort included a trip to San Francisco to study startups and entrepreneurship, and then to Brazil to look at emerging markets.

“It made me realize that the business world really has no boundaries or borders,” he says.

“As businesses continue to develop globally, borders will have less meaning in the future. We will become one world, because businesses really drive how society moves.”
Overall, Bashah says, he found the combination of experiential learning, new perspectives and international experience to be “invigorating.”

“The EMBA is like an injection into your life – it just boosts your social life, your thinking, and your confidence.”