Last Wednesday, the Vancouver Board of Trade hosted the 28th annual Governor’s Banquet & Rix Awards. The event honoured the VBOT’s past chair, Elio Luongo as well as Carole Taylor and Global BC for “engaged community citizenship”.
This honoring of engagement really felt like an SFU alumni reunion as the room was packed with SFU and Beedie alumni. Former SFU Chancellor and BC minister of finance, Carole Taylor gave a shout out to the Beedie Ambassadors stating how young leaders are “looking to all of us [current leaders] to see how to behave and this offers an opportunity to influence through public service and volunteering.” During her award acceptance speech, Carole also mentioned that, “it’s not going to get better, unless we’re all engaged and participating.” It was great to see leaders in business engaging with students and acting as strong role models.
Other notable attendees included Beedie School of Business Dean Blaize Reich, recently retired Vancouver Police Chief Jim Chu (SFU BBA alumnus), and former Canadian politicians Wally Oppal, Jack Austin, and Stockwell Day. As a student, it was an honour to be amongst established alumni and industry professionals.
Elio Luongo focused his speech on attributing his success as VBOT chair to his team, and Iain Black’s staff at the VBOT. Elio mentioned that the “the board has built necessary reserves to avoid financial challenges like they had had in the past five years, and as an accountant, he’s extremely delighted to see that.” We learn about the importance of leadership and teamwork, therefore, it was great to hear Elio highlight his team’s successes.
SFU President Andrew Petter would have been proud to hear all the engagement brought forth by our prestigious alumni. We ambassadors were honored to be attending such a high profile event on behalf of the Beedie School of Business. Events of this calibre inspire us to engage and participate within the governance of our province and country.
Brandon is in his final year studying Management & Technology and is pursuing a career that marries his passions in project management and technology. Currently, Brandon is participating in the tech entrepreneurship@SFU program developing an aerial imaging software business while doing consulting for small businesses part time. He loves his school, his community, and is excited for the future.