Sir Terence Matthews to Co-Chair New Advisory Panel on Innovation and Entrepreneurship
with Algonquin College President Cheryl Jensen
Oct. 6, 2016 (Ottawa) — Algonquin College President Cheryl Jensen is pleased to announce a new President’s Advisory Panel on Innovation and Entrepreneurship to help guide the College in the coming years.
Canadian business magnate and high-tech entrepreneur Sir Terence Matthews will be co-chairing the panel with President Jensen, who was recently named to the board of directors of the National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship — making her the only Canadian representative on the board of the American organization.
“I am absolutely delighted to welcome Terry and our other panel members to Algonquin College — each one of them brings a different perspective and different skills to the table,” said Jensen. “Our students already have an entrepreneurial spirit, but this panel is going to give them the edge when it comes to turning their dreams into reality.”
The panel had its first meeting on Oct. 5 and enjoyed a wide-ranging discussion on topics such as 5G networks and building smarter cities.
Other members of the panel who participated in Tuesday’s meeting included:
Eli Fathi, Chief Executive Officer, Mind Bridge Analytics
Ian Faris, President and Chief Executive Officer, Ottawa Chamber of Commerce
Michael Oster, President, Ottawa Community Loan Fund
Paul LaBarge, Founding Partner, LaBarge Weinstein
Peter Charbonneau, Lead Director Mitel
Brian O’Higgins, Executive Fellow, Mistral Venture Partners
Robert Hanlon, Chief Operating Officer, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
The panel will advise on innovation and entrepreneurship initiatives at the College, overall strategic direction, fundraising strategies, potential partnerships and will also provide input on entrepreneurship programming and supports.
Under President Jensen, Algonquin College has increased its focus on entrepreneurship. In February it opened Ignite AC, an entrepreneurship centre for students that offers mentorship, guidance and resources.
More recently the College submitted a multimillion-dollar proposal to the federal government to help fund its state-of-the-art Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Learning Centre and Institute for Indigenous Entrepreneurship. An announcement regarding this proposal is expected very soon.
For more information:
Ruth Dunley, Communications Officer
Public Relations and Communications, Algonquin College
Office: 613-727-4723 ext. 6452
Mobile: 613-406-0970
dunleyr@algonquincollege.com About Algonquin College:
www.algonquincollege.com:
The mission of Algonquin College of Applied Arts and Technology is to transform hopes and dreams into lifelong success. Algonquin College, an Ontario public sector community college, does this by offering hands-on, digitally connected, experiential learning in more than 185 programs. Based in the Ottawa Valley, Algonquin College is the largest polytechnic institute in Eastern Ontario.
Second-year students from the Community and Justice Services program participated in “24 Hours of Homelessness” to raise money for Operation Come Home and to raise awareness of the issues facing people on the street. The 12th annual event was organized by Police & Public Safety Institute professor Cat Baron, who spent her 10th year staying out with the students in Minto Park off Elgin Street. The group raised funds through a Go Fund Me page. Student Alex Cloutier prepared this first-person report.
24 Hours of Homelessness By Alex Cloutier
Walking up to Minto Park at quarter to two on Friday afternoon, I was filled with a sense of excitement, but also a sense of apprehension. It was a busy area, cars and buses constantly streaming past on the street, pedestrians walking their dogs, stopping in to grab a coffee at Starbucks.
I knew that the crowded streets would be optimal for collecting as much money as possible, but I was also nervous about how all of these people walking past would react to us, a bunch of eager college students with handmade signs, interrupting their conversations and streams of thought to ask, “Would you like to donate in support of homeless youth?”
We were all set to spend the next 24 hours living outside, panhandling to raise money and awareness for Operation Come Home, an employment, education and support centre that offers outreach to homeless and at-risk youth.
The afternoon started out with high energy and enthusiasm, small groups of us stationed at various points along the street, eagerly holding out our collection cups and stopping every person that walked by. People were polite and would respond with a “sorry, not today” or “I don’t have any change.”
Those who did donate would ask us about our cause, emptying their pockets or digging through their bags. More often than not though, pedestrians would just pass by us in silence, looking at their phone or staring straight ahead.
As the hours began to wear on, this enthusiasm and energy began to wane. I started to become tired, my voice hoarse from speaking to so many people. I began to feel the wind through my sweater and suddenly the noise of the city seemed so loud.
Nineteen more hours to go. As my mood began to change, I found myself starting to take things personally.
Every person that walked past avoiding eye contact and ignoring my attempt to speak to them made me feel as if I wasn’t worth a glance or the time of day.
After several hours, the message became clear: I meant nothing.
I began to feel myself wishing that I was back at home, snuggled under a blanket on the couch with my dog and doing homework.
And that was an option for me.
I had a home to go back to, filled with warmth and safety. This is not a reality for the hundreds of homeless youth that we were trying to support.
