NOTE: This media release was originally published by the University of Manitoba and has been cross-posted with permission.
$5.4 million donation will harness the power of business for greater social impact
On Nov. 4, UM launched the Chiu Centre for Business Serving Community at the I.H. Asper School of Business which will foster cultural change in capitalism through research, training and promoting business models that address social and ecological crises facing humanity.
Bruno Dyck, the inaugural Director of the Centre and Norman Frohlich professor in Business Sustainability at the Asper School of Business, says the Centre’s research can stimulate a new way to look at the purpose of business.
“What if the purpose of business was to create goods and services that truly serve society? If we didn’t have to maximize profits, and instead only needed to make enough profit, what would it look like then? We need a new approach to measuring the bottom line, and there is a strong hunger to know how business would look if we reframe people and the planet as priorities.”
The Centre is possible because of a transformational $5.4 million donation from Eleanor and Wayne Chiu, Calgary-based founders of Trico Homes, the Trico Charitable Foundation, and well-known for their commitment to community development and philanthropy through business.
“Thanks to this very impactful gift from Wayne and Eleanor Chiu, UM is launching a centre that will strengthen our ability to serve society. Business is a powerful tool of change, and it must be about more than just profit. This selfless gift supports big ideas that will change how we think about and do business,” says Michael Benarroch, President and Vice-Chancellor, University of Manitoba.
“I’m a big believer that businesses can drive social good while still making money. I want to show future business leaders this is possible—they can use their skills, entrepreneurial acumen to both succeed and contribute in ways that will make an impact for generations to come,” says Wayne Chiu, the founder and CEO of the Trico Group of Companies.
Some research suggests that under our current system, 95 per cent financial gains of globalization go to the richest 5 per cent, which may not be sustainable as the gap widens between the rich and poor. The Centre will look to foster culture change by investigating and promoting business models that address social and ecological crises facing the world.
“In the next 10 years, we as a society, as a business school, and university, need to think about how we harness the power of business for greater social impact. We have an opportunity to be a national leader in this area with this Centre,” added Dyck.
You can hear more insights from Bruno Dyck on the lastest What’s the Big Idea podcast. Pictures available below for use: Please credit David Lipnowski.
For more information: UM Media Relations. Email: mediarelations@umanitoba.ca
