Goodman School of Business Dean Barry Wright (left) leads at panel discussion at the Goodman Alumni Summit on navigating disruption with graduates Jason Sparaga (BBA ’93), Nadia Senchuk (MBA ’07) and Rhonda Klosler (BBA ’93).A new city and a focus on resilience in a changing world set the stage for an electric Goodman Alumni Summit in Toronto last month.
The annual alumni event left campus for the first time and brought together more than 60 graduates on the 68th floor of the BMO headquarters on Oct. 23, where leaders from across industries gathered to discuss what makes a resilient leader and how to navigate uncertainty.
During his keynote address, BMO Financial Group CEO Darryl White discussed the importance of developing resiliency in all employees, especially while managing compounding external pressures organizations are facing today.
Sixty Goodman graduates joined the School in Toronto Oct. 23 for the 2026 Goodman Alumni Summit.
Goodman Dean Barry Wright led an executive panel that shared strategies for navigating disruption and change featuring alumni Rhonda Klosler (BBA ’93), National COO at RSM Canada; Jason Sparaga (BBA ’93), Founder and Builder at Red Jar Capital; and Nadia Senchuk (MBA ’07), Co-Founder at Leaning Post Wines.
“If there’s one thread running through the summit, it’s this: Resilience isn’t something you have. It’s something you build. And it’s a lot easier to build when you have a community behind you. Which is exactly what this room is,” said Summit master of ceremonies Sean Chamberland (BBA ’17).
Steve Latinovich (BSM ’03), Managing Director of the Corporate Finance Division at BMO Financial Group, and Gary Chung, Head of Middle Market M&A at BMO Commercial Bank Canada, walked attendees through how to manage transaction certainty in uncertain mergers and acquisitions environments.
Next the Summit heard from Alicja Spaulding (BBA ’06), Marketing AI Consultant and Advisor at Status:Alpha, on what artificial intelligence (AI) fluency looks like now during a candid interactive session on what AI is, how fast it’s moving and what it asks of the people in charge.
For Goodman Alumni Network Chair Emad Kamali (BBA ’20), the summits show an importance of an alumni network after graduation.
“I hope every Goodman graduate left this year’s summit knowing one more person they could call for advice. That’s what I value most about bringing our alumni together. A session like the one on AI gives you a reason to turn to the person beside you and ask, ‘What does that look like in your line of work?’ Sometimes that’s all it takes to start a conversation that continues long after the summit.”
Goodman Legacy, an graduate-led group looking to amplify the School’s engaged alumni network, was the sponsor of the Summit.