As the night went on, I found it more and more challenging to remain positive, especially as pedestrians became argumentative and aggressive towards me or my classmates.
What got me through the night was knowing that we were in it together and that we were only experiencing a small taste of what it meant to be homeless.
Soon morning came, and while we were all tired and hungry, we felt renewed.
We were humbled by our experience and by the generosity that we were shown. Many people emptied their wallets, some went to the bank and came back with 50s in their hands.
Countless numbers of people took the time to stop and speak to us, to give us their support and encouragement.
Despite those who gave negative comments, lashed out at us, yelled at us or ignored us, it was the overwhelming positivity and generosity of those who donated and spoke to us that will stick with me.
I am so grateful for having this experience and for being able to give back to a community that desperately needs our help and support.
Photo: Claude Brulé, Vice President Academic, top left, and Cheryl, top right, visited the students during their 24-hour stay in Minto Park.
OTTAWA — Following Algonquin College’s announcement last month that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Algonquin College – Saudi Arabia LLC, was investigating the return of its Jazan campus, on September 6, 2016, Colleges of Excellence requested Algonquin work to transfer oversight to the UK-based private-sector provider, Interserve Education and Employment. Since being notified, Algonquin College – Saudi Arabia LLC has worked diligently to ensure a smooth transition of operations to the new provider. The College will maintain a small presence in Jazan through the end of October to complete the transition process.
Algonquin College – Saudi Arabia has committed to costs of $3.2 million, comprised of employee and supplier settlements ($2.95M) and legal fees ($250K) against an estimated cost of $4.3 million. As previously reported, no taxpayer funds are being used to cover these amounts.
Colleges of Excellence is the Saudi authority responsible for establishing relationships with more than a dozen post-secondary institutions from around the world. These international schools support the Kingdom in its bid to expand applied training, particularly in the trades, in order to satisfy the growing need for skilled workers in the desert country.
The Jazan campus, which opened in 2013, is part of the College’s broader international portfolio that is an overall net contributor to Algonquin College’s revenues.
Early birds will want to have caffeine in hand on Friday morning — Algonquin College will be featured in a segment about a proposed new program that’s all about coffee. (And it’s the perfect day to toast with a cup of java since Thursday was National Coffee Day and Saturday will be International Coffee Day.)
The Art of the Barista is a new four-week course expected to start at the College in January. Co-ordinated by AC’s Wes Wilkinson and Michael Bakogeorge, it will feature two weeks of study at the Ottawa campus to learn everything from coffee-brewing techniques to the proper way to foam milk. Then, coffee-loving students will head to Costa Rica for two more weeks of study, this time on a coffee plantation where they’ll learn about agricultural management, coffee varieties, history, and cultural connections with coffee.
Ottawa Morning host Robyn Bresnahan is scheduled to interview Wes Wilkinson and Roberto Dormond, Costa Rica’s Ambassador to Canada, about the new program and the best of coffee this Friday. Listen live at 6:15 a.m. on 91.5 FM.
Delegates to an Ottawa gathering of the brightest young leaders from around the world will be on the Algonquin College campus on Friday to attend workshops and a dinner at Restaurant International.
The break-out sessions at the college follow two days of presentations, panel discussions and networking breaks at the main event centre. Twenty-seven delegates are to attend the college-organized workshop on indigenous entrepreneurship and another 18 will explore the energy infrastructure transformation happening at the college at a Siemens-sponsored workshop.
Delegates from both workshops will gather for dinner at Restaurant International prepared by students in the Indigenous Pre-Apprenticeship program.
Before moving into their sessions, the delegates will be welcomed to the college by Ron McLester, Executive Director and Special Advisor to the President on Aboriginal Initiatives, and Cheryl, who will offer opening remarks.
Founded in 2009 in Britain, the One Young World summit bring together leaders aged 18 to 30 from governments, companies, universities and NGOs and other organizations worldwide along with world leaders to make connections and explore solutions for pressing world issues. Past summits have been held in Bangkok, Dublin, Johannesburg, Pittsburgh, Zurich and London.
The four-day gathering in Ottawa is drawing delegates from 196 countries.
Among the world leaders scheduled to attend the Ottawa summit are Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, former U.S. secretary general Kofi Annan, Canadian Olympic gold medalist Mark Tewksbury, singer and Oscar-winning actress Cher, musician and former child soldier, Emmanuel Jal, WE Movement co-founder Marc Kielburger, actress and activist Emma Watson and musician and political activist Sir Bob Geldof.
U.S. Ambassador Bruce Heyman joined Chef Bob Gelinas and two of his students in the Algonquin College kitchens on Monday, where he engaged in some “food diplomacy.”
