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I've spent nearly 30 years in a variety of education and skills-training environments, as well as research, strategic planning and program development roles. I served in academic and senior administration roles at the University of Waterloo and Laurier and held appointments on the Brantford Campus, in the Faculty of Arts, and at the Lazaridis School of Business & Economics.
I led Laurier's strategic bid to become a ChangeMaker Campus. As the Director of Social Innovation & Entrepreneurship, the Campus Change Leader, and Executive Director of the Schlegel Centre for Entrepreneurship, I developed extensive curricular and co-curricular social innovation programming across Laurier.
Prior to my academic career, I spent a decade as a project manager, consultant and business owner in the Information Technology sector. In addition to my career in the university sector, I have taught foreign languages at the high school level, developed employability and skills (re)training programs for federal and municipal government, taught information technology at the college level and English as a Foreign Language (EFL/ESL) to adults. I ran a private consulting business on information managment and continue to consult for small to medium size enterprises concerned with enhancing their social and environmental impact.
Doctorate
2008, University of Waterloo
Teaching Certifications
2017, Level 5 Teaching English as a Foreign Language Certificate, TEFL Academy, Dublin, Ireland
2006, Certificate in University Teaching, University of Waterloo
Business Certifications
2017, Venture Mentoring Service Certificate, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2017, Business Incubation Management Certificate, International Business Innovation Association
2017, Case Teaching and Writing Certificate, Ivey Business School at Western University
Social entrepreneurship and socio-economic capacity building including alternative economics, degrowth, artisanal and slow movements.
Higher education policy and practice.
Religions and society.
Developed and taught the courses for the Social Entrepreneurship Option in Arts, and served as the inaugural Program Coordinator.
Seconded to lead Laurier's strategic initiative for Social Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship RECODE programming.
Led Laurier's strategic initiative to develop a comprehensive social innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem and become an Ashoka Changemaker Campus (2017).
Created and launched Start@SIVC programs for female entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs and the Neighbourhood Changemaker's Program on Brantford campus.
At the request of the Dean of the Lazaridis School I revitalised the Schlegel Centre for Entrepreneurship and Social Innovation (previously the Schlegel Centre for Entrepreneurship established by Steve Farlow) and developed a comprehensive suite of social innovation and entrepreurship programming.
Earned the only Spotlight on Entrepreneurship Award (2017) awarded to a Canadian entrepreneurship centre from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB).
Related news articles:
2018 (Feb 2), Maclean's: Teaching Entrepreneurship and social Innovation at Wilfrid Laurier
2017 (Jan 18), Inside Halton News: Laurier Brantford's Community Innovation Hub Lauded by City Officials
2016 (May 18), The Chord: Schlegel Centre Renamed
2016 (May 09), Waterloo Chronicle: Wraps Taken Off New CityStudio Project
2016 (May 10), Inside Ottawa Valley News: WLU Centre Adds Social Innovation Focus
2016 (April 27), Inside Ottawa Valley News: Neighbourhood Projects Tap Power of Change
Students have been central to my social innovation projects at Laurier since 2011 when my CT220 and CT 400 cohorts on the Brantford Campus worked in the St. Leonard's Community Services, collaborated with the Muslim Association of Brantford, and partnered with the Community Living Brant to create social value and gain real-world experience.
As the inaugural Program Coordinator and faculty lead of the Social Entrepreneurship Option in Arts (Global Studies, 2014), I developed even more opportunities for students to engage in inspired, experiential learning with community and global partners. For example, I worked with alumni and students in the first SE cohort to design and develop The Purpose Lab on the Waterloo campus and the Community Innovation Hub in Brantford.
On being appointed to strategic leadership roles for enhancing social innovation opportunities across Laurier, I continued to incorporate student, alumni and community engagement through a suite of social innovation and entrepreurship programming.
I have supervised graduate students in the Cultural Analysis & Social Theory, and Religion Culture & Global Justice program on the Waterloo campus and the Social Justice & Community Engagement program on the Brantford campus. I am a continuing member of the UW/WLU Religious Diversity in North America program.
Monograph
- Religion in the Ranks: Belief and religious experience in the Canadian Forces. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. Foreword by Lieutenant-General Roméo Dallaire. 224 pages.
Edited Volume
- 2013. The World is my Classroom: International learning and Canadian higher education. Joanne Benham Rennick and Michel Desjardins, Eds. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. Foreword by Craig Kielburger and Marc Kielburger. 256 pages.
Book Chapters (Peer reviewed)
- 2021. Paradoxical Pilgrims: Remaking Religion in the Modern World. Walking the Camino de Santiago: Essays on Pilgrimage in the Twenty-First Century. Tiffany Trotman, Ed. Auckland: McFarland Press.
- 2016. Co-author with Tim Donais. From Fragility to Resilience: Social innovation at the nexus of conflict and development in Africa. 61-76. Security, Education, and Development in Contemporary Africa. Izarali, Masakure and Shizha, Eds. New York NY: Routledge.
- 2014. Canada. Religion in the Military Worldwide. 45-57. Ron E. Hassner, Ed. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.
- 2013. Co-author with Michel Desjardins. Towards a Pedagogy of Good Global Citizenship. The World is my Classroom: International learning and Canadian higher education. 10-28. Joanne Benham Rennick and Michel Desjardins, Eds. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
- 2013. Canadian Values, Good Global Citizenship, and Service Learning in Canada: A socio-historical analysis. The World is my Classroom: International learning and Canadian higher education. 36-73. Joanne Benham Rennick and Michel Desjardins, Eds. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
- 2013. Co-author with student Cathleen DiFruscio. Culture Shock, Cognitive Dissonance, or Cognitive Negotiation? Terms matter in service learning programs. The World is my Classroom: International learning and Canadian higher education. 100-132. Joanne Benham Rennick and Michel Desjardins, Eds. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Refereed Journal Articles
- 2019. Learning and Teaching as Emergent, Standardized, and Radical Concepts. Religious Studies and Theology. 1(38): TBD.
- 2015. Learning that Makes a Difference: Pedagogy and practice for learning abroad. Teaching and Learning Inquiry. 3(2): 71-88.
- 2013. Is Religion a Force for Good? Reformulating the discourse on religion and international development. Canadian Journal of Development Studies. 34(2): 175-188.
- 2013. Canadian Values and Military Operations in the 21st Century. Armed Forces and Society. 39 (3): 511-530.
- 2012. The New Mission Field? International service learning in Canadian universities. Journal of Global Citizenship and Equity Education. Rebecca Tiessen and Marc Epprecht, Eds. 2 (1): 91-107.
Current courses:
GS 321 Technology and Globalization
GS 353 Education and International Development
SE 300 Developing a Social Venture
Previous courses:
SE 400 Capstone Course in Social Entrepreneurship
SE 200 How to Change the World: Introduction to Social Entrepreneurship
GS 400 Research Seminar
GS 391 & 394 Arts Global Experience
GS 321 Wired World: Technology and Globalization
GS 202 Global Studies Research Methods
CT 220 Contemporary Studies Methodologies
CT 400k Issues in Development
SJ 602 Data Analysis in Social Justice Research
RE 650A Seminar in International Humanitarian Law