Reunite Alumni Awards Dinner
Every year as part of Reunite at Rotman, we recognize outstanding alums with Rotman Alumni Awards. These graduates exemplify the Rotman values of diversity, excellence, respect, and integrity. They have been incredibly successful while giving back to their organizations and communities.
Learn more about our 2023 Award winners:
Rotman Leader to Watch Award 2023
This award recognizes a young graduate who has a tremendous impact on their industry and has demonstrated a commitment to giving back to their community.
Naheed Kurji, MBA '12
President, Recursion Canada
Read Naheed's bio »
Tribute speaker:
Greg Stewart, MBA '13
Managing Partner, GreenSky Ventures
Rotman Volunteer Excellence Award 2023
This award recognizes the outstanding volunteer contribution of a graduate to Rotman/U of T and our mission.
Rachel Megitt, MBA '10
Vice President,
Term Investments & Savings,
RBC InvestEase
and Head, RBC Healthcare
RBC
Read Rachel's bio »
Tribute speaker:
Austin Pool
Vice-Principal, Toronto District School Board
Rotman Lifetime Achievement Award 2023
This award recognizes a seasoned graduate’s significant contributions to their organization, industry, and community.
Victor Dodig, BCOM '88
President and CEO, CIBC
Read Victor's bio »
Tribute speakers:
David Sylvester
President, and Vice-Chancellor, University of St. Michael’s College, University of Toronto
Vernon Lobo
Managing Director, Mosaic Capital Partners, LP
Thank you to our 2023 Table Sponsors
Naheed Kurji, MBA '12
President, Recursion Canada
Naheed Kurji is the President of Recursion Canada, the Canadian wholly-owned subsidiary of Recursion Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: RXRX). Before joining Recursion, Naheed was the Co-founder, President, and CEO of Cyclica, a Toronto-based biotech company (acquired by Recursion in May 2023). At Cyclica, Naheed had the distinct privilege of working with an incredibly talented and dedicated team that was considered one of the pioneers of what is now the increasingly hot space of AI for Drug Discovery and Development. Naheed is also a co-founder and Board Member of EntheogeniX Biosciences, a psychedelic-inspired biotech company for mental health jointly founded with atai Life Sciences (NASDAQ: ATAI), co-founder of the Alliance for Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare (AAIH) for which he served as Chair until May 2023, Board Member of the Ontario Bioscience Innovation Organization (OBIO), and Member of the Life Sciences Advisory Group for Global Affairs Canada. Naheed is passionate about how people interact with technology to inform effective decision-making while dedicated to advancing the responsible application of AI to healthcare and its impact on patients. Naheed holds an MBA from Rotman School of Business and an undergraduate degree from the University of Ottawa.
Rachel Megitt, MBA '10
Vice President, Term Investments & Savings, RBC InvestEase and Head, RBC Healthcare at RBC
Rachel Megitt is Vice President of Term Investments & Savings, RBC InvestEase and RBC Healthcare for Personal Banking & Investments (PBI), and Personal & Commercial Banking (P&CB) at RBC. Rachel is responsible for the overall strategic direction of the Term Investments and Savings and RBC InvestEase businesses, product development, distribution strategy, pricing and yield management. These offerings create the ultimate opportunity to serve and meet clients’ savings and investment needs. Alongside running these businesses, Rachel is also responsible for leading RBC’s Healthcare segment to drive innovative value propositions, new client growth and strategic partnerships.
In Rachel’s previous role as Senior Director, Product Management, Term Investments & Savings, Rachel created a first-ever partnership between P&CB and RBC Capital Markets that saw the launch of two new equity-linked GICs in July 2021, the first new GIC products since 2015. Before joining PSI in July 2020, Rachel was the Managing Director and Head of Business Transformation Canada within the Strategy and Transformation Group for RBC Capital Markets. Rachel led regional and global strategic initiatives with broad enterprise implications in this position, including the Inter-bank Offered Rates (IBOR) Benchmark Reform Program. Rachel joined RBC Capital Markets in 2011 after spending more than five years working with human capital strategy, healthcare strategy and management consulting.