The ambassador, whose relaxed manner and off-the-cuff joke easily engaged the students and others gathered for the event, was on campus to promote American produce. He was welcomed to the college by Vice-President Academic Claude Brulé.
Before beginning to cook, Heyman made a few remarks, saying Canada and the United States enjoy the largest bilateral trading relationship in the world, worth more than $40 billion every year.
He pointed in particular to nuts, cheese and tomatoes, the latter of which were ingredients in the tomato tart he prepared with the help of second-year students, Mathew Ju and Thomas Ferraton.
Heyman prepared a tomato tart, which included a pastry base, custard, spinach, Florida tomatoes and an Asiago-style cheese from Wisconsin.
After the tart was prepared, Heyman asked Gelinas a few questions about the culinary program at the college, mentioning that he would be eating the tomato tart and a second appetizer to be served this evening service at Restaurant International.
“What a tough job,” the ambassador joked, to which Gelinas replied, ”Somebody’s got to do it.”
Once the tart was prepared, the ambassador toured other parts of the School of Hospitality, and spoke with
On his arrival, Heyman was greeted by Chef Cory Haskins, who served two U.S. ambassadors as executive chef and who is now the co-ordinator of all culinary programs at the college.
He said it’s great to have the ambassador visit, both for the culinary program and for the students.
“It’s fantastic,” he said. “It’s always great to have dignitaries visit.”
Photo:Students Mathew Ju and Thomas Ferraton, left and second left, prepared a tomato tart with U.S. Ambassador Bruce Heyman, under the direction of Algonquin Chef Bob Gelinas, right.
OTTAWA — Algonquin College is honoured to welcome U.S. Ambassador to Canada Bruce A. Heyman to its Ottawa campus on Monday, Sept. 26, 2016.
Ambassador Heyman will be visiting Algonquin College’s School of Hospitality and Tourism, where he will meet students in our culinary programs and collaborate with Algonquin Chef Robert Gelinas to prepare a special meal featuring American produce.
“We are honoured to welcome Ambassador Heyman to our campus and our kitchens,” said Algonquin College President Cheryl Jensen. “Our culinary program has produced many celebrated alumni who can be found managing kitchens in several embassies right here in Ottawa and in some of the best restaurants around the world.”
Ambassador Heyman is a strong advocate of food diplomacy as a means to create people-to-people connections and to demonstrate the importance of U.S.-Canada agricultural trade.
“Food is a fantastic way to bring people together, and it’s a particularly good way to celebrate the strong relationship between the United States and Canada. Our two countries are each other’s largest export markets for agricultural products. We exchange more than $42 billion in agricultural goods every year. I look forward to working with Algonquin’s student chefs to highlight the safety, quality, and value that our U.S. producers offer. I know from personal experience how talented Algonquin grads are because Chef Dino Ovcaric, the chef at my official residence, went to Algonquin,” said Ambassador Heyman.
Ambassador Heyman will be greeted by Chef Cory Haskins, himself a former Executive Chef to the United States ambassador, now the coordinator of all culinary programs at the College.
“We encourage our students to experiment with ingredients from around the world,” said Chef Haskins, “so we are thrilled to be able to host Ambassador Heyman and have him tell us about fresh U.S. ingredients that we can incorporate into our work.”
Algonquin College is home to more than 2,000 international students from 90 different countries, including the United States. The College also has a series of pathway agreements with American post-secondary institutions to facilitate cross-border studies for students from the United States and Canada.
— 30 —
When: Monday, Sept. 26, 2016 Where: Algonquin College, Ottawa Campus, 1385 Woodroffe Ave. Location: Philip Killeen Hospitality Centre, Building H, Room H125 Time: Media should plan to arrive at 11:45 a.m. Official visit will begin at noon. Parking: Outside Restaurant International RSVP: Ruth Dunley, dunleyr@algonquincollege.comFor Algonquin College:
Ruth Dunley, Communications Officer
Public Relations and Communications, Algonquin College
Office: 613-727-4723 ext. 6452
Mobile: 613-406-0970 dunleyr@algonquincollege.com
For U.S. Embassy Ottawa:
Nicole Wootten, Media Assistant
U.S. Embassy, Ottawa
Office: 613-688-5316 woottennb@state.gov
The mission of Algonquin College of Applied Arts and Technology is to transform hopes and dreams into lifelong success. Algonquin College, an Ontario public sector community college, does this by offering hands-on, digitally connected, experiential learning in more than 185 programs. Based in the Ottawa Valley, Algonquin College is the largest polytechnic institute in Eastern Ontario.
Find out what you need to know about the C building construction project at our new website See Us Grow, at algonquincollege.com/cusgrow.
You’ll find out what the project’s all about and who’s moving and where to. Look for our “disruption forecast” that will offer daily updates about disruptions to your usual pathways around the college.
