As we move forward as a society, our development often has considerable consequences. Ivey HBA Sustainability Certificate students are committed to getting ahead of these effects and combatting them through sustainable business practices.
The students must have more than a keen interest in corporate social responsibility. They have extracurricular requirements along with a specific set of courses, including a required field experience, all part of the HBA Sustainability Certificate program led by Certificate Director, Professor Oana Branzei.
This November, they headed north of London to Salthaven Wildlife Rehabilitation and Education Centre, a volunteer wildlife rehabilitation facility in Mount Brydges, Ontario.
The students met Salthaven Founder Brian Salt, a few members of his team, and numerous education birds and rehabilitation residents, including Gary and Squinty, two Canadian Geese.
The trip to Salthaven is the first stage of the students’ work with the organization over the course of the semester. Next, the students will complete a case discussion on Salthaven’s next steps and Brian Salt will visit Ivey to hear the students’ recommendations on how Salthaven can increase its brand presence and boost fundraising.
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The Salthaven Story
The field trip gave the students an opportunity to understand the drive behind Salthaven’s hundreds of volunteers’ countless, dedicated hours of service.
Salt made his team’s mission clear: Salthaven exists to close the gap where progress meets nature.
“When animals are made sick or injured by people, that’s where we step in,” he told the students.
Whether wildlife are poisoned by human chemicals, injured by moving vehicles, or raised outside of their natural environment, Salthaven works to rehabilitate and reacquaint animals with their natural existence.
“We’re here to put the wild back in wildlife,” he said.
Salt told the students fantastic and moving tales about the animals in Salthaven’s care. He has stood on the back of a pickup truck, flapping his arms wildly, like wings, to help teach Canadian Geese to fly. His colleagues at Salthaven West, the organization’s satellite site in Saskatchewan, just took on more than 100 garter snakes, which made headlines for turning up undesired in a basement, to help protect them from the winter’s unfavourable climate until they could find a new home. His team has researched endlessly the specific, perfect conditions, from lighting to temperature, for an orphaned baby cottontail rabbit to survive and thrive.
All of this happens because volunteers do their best with the resources they can afford. Overall, there is a high rehabilitation rate for animals at Salthaven as a result of the team’s dedication. Salthaven runs exclusively on donations and government grants. The ‘staff bonuses’ come in the form of seeing animals thrive, plus that rewarding feeling of making a difference.
“This is where progress meets nature,” said Salt. “We drink the same water and we breathe the same air [as wildlife]. This is where we help restore the balance.”
Now the Ivey Sustainability Certificate students have more than an inspirational story to tell. They have a mission: When Salt returns later this month for a case discussion, they must combine their rapidly developing business skillset with their understanding of Salthaven’s objective to make dynamic recommendations on how Salthaven can be a sustainable and influential not-for-profit.
While Brian Salt will be a tough act to follow, they’ll do their best to make a difference for Salthaven as Salthaven has made a difference for them.