Rachel holds a Joint Honours degree in Economics and Political Science from McGill University, where she served as President of the Arts Undergraduate Society. She also has a Master of Arts in Business Economics from Wilfrid Laurier University and an MBA from the Rotman School of Management. While at Rotman, Rachel served as the President of the Graduate Business Council.
Rachel’s commitment to her community has been recognized through several awards, including the Gordon Cressy Award; the Rotman Citizenship Award; the Women in Capital Markets (WCM) Rising Star Award; and the University of Toronto’s Arbor Award.
Throughout her nine years in RBC Capital Markets, Rachel took a particular interest in the advancement of women. From 2012 to 2015, she served as Chair of SheBiz, an all-day business symposium for young women in high school. From 2015 to 2017, she served as the Co-Chair of RWomen – an employee resource group dedicated to fostering inclusion and women’s career aspirations within the firm. Currently, Rachel is a member of the P&CB National Office and Regional Office Diversity Leadership Councils.
In 2014, Rachel created Ladies Who Lunch (LWL), a program designed to educate young women in high school on opportunities available to them in the finance industry. LWL invites young women from numerous schools to attend a personal lunch with a female RBC employee. Building on the success of the Toronto events, Rachel recently expanded the program to Calgary and Montreal, seeing well over 100 young women welcomed by RBC each year. In 2018, Rachel helped launch RBC Academy in Canada, an after-school club for high school students highlighting careers and opportunities in Capital Markets. During the pandemic, Rachel has worked to move RBC Academy into a digital format and to launch a new online community focused on young women and their future career opportunities.
Rachel previously represented RBC Capital Markets as a Director on the Rotman Financial Services Advisory Board. She served as a member of the Advisory Committee for the Dean of the Joseph L. Rotman School of Management. Most recently, Rachel served as a Director on the University of Toronto Alumni Association Board. Currently, Rachel serves as Chair of the RBC InvestEase Board and is a member of the Royal Trust Executive Committee.
Victor Dodig, BCOM '88
President and CEO, CIBC
Victor Dodig leads a global team of over 47,000 team members who live CIBC’s purpose every day – to help make our clients’ ambitions a reality.
Under Victor’s tenure, CIBC has transformed into a relationship-oriented bank for the modern world, with a North American platform for growth and a commitment to enable a more sustainable future for all stakeholders. He has helped to shape CIBC’s client-focused, highly connected culture – a differentiator for the bank in a competitive market.
Before becoming CEO, Victor held several senior leadership roles within CIBC, including leading the bank’s Wealth Management business and its Retail Banking network across Canada. Through these roles, Victor furthered his commitment to putting clients first – a principle that dates back to his first role at CIBC as a part-time CSR, where he met with clients daily.
Over the course of his career, Victor has also led several businesses with UBS and Merrill Lynch in Canada and internationally and was a management consultant with McKinsey & Company.
Victor strongly advocates for Canada on the world stage and is a proponent of economic growth to enable a more prosperous and inclusive future. He serves as the current Chair of the Business Council of Canada and was President of the 2022 International Monetary Conference. He is a member of the International Advisory Committee of the Brookings Institute and serves on the board of Telus Corporation Inc.
Victor is committed to inclusion to strengthen our social fabric and as an economic imperative. He serves as Chair of CIBC’s Inclusion and Diversity Leadership Council and is Past Co-Chair of the Black North Initiative. He is a recipient of the 2017 Catalyst Canada Honours (Company Leader) Champion award, is Past Chair of the Catalyst Canada Advisory Board and Past Chair of the 30% Club Canada.
He graduated from the Harvard Business School, earning an MBA and being recognized as a Baker Scholar. Victor holds a diploma from the Institut d'études politiques in Paris and completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Toronto (St. Michael's College) in Commerce. He has received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Toronto Metropolitan University.
Victor resides in Toronto with his wife, Maureen. They are the proud parents of four children.
Greg Stewart, MBA '13
Managing Partner, GreenSky Ventures
Greg Stewart earned his Rotman MBA in 2013. He is currently a Managing Partner of GreenSky Ventures, which has been investing in Canadian technology start-ups without interruption since 2015.
