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Concordia University Concordia celebrates 50 years!
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Concordia University Concordia celebrates 50 years!

Sustainability Ecosystem

Sustainability Ecosystem

About us

The Sustainability Ecosystem was founded in 2019 with a double mandate: think tank and facilitator-collaborator. As a think tank, SE initiates educational courses for students, professionals, and academics.  As a facilitator-collaborator, SE partners with other sustainability initiatives to attain positive impacts for the environment, society, and business. 

SE advocates strongly the following basic principles: Responsible Stewardship, Aligned Purpose, Dual Material Resiliency, and Objectively Assessed Impact. 

Mission

The Sustainability Ecosystem’s mission is to advance sustainable business practices through progressive education in Montreal and beyond.

We foster constructive interactions with multi-sectoral stakeholders and provide the tools and knowledge requierd to implement and advance sustainability practices. 

The Sustainability Ecosystem capitalizes on collective intelligence by bringing together industry experts, framework providers, task forces and practitioners to share content, increase transparency and advance education in the field of sustainability. 

Vision: The John Molson School of Business Sustainability Ecosystem will become the world’s leading business school in sustainability training and practices.

Mission: The John Molson School of Business Sustainability Ecosystem will educate and train leaders across Canada by:

  • Creating unique and innovative learning experiences for students and professionals 
  • Developing high-impact projects that will directly address sustainability problems 

Objectives

The Sustainability Ecosystem aims to:

  • Educate investors, corporations, policy-making organizations, students, academia and other stakeholders about sustainability subjects.  
  • Continue to provide applicable education on environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors to prepare current and future leaders. 
  • Create professional development opportunities, including internship and scholarship programs. 
  • Through applicable research, create relevant knowledge pertaining to sustainability issues and challenges.  
  • Continue to facilitate dialogue among Canadian and global asset owners to share best practices on how to tackle climate change risks and opportunities, as well as other sustainability challenges. 
  • Empower students, professionals, and policy makers to integrate sustainability into their decision-making by capitalizing on knowledge sharing.  
  • Act as an aggregator of sustainability content, centralizing information to make it more accessible.  
  • In partnership with industry experts, develop and deliver climate finance and investing workshops and micro-certifications. 
  • Help advance and support public policy on climate finance through convenings, white papers and stakeholder collaboration.

Expected results

The Sustainability Ecosystem hopes to:

  • Increase awareness and adoption of sustainability-related practices, frameworks and procedures for all the participating stakeholders.  
  • Position Montreal as a significant sustainability change agent.  
  • Provide training to companies in pursuit of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).  
  • For educational institutions: knowledge transfer and research dissemination to accelerate the adoption of sustainability-related topics for curriculum development at major universities in Canada.  
  • For asset managers and businesses: Through executive development and industry knowledge sharing, increase awareness among professionals and industry leaders that could adopt sustainable practices.  
  • For ESG consultants: Provide opportunities to expand and apply their knowledge in support of their clients, the environment and society. 

Our team

Amr Addas

Stephen Kibsey
An original founder of the SE and director.

Stephen has over thirty years of experience as an investment professional. He worked 21 years at one of Canada’s largest investment institutions as analyst, portfolio manager, business unit risk manager, and more recently as a vice-president in the Investment Stewardship group. During his career he also held the position of vice-president of Canadian equities during his ten years at one of Canada’s largest corporate pension funds. 

Stephen has for many years been at the forefront of responsible investment through his involvement with the creation of the Sustainable Investment Professional Certificate and the Sustainability Ecosystem at Concordia University. He has lectured at the Goodman Institute on risk management, investment portfolio construction as well as sustainability finance and climate change accounting at McGill University and Queen’s University. 

Stephen was a member of the Mining Association of Canada-Community of Interest Panel which gave feedback on the Toward Sustainable Mining protocols for 9 years and was one of the founding members of the Finance and Sustainability Initiative in Montreal.  He once sat on the Investment Committee and Risk Sub-committee of the McConnell Foundation in Montreal for 6 years. 

Stephen holds a Bachelor of Science in Physiology, a Bachelor of Engineering in Mining, a MBA, a SIPC, and was a CFA from 1991 to 2019. He has been recognized as a Brendan-Wood Top Gun portfolio manger from 2008-2010. Now retired, he currently does ESG coaching and mentoring for various organizations. 

Sophie Beaudet
Program Coordinator

Sophie Beaudet is a student at the John Molson School of Business and the VP of Projects of the John Molson Sustainable Enterprise Committee. She is passionate about moving the world forward in a more sustainable manner. She has interned at Mackenzie Investments in sustainable investing and at Clear Skies Investment Management as an investment and impact analyst. She is also involved in the case competition program at JMSB, and has competed regionally and internationally for the school. After graduation, she hopes to pursue a career in sustainable finance.  

The director of the SE is supported by a volunteer board of directors: Sophie Beaudet, Maria Maisuradze, Amr Addas, and Michel Brutti. 

For more information

Sustainability Ecosystem Team
Telephone: 514-848-3960
Email: sustainabilityecosystem@concordia.ca

*This Sustainability Ecosystem initiative is powered by the John Molson Executive Centre.

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