Articles by author: Brock University

• Community event to honour Indigenous business leader

  Friday, June 09, 2023 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE: June 9 2023 – R0049

  Entrepreneur and consultant Karen MacKenzie will share insight into how she incorporates traditional knowledge of Indigenous ways into the workplace when she’s honoured during Brock University’s third annual Indigenous Leader Speaker Series.

  Taking place on National Indigenous Peoples Day, Wednesday, June 21, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., the online event is a partnership between Brock’s Indigenous Engagement Office and the Goodman School of Business.

  MacKenzie is the co-founder and president of MacKintosh Canada, an Indigenous-owned, international consulting company, as well as co-founder of PeopleBest Canada, an artificial intelligence company that looks at what makes success happen inside people, teams and organizations.

  She is passionate about advocacy work on Indigenization and decolonization.

  “The first step on the path of decolonization is to begin thinking and acting with kindness and gratitude,” MacKenzie says. “These practices lead to good relationships built on trust and respect. Relationships are the foundation of Indigenous business practices based on the notion of abundance leading to prosperity for all.”

  MacKenzie will be joined in conversation at the event by Robyn Bourgeois, Brock’s Vice-Provost, Indigenous Engagement. Bourgeois says MacKenzie is a shining example of Indigenous excellence.

  “In addition to being a successful entrepreneur, she has taught others how to do so also,” Bourgeois says. “She has advised governments and organizations about Indigenization and decolonization. Perhaps most importantly, she has formally and informally mentored so many Indigenous women, myself included, on how to be strong matriarchal leaders.”

  For the Goodman School of Business, this event is an opportunity to help amplify the voices of Indigenous business leaders, and to hear from a leader with significant experience developing people, communities and organizations, says Dean Barry Wright.

  “This is a tremendous opportunity for our students and community to hear directly from a leader who has significant experience developing contemporary workplaces,” Wright says. “Karen MacKenzie’s value of authentic co-creation of the future, through creating spaces for all voices to be heard in open, respectful manners, is an example for all leaders.”

  MacKenzie is a proud Cree-Métis woman who earned her Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from Saint Mary’s University and Master of Business Administration from Dalhousie University. She is an advocate for the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and a senior advisor and mentor to the Indigenous Women in Community Leadership, Coady Institute at St. Francis Xavier University.

  This is the third-annual Indigenous Leader Speaker Series, which is supported by the D.G. Willmot Foundation and is part of the D.G. Willmot Leaders Series. Previous honourees include Mallory Yawnghwe, founder and CEO of Indigenous Box, and Jenn Harper, founder of Cheekbone Beauty Cosmetics Inc.

  To receive a link to the free online community event, register through the Indigenous Leader Speaker Series website.

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

  * Doug Hunt, Communications and Media Relations Specialist, Brock University [email protected] or 905-941-6209 

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  Categories: Media releases

• Brock experts examine impact of PGA-LIV golf merger

  Tuesday, June 06, 2023 | By Brock University

  EXPERT ADVISORY: June 6 2023 – R0047

  With the announcement of a merger between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabian-owned LIV Golf, Brock experts have examined the impact of the oil-rich kingdom on the trajectory of world sport.

  Assistant Professor of Sport Management Taylor McKee says it is crucial to understand that the new golf deal is not the PGA tour swallowing up a competitor and is instead a genuine partnership that is being developed with Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund: the Public Investment Fund (PIF).

  “It would be naïve to imagine that this is the first instance of unsavoury money flowing into the coffers of professional sport organizations; however, it is important to note that the PIF is not simply purchasing a seat at the table: they are altering the blueprints, re-wiring the building and adding a pool to the backyard,” he says. “Just a year ago, PGA Tour officials and players were dead set against the incursion of Saudi money into the game, for reasons both legitimate and spurious. But the Tour now must acknowledge that either these issues have been resolved, which they have not, or that they are so satisfied with the financial upside of the deal that it outweighs their concerns regarding human rights.

  “Either way, this is a tricky situation with many questions left unanswered by the PGA,” McKee says.

  Associate Professor of Sport Management Michael Naraine says the deal is part of a long-term Saudi investment strategy into sport and entertainment.

  “Sport, elite sport especially, yields consistent returns over time, and so it’s not surprising to see the Kingdom diversify their investment strategy; this is ever more important as Western societies electrify and reduce their reliance on fossil fuels — where the Saudis make most of their cash,” he says. “However, there’s also the geo-political investment the Kingdom is making through ‘sportwashing,’ attempting to glaze over their record of human rights and social issue atrocities.”

  Through the ownership of football clubs in England, international circuit events like F1 and LIV golf, and even partnerships with the World Wrestling Entertainment machine, Naraine says not to expect Saudi financial involvement in sport to be a passing fad.

  “I don’t suspect the Saudis are going to stop investing in sport anytime soon,” he says. “In fact, their investments are only going to ramp up with a potential future target of an Olympic Games in 2036 or 2040, a so-called coming-out party of sorts.”

  In the present, as the battle between the PGA tour and a Saudi-funded renegade competitor ends with a merger, McKee says the priorities of all involved were obvious.

  “It’s clear that both sides are far more interested in collecting a ton of money than anything to do with morality,” he says.

  Brock University Assistant Professor of Sport Management Taylor McKee and Associate Professor Sport Management Michael Naraine are available for media interviews on the topic.

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews: 

  * Doug Hunt, Communications and Media Relations Specialist, Brock University [email protected] or 905-941-6209

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  Categories: Media releases