Media releases

• Business comms grad to be honoured as Indigenous Leader

  Friday, June 07, 2024 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE: June 6, 2024 – R0074

  When he’s recognized as Brock’s Indigenous Leader Speaker Series honouree later this month, Jonathan (Jon) Davey (BA ’05) will detail his path to business success — including his time at the University.

  Davey is Haudenosaunee and a proud member of the Lower Cayuga of Six Nations of the Grand River. He is also Chief of Staff to the President and CEO of Scotiabank, as well as the first Brock University graduate to receive the Indigenous Leader designation.

  Davey will share insight into his professional journey during an online community event Thursday, June 20, in advance of National Indigenous Peoples Day on June 21. Held from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., the webinar is a collaboration between Brock’s Indigenous Engagement Office and the Goodman School of Business.

  “The selection of Jon as this year’s leader was easy,” said Robyn Bourgeois, Brock University’s Vice-Provost, Indigenous Engagement, who will join Davey in conversation. “As an Indigenous alumnus of Brock University, a member of our Board of Trustees and a thriving member of the business community, he was an obvious choice.

  “I think participants will be eager to learn how this Brock grad approaches leadership and has achieved remarkable success as a business leader.”

  At Scotiabank, Davey assists with specialized Indigenous client solutions, drawing on his experience as the company’s former Head of Indigenous Financial Services (2018-2023). He created first-to-market products such as the First Nations Leasehold Financing Program as well as Indigenous-specific investment vehicles to optimize tax benefits.

  He has more than 10 years of experience as Federal Crown counsel in the Aboriginal Law Division of the Department of Justice Canada (DOJ), focusing on land management and administration on reserve lands as well as complex negotiations. While at the DOJ, he was selected as the Special Advisor and Counsel to the Assistant Deputy Minister of Aboriginal Affairs.

  He also serves as a Captain in the Canadian Armed Forces primary reserve, is the recipient of the Canadian Forces Decoration and holds the appointment of Aide de Camp to the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario. Davey is a member of Brock’s Board of Trustees, a Director with the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business and the Chair of the Audit and Finance Committee for the Ontario College of Teachers.

  During his studies at Brock, Davey was a student in Goodman Dean Barry Wright’s undergraduate leadership class.

  “I’m incredibly excited to have Jonathan as our 2024 Indigenous Leader and for our community to learn from his experience,” Wright said. “I have been able to see him grow from a curious mind in the classroom to a shining example of a visionary leader and look forward to listening and learning from his insights.”

  In addition to his Honours Bachelor of Arts in Business Communication from Brock, Davey holds a Master of Public Administration degree from Cornell University and a Juris Doctorate from Osgoode Hall Law School, where he is currently an Adjunct Professor. He has been an Action Canada Fellow, a Cornell Institute for Public Affairs Fellow and recently was named one of Canada’s Top 40 under 40 by PwC and Caldwell Partners.

  This is the fourth annual Indigenous Leader Speaker Series. Previous honourees include Karen MacKenzie, co-founder and President of MacKintosh Canada, Mallory Yawnghwe, founder and CEO of Indigenous Box, and Jenn Harper, founder of Cheekbone Beauty Inc.

  To receive a link to the free virtual community event, please register online.

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

  * Maryanne St. Denis, Manager, Content and Communications, Brock University mstdenis@brocku.ca or 905-246-0256

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  Categories: Media releases

• What the launch of Northern Super League signals for the future of professional women’s sports

  Thursday, June 06, 2024 | By Brock University

  EXPERT ADVISORY: June 5, 2024 – R0073

  With the newly named Northern Super League (NSL) officially set for kickoff, Canadian women can finally launch their careers in the beautiful game without leaving their home turf.

  Previously referred to as Project 8, the NSL will debut in 2025 as the first professional women’s soccer league in the country.

  Shannon Kerwin, Associate Professor of Sport Management at Brock University, says the NSL offers a much-needed pathway for women who play to develop in and through the Canadian system.

  It may also serve to encourage young women to pursue their dreams of playing professional sports here at home, says Michele Donnelly, Assistant Professor of Sport Management.

  The opportunity for women athletes to both “continue their careers beyond university and earn a living playing their sport ensures that girls understand professional sport as a possibility,” she says.

  Record-breaking viewership of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup and increased attention to qualifiers for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games and other friendly matches point to a “healthy appetite for women’s professional soccer in Canada,” says Assistant Professor of Sport Management Taylor McKee.

  “It is beyond question that Canada has desperately needed a domestic professional option to stem the churn of talented players of all ages to all corners of the globe,” he says. “There is no doubt that the calibre of soccer will be high and if the overall product is relevant, thoughtfully marketed and engaging to fans, it will draw significant interest.”

  The new league presents “remarkable opportunities for women to be involved — and stay involved” off the field, too, says Kerwin.

  Rather than the historically competitive and exclusionary spaces often encountered in professional sports, the NSL was built with inclusion and collaboration as its core guiding principles.

  “This type of environment of inclusion and collaboration is where women thrive,” Kerwin says.

  The announcement comes on the tailwinds of a groundswell of milestones in professional women’s sports this year.

  In addition to the launch of the NSL, the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) recently concluded its first season and the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) announced its expansion into Canada with a Toronto franchise earlier this month. Women will also play at the World Lacrosse Box Championships for the first time in the fall.

  “Many of us are reacting to the events of 2023 and 2024 with an ‘it’s about time’ response,” says Donnelly.

  While this wave of interest has been “an exciting moment for women’s sport in Canada and beyond,” she says recent milestones should also be viewed as part of a long-term, but inconsistent, effort to advance women’s sports.

  The Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games being referred to as the “Women’s Games” is one example of a similarly positive and hopeful moment in women’s sports history, Donnelly says, and it will ultimately take “consistent, intentional action to achieve gender equality in sport.”

  Each professional sports league must also be given “the grace to succeed, or fail, without it serving as the final determination of the sport’s future in Canada or whether women’s sport can occupy a substantial place in the sporting marketplace,” stresses McKee.

  Kerwin adds the demand to play, watch and lead women’s professional sports teams should also not be seen as “a trend or fad.”

  “The ability to connect with women’s sport and athletes within these leagues is far greater than anything we have seen in other leagues across the globe,” she says. “If we continue to see women’s sport leagues as leagues on their own merit — and not compare to men’s leagues in terms of their fan base — we can start to embrace the collective movement and sustainability of women’s sport leagues that are founded on excellence, collaboration and a unique value that is not, but should be, comparable to traditional sport leagues.”

  The rapid growth recently seen in women’s professional sport should not be “interpreted as the end of the story,” either, adds Donnelly.

  “Rather, the story must continue with increased, sustained and intentional investment of resources in girls’ and women’s sport at every level in Canada and globally.”

  Associate Professor Shannon Kerwin and Assistant Professors Michele Donnelly and Taylor McKee, all from Brock University’s Department of Sport Management, are available for media interviews on this topic.

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

  * Maryanne St. Denis, Manager, Content and Communications, Brock University mstdenis@brocku.ca or 905-246-0256

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  Categories: Media releases