Rotman MBA Receives Forté Foundation Award

Alex Walker Turner, a 2017 MBA graduate from the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, has received the Edie Hunt Inspiration Award from the Forté Foundation. The award recognized her achievements in advancing women into business leadership positions as well as her significant contributions to her school and community.

In part, Turner received the award for her work establishing a new initiative, alongside four other Rotman classmates: Rotman LINKS. The initiative connects Rotman MBA students—both male and female—with female undergraduates across the University of Toronto campus to act as mentors for those interested in business as a career. It was a legacy project to help Rotman mentors gain volunteer experience as well as coaching skills.

“The idea was that a lot of us have non-traditional backgrounds,” Turner said in a Globe & Mail interview. “We wanted to open their [undergraduate] eyes to a broader set of possibilities with regards to career options.”

Turner also launched the first Canadian Graduate Women in Management Conference, which was held at Rotman earlier this year. The Conference theme for the inaugural year was “Men as Allies and the parity proposition.” Featured speakers included Bruce Simpson, a Senior Partner at McKinsey & Company, and Andrew Edwards, a Partner at Bain & Company.

The Edie Hunt Inspiration Award was named in honor of the Forté Foundation’s Board Chair Emeritus, Edie Hunt, who is a retied partner at Goldman Sachs. The award was presented to Turner during the Forté MBA Women’s Leadership Conference, which took place June 17 and 18 in Seattle, Washington.

“In her two years in the program Alex has had an impact on in the school and university on an almost daily basis,” Niki da Silva, Managing Director of the Rotman full-time MBA program, said in an interview.

The award marks the first time that a Rotman School student and Canadian business school was chosen.

regions: Toronto

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