U of M gets $10 million in seed money to grow Manitoba leaders

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This article was published 03/05/2017 (3110 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Can you put a price on leadership?

Related Canadian business giants Great-West Life, Investors Group and Power Corp. did just that Wednesday with a $10-million donation to create a teaching and research arm at the University of Manitoba to develop a new generation of business, social and cultural leaders in the province.

“Today’s contribution is about investing in future leaders, not only for our companies, but also for our communities,” Great-West Life president and CEO Paul Mahon told about 100 people at the announcement at the insurance conglomerate’s Winnipeg headquarters.

Each year, the Institute for Leadership Development will offer from 10 to 30 students an opportunity to develop skills they can use to become leaders in their chosen fields. Details are still to be worked out, but the intent is to reserve one-third of the spaces for students from Manitoba’s other post-secondary institutions.

Students will engage with internationally renowned experts in business, politics, sports, public service, education, law, health and the arts. The institute will appoint chairs to run the program with the university and Canada’s top business and community leaders.

In a video statement from Montreal, Power Corp. chairman Paul Desmarais Jr. said the university approached him two years ago about contributing to its $500-million capital campaign, Front and Centre. University president and vice-chancellor David Barnard flew to Montreal to make the appeal in person, the Canadian business icon said. The two of them quickly settled on a leadership program.

From there, executives with Power Corp., Investors Group and Great-West Life worked out the details with university administrators to set up the donation.

Barnard called the donation “a visionary investment in our province’s future.”

Demarais noted the leadership roles James Burns and Ray McFeetors — both Manitobans — played at Power Corp. and Great-West Life.

The U of M institute model, which will include course work and internships, is considered unique in Canada; other leadership-focused programs tend to be targeted to business students. This program will provide training for a wide range of professionals.

“Leaders of tomorrow will face a much more challenging environment than we do today,” Investors Group president and CEO Jeff Carney said. “That is why we are investing to create this leadership institute, which will help prepare future leaders to successfully face those challenges.”

Last week, Great-West Life announced a major technology-focused transformation, with an investment in digital technologies at the cost of a 13 per cent reduction in its Canadian workforce, including the loss of 450 jobs in Winnipeg.

In a statement after Wednesday’s announcement, Mahon reconciled the timing of the job losses with the donation.

“The steps we announced last week were all about strengthening the company, and at the same time we’re trying to get our costs in line with the competitive environment,” he said.

“And then we’re saying it’s not just about technology. It’s about people. The investment we make in the university today will be the people who can join our company, other companies in Manitoba and across Canada to really forge ahead in a really tough and challenging business environment.”

In addition to the $10-million corporate donation, executives with the three related companies have pledged to raise another $2 million on their own for the training institute.

The university rolled out a three-year campaign to raise $500 million in 2015, and last fall it announced it had raised $409 million. However, that total included $150 million committed by former NDP premier Greg Selinger. While Progressive Conservative Premier Brian Pallister hasn’t shut the door on honouring the commitment, he has previously said he wasn’t elected to keep NDP promises.

The Front and Centre campaign is scheduled to wind up next spring.

alexandra.paul@freepress.mb.ca