Before coming to Rotman, Greg was an Equity Analyst at Neuberger Berman in New York, where he worked on the Genesis Fund, one of the world’s largest and highest returning Small Cap Value funds. Subsequently, Greg spent nine years as CFO of American Strategic Insurance, which grew to over half a billion dollars in revenue during his tenure, winning Best Workplace in the Tampa Bay, Florida area multiple times along the way. The company was acquired by Progressive Insurance and now has over 2,000 employees, 100X growth since his starting date.
Greg is also Founder of two independent film companies: Istic Illic Pictures, which produced the Canadian Academy Award Best Picture nominee WHITE LIE, amongst others, and ALL FACTS, which recently produced the TELEMARKETERS series on HBO. He co-founded the Rockaway Film Festival in New York City.
Greg is also a graduate of the University of Florida and is an advocate for warm climate to cold climate immigration. (Wait for laughs.)
Austin Pool
Vice Principal, Toronto District School Board
Austin Pool has dedicated his career to serving the underserved communities in Toronto's west end as an educator for the Toronto District School Board. With over 15 years of experience, he has held various teaching and leadership positions, in the areas of Student Services, Special Education, and Cooperative Education. He is deeply passionate about equity and anti-oppressive teaching practices, student success, and supporting students through coaching, experiential learning, and school leadership initiatives.
Throughout his career, Austin has been at the forefront of incorporating critical consciousness into school teaching practices, professional learning, and student leadership. One of his notable accomplishments was leading and coordinating the development of a mosaic of Black Canadian Pioneers, creating a more inclusive and culturally relevant environment for the school community stakeholders at a secondary school in Toronto's west end.
In 2018, Austin's passion for experiential learning led to a partnership with Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) Capital Markets. Through this collaboration, he helped develop an ongoing program called RBC Academy, which focuses on financial literacy for Grade 12 students in underserved communities. Austin led a team of school staff alongside a leadership team and volunteers from RBC Capital Markets in creation and delivery of a modular learning program that equips students with the knowledge and skills to make informed financial decisions after secondary school. The program also provides real-world experience, professional mentorship, and opportunities for leadership development.
Currently, Austin has transitioned from teaching to school administration and serves as the Vice-Principal for a midtown secondary school with the TDSB. Outside of work, he resides in Whitby with his wife Alexis and their daughter Olivia.
Dr. David Sylvester
President, and Vice-Chancellor, University of St. Michael’s College, University of Toronto
Dr. David Sylvester is currently in his 24th year as a Canadian university and college president. He was appointed the 8th President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of St. Michael’s College in the University of Toronto in 2018. Previously, David served two terms as Principal of King’s University College at Western, was the founding President of Corpus Christi College of liberal arts established at U.B.C. and the first lay principal of St. Mark’s Theological College, Vancouver. A professor of medieval social and economic history, he holds an M.A. and a Ph.D. from Fordham University, New York City and has taught for three decades in universities in Canada and the United States.
David currently serves on the Education Committee and is past chair of the Governance Committee of Universities Canada. He also serves on the boards of the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies and the Toronto School of Theology at the University of Toronto. Former national chair of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities of Canada and co-chair of the Institute for New Presidents for the 225-member Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities’ based in Washington, D.C. he also served for four years on the Board of the Canadian Federation of the Humanities and Social Sciences.
In addition to his interest in university governance development, David is committed to advancing the role of universities as agents of community impact, especially in response to the TRC calls to action and the climate emergency before us.
Vernon Lobo
Managing Director, Mosaic Capital Partners, LP
Mr. Lobo is a founder and Managing Director of Mosaic Capital Partners, LP, a private investment fund. Through 28 years in the investment industry, Mr. Lobo has built several companies from start-up to acquisition or public listing, eight of which achieved valuations in excess of $100 million. Earlier in his career, Mr. Lobo was a consultant with McKinsey & Company and a software engineer at Nortel Networks. Mr. Lobo holds a BASc in Engineering from the University of Waterloo and an MBA from Harvard where he was a Baker Scholar.