Whether through a canned food drive for the Downtown Mission, a fashion show for Hiatus House, or a dinner for the Well-Come Centre for Human Potential, students in the Odette School of Business’s course in Management and Organizational Life made a substantial contribution to the community, says professor Martha Reavley.

The students form teams to design and execute projects that provide the framework for the application of a broad range of business skills. This year, they raised $35,000 and donated food, clothing and other goods to benefit 26 local charities.

An associate professor of management and human resources, Dr. Reavley is the course coordinator and works with instructors Renate Kobe and Ted Vokes. She says the young business leaders learned lasting lessons in personal and organizational leadership.

“The course develops students into business leaders who know the importance of making their leadership extend beyond personal success,” says Reavley. “Through their community work, they developed their team skills and grew their network.”

The course’s experiential learning component requires that students research the local community and identify an area for community development. Teams identify agencies that fit their values and the community’s needs. 

“This whole process was such a huge eye-opener for me,” says second-year student Shaphan Brown. “I can't explain how much I think this is going to help me in the future.”