Big impact. Even bigger potential
Since 1991, the LEADER Project, a student-driven overseas economic development program, has been making an impact. Both for the Ivey volunteers and those in the communities it touches. More than 800 instructors and 8,000 participants have been involved in LEADER in the past 25 years. On March 4, a special event at Steam Whistle Brewing celebrated LEADER’s rich past and exciting initiatives to come. In our series, we’ll look at how LEADER has evolved over the years. In part three of the series, we speak with Kevin O’Brien, HBA ’93, Chief Client Officer for Aimia in Canada, about how Aimia is helping LEADER to take flight. We also ask LEADERites what the future looks like for the project.
After 25 years of helping people in emerging economies, there’s no question the LEADER Project has made a difference. But there is still potential to make an even greater impact. With a large corporate sponsor in place and plans for expansion, the future looks bright.
In 2006, while Lisa Dymond and David Bassin, both MBA ’06, co-led the fundraising committee, Aeroplan (now Aimia) came on board as a sponsor and set up the Aeroplan Beyond Miles program so people can donate their Aeroplan points to LEADER. In 2010, Aeroplan sweetened the deal further by donating one million reward miles toward LEADER’s travel costs. As part of the relationship, one Aeroplan employee travelled with the program, an initiative that continues today for Aimia employees who have a business education.
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Kevin O’Brien is Chief Client Officer for Aimia in Canada. He was at Ivey when LEADER started and, although he didn’t participate while a student, he knew the background. After graduating from Ivey, he joined Mercer Management Consulting and the company decided to sponsor LEADER to build a strong relationship with the School for recruiting purposes. When O’Brien later joined Aeroplan, the current sponsorship plan began. O’Brien has also been chair of LEADER’s advisory board.
O’Brien said it has been a great relationship and good for the company’s own employee engagement.
“The enthusiasm, passion, and commitment that people come back with after they do these trips is fantastic,” he said. “We also have a lot of LEADER alumni on staff so we have a real connection with LEADER.”
Since travel makes up the majority of LEADER’s expenses, Dymond said Aimia’s sponsorship has had a significant impact. And sharing the mission with Aimia employees has also been a win-win for increasing diversity and learning on the teams.
“LEADER shares many of the tenets of Aimia’s CSR priorities. In particular, LEADER aligns with Aimia’s goals of volunteering, employee engagement, and loyalty for good,” said Dymond. “Over the past six years, we have been fortunate to be joined by six employees across diverse areas of Aimia. They have contributed to the learning of our participants, and this opportunity has reinforced for them Aimia’s values as an employer and developer of top talent.”
Taking it to the next level
Geographical expansion has also been at the forefront in recent years and has allowed LEADER to expand its impact. In 2012, LEADER expanded beyond Eastern Europe for the first time with new sites in Haiti, India, and Tanzania. In 2014, a new teaching site was added in Ethiopia.
And, just in time for its 25th anniversary, LEADER is launching two new sites this spring: in Belgrade, Serbia; and Kathmandu, Nepal.
Zach Hamel, HBA ’16, current Executive Director of LEADER, said he hopes LEADER will not only continue to increase the number of sites in the future, but will also expand the support to them.
“Since LEADER is a two to three-week-program, it is important for our partners to be able to provide mentorship and other support for our participants after we leave,” he said. “With more financial support, I hope LEADER will be able to fund its most promising participants to pursue their businesses.”
Tineke Keesmaat, MBA ’05, and a former Executive Director with LEADER, said she would also like to see the program’s support expanded.
“I would like to see the entrepreneurial piece taken to the next level so, once the idea is formed, we can go back and help people to get their ideas implemented. We could be a longer-term partner to some of those smaller ideas that get their genesis from the LEADER program,” she said.
O’Brien agreed there is potential for LEADER to have a long-term impact.
“I think they need to decide if they are going to be big and be a true NGO (non-governmental organization) or if they are going to be a student experience,” he said. “Certainly there is an opportunity for it to be a lot more, but that would require one of the Executive Directors to stay on after they graduate and grow LEADER in the same way Samantha Nutt grew War Child or the Kielburgers grew Free the Children. You need that kind of passionate leadership to drive it forward.”
With advances in the global financial system, microfinancing, and social media, Dymond said a lot of barriers have come down and the impact LEADER can have is exponential. She stressed the need is tremendous in terms of increasing cross-cultural understanding.
“When I read about the conflicts at play in the world today, I can’t help but think that if some of these people had the opportunity like I did to spend three weeks on the ground getting to know another culture, learning about their history, understanding what motivates them, and developing personal connections, some of these things just wouldn’t arise because people would understand each other so much better,” she said.
Chris Albinson, HBA ’90, MBA ’93, one of the members of the co-founding team, said there is room to experiment as long as the core spirit remains.
“I would love that it still be a student-led entrepreneurial organization that focuses on having impact on people. That ethos of being entrepreneurial, taking risks, not being bureaucratic, and being very sensitive about having an impact on communities and doing good in the world needs to stay,” he said. “I think if you follow that, it’s OK to experiment with all kinds of things. That’s kind of how it worked for 25 years so I don’t know why you would change it.”
Making an impact
Over 25 years, LEADERites have been making an impact in many areas of the world. Here are some of the sites they’ve visited:
- Accra, Ghana
- Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
- Almaty, Kazakhstan
- Bangalore, India
- Belgrade, Serbia
- Chisinau, Moldova
- Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine
- Eldoret, Kenya
- Georgetown, Guyana
- Havana, Cuba
- Irkutsk, Russia
- Kathmandu, Nepal
- Lviv, Ukraine
- Minsk, Belarus
- Moscow, Russia
- Nizhny Tagil, Russia
- Port-au-Prince, Haiti
- Riga, Latvia
- Skopje, Macedonia
- Tolyatti, Russia
- Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
- Vilnius, Lithuania