This week, you’ll see that the Library is on the move, with some disruption to the current space on Wednesday and Thursday and the move beginning Friday evening. The Library will reopen in its new space on Wednesday, September 28.
You can also watch See Us Grow for stories about the people who are making this project happen, and the hopes it raises for the future.
And you can sign up for a weekly newsletter that will draw on the stories posted on See Us Grow.
Ottawa Life magazine has put Cheryl on its 2016 list of Top 25 People in the Capital. The magazine called Cheryl “a transformational force” at the college, and credited her with raising the college’s profile in the community.
“A lover of innovation and excellence, Jensen has reached out to governments and other post-secondary institutions in the city, and has developed partnerships with businesses small and large,” the magazine says in its profile.
Cheryl also told the magazine that the people of Ottawa made transition to this city from her hometown of Hamilton an easy one.
“Everything about the city is to me extremely appealing,” the magazine quotes them as saying. “But the fact that I was made to feel at home so quickly has just been an absolutely wonderful experience.”
To read the full profile, click here and go to page 29.
IgniteAC hosted an open house last week welcoming 175 visitors to learn about and open up discussions on innovation and entrepreneurship at the college.
“This week was so exciting — to see and speak to all the students at the college who were interested in innovation and entrepreneurship and to give them insight into all the ways that we can help them,” said AC Entrepreneurship Manager Leanna Verrucci. “Our goal at the centre is that anyone who walks through our doors, be they students, faculty or staff, leave with an answer to their question. If we are unable to help them through the people, programs and resources that we have here at the college, then we direct them to who can help them in the larger Ottawa ecosystem.”
Open house week offered students help to understand the offerings available to them and hear about personal experiences shared by four SUMMIT2016 graduates; Godfrey Joekumar (Startup Algonquin and BookPort), Len Bunce (Safe Point), Patrick Mahaffy (Go-Free), and Gillian Cochrane (Ottawa EcoDome).
SUMMIT is a three-month summer entrepreneurship boot camp designed to offer students workshops, offsite events, funding, mentoring, and the confidence to move their ideas forward.
“The most helpful thing I got from Summit was meeting my mentor,” explains SUMMIT2016 graduate Len Bunce. “She was helpful and pushed me a lot. She was instrumental in my making progress.”
“You might fail, you will probably fail — learn from that mistake and keep going forward. Everyone here wants to help and that’s the beauty of this,” said SUMMIT2016 graduate and Startup Launchpad founder Godfrey Joekumar when asked about his experience with the IgniteAC Centre.
Andrew Foti, Executive in Residence and Chris Doré, Entrepreneur in Residence, both known as EIRs, were also available during open hours last week to answer questions and provide guidance to interested entrepreneurs.
“It’s a huge step in the right direction. Creating the environment where students can come in with creative and innovative ideas, and then implement them in the real world. A lot of people come in here with a big idea, but no direction. We have a ton of services that help guide them,” said Doré when asked how IgniteAC has impacted the college’s entrepreneurship resources. “There are people here that have these dreams and that’s what this centre is about — fulfilling these dreams and giving them a shot to achieve something better than themselves.”
Doré will continue to be available in the centre for “Ask the EIR” open hour sessions on Wednesdays from 12 to 3 p.m. and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. beginning the week of September 12th.
The centre is tangible evidence of the college’s commitment to EXPOSE, ENGAGE and ENABLE innovation and entrepreneurship. IgniteAC is a hub that provides co-ordinated, integrated and seamless services to students and faculty who have curiosity or aspirations around entrepreneurship to ensure they have access to the range of people, programs, partnerships, education and resources available to them within the College and the wider Ottawa ecosystem.
This diverse ecosystem consists of people and organizations such as; Startup Garage, Lead to Win, L-Spark, Invest Ottawa, The HUB, YENGO, TIE Ottawa, Collab Space— to name a few — who help support young entrepreneurs and innovators in Ottawa.
The IgniteAC Centre launched in February 2016 and is located on “Main Street” in the C Building of the Ottawa campus. It offers three boardrooms and two areas for entrepreneurs to congregate and work. Space will be provided on a first-come-first-served basis and available for entrepreneurship-related activities — starting a business, moving a business forward, meeting with clients.
“Ignite” your spark at Algonquin College’s Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (C151).
The Algonquin College website uses cookies to enhance your browsing experience. The cookies categorized as "Essential" are stored on your browser and enable the basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies to help us analyze how you use the website to maximize performance, store your preferences, and provide you with relevant content and advertisements. You can choose to allow all cookies or only allow a selection, but disabling some of them may affect your browsing experience. View our privacy statement.
These cookies cannot be turned off as they are required to enable the basic features of this site. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.
These cookies are used to collect preferences, compile site usage information, and improve the efficiency of the website.
These cookies allow us and partner companies to make our marketing efforts more relevant and to optimize the effectiveness of our ads.
