Lazaridis School welcomes alumni for career focused webinars geared towards incoming students

July 27, 2020

Wilfrid Laurier University’s Lazaridis School of Business and Economics developed a series of webinars for incoming undergraduate students.  Each webinar included an impressive panel of alumni who shared their knowledge and expertise about their respective careers.

The “Careers in…” Alumni Webinar Series was organized into four different sessions; Accounting, Economics, Marketing, and Finance. The webinars provided students with the unique opportunity to connect with a panel of both recent graduates and seasoned professionals.

“Starting university, picking courses, and plotting a career path can be challenging and overwhelming, yet also exciting for many students,” said Graham McCormick, Lazaridis corporate engagement officer and host of the webinar series. “These webinars were designed to create a casual and friendly environment for incoming students to learn from alumni who have already been through the experience and are now in impressive careers.”

The alumni were invited to share their own experiences while at the Lazaridis School and the ups and downs they have faced throughout their careers. The purpose was to help students as they begin their undergraduate journey and think about what their own careers could look like after graduation.

The Lazaridis School community is proud to have close to 35,000 alumni in 86 countries around the world. As with many Laurier alumni, the panelists chosen were excited to give back to the Laurier family and engage with the next class of Lazaridis School students. These webinars, in many cases, acted as students’ first chance to get to know their future network of alumni and make connections with a community who is genuinely interested in supporting them and their future careers.

Attendees were encouraged to ask questions directly through the chat function of the webinars. Questions and topics included: programs details, career overviews, university experiences, what they would tell their younger selves, and any advice they wished to impart to incoming students.

Check out the impressive list of Lazaridis School alumni webinar panelists.

Careers in Accounting

David Borecky, BBA '06, Chief Accounting Officer, Impossible Foods

Deb Craven, BBA '89, CFO, Longo's

Josh Huff, BBA '11, VP Finance, D2L

Michael Paterson, BBA '99, National Assurance Leader, PwC Canada

Elena Fan, BBA ‘17, Financial Analyst, Group Benefits -CPA Leadership Program, Sunlife

Careers in Economics

Jacqui Douglas, BA Econ '04, Chief European Macro Strategist at TD Securities

Cindy McCormick, BA Econ '19, Intermediate Accountant, BDO

Joan Oginni, BA Econ '18, Research Assistant, Bank of Canada

Farah Omran, BA Econ & Fin. Management '16, Policy Analyst, C.D. Howe Institute

Craig Wright, BA Econ '85, Chief Economist, RBC

Careers in Marketing 

Sarah Au, BBA '09, Director of Marketing, Muskoka Brewery

Sameera Banduk, BBA ‘09, Marketing Director, North

Sean Cameron, BBA '15, Product Manager, Starbucks

Jason McDonell, BBA '96, CMO, Advance Auto Parts 

Michelle Slater, BBA '97, Head of Marketing, Twitter

Careers in Finance

Fayeanne Beattie, BBA '96, CFO, Gallagher Global Brokerage Services, Canada

Mike Cestas, BBA '13, Senior Investment Analyst at Turtle Creek Asset Management

Ed Devlin, BBA '88, Co-Founder, PIMCO Canada

Claire Fleming, BBA '18, Equity Research Associate, Fidelity Investments

Gurveer Kehal, BBA '11, Associate Director, Real Estate Investment Management, Timbercreek

If you are a student of the Lazaridis School and you were unable to attend the webinars, or if you are a Laurier student or alumni looking to hear from the impressive list of panellists, we invite you to watch the pre-recorded webinar videos. All videos are hosted on Laurier’s Open House @Home website, an initiative that offers webinars, podcasts, ‘Ask Me Anything’ sessions, virtual tours, and more.

Webinar Links

Careers in Accounting

Careers in Economics

Careers in Marketing

Careers in Finance