Social Innovators @ Work - Panel 'A'
BMO Auditorium Room 1100 (2:00pm-3:00pm)
Founder, company president and community organizer Terry Zavitz hosts a panel of four Ivey alumnae leading social innovation initiatives at Pecaut Centre, CivicAction, Social and Enterprise Development Innovations (SEDI) and LoyaltyOne. Together, they help unleash your power to care, convene and champion social change, at scale.
Host: Terry Zavitz
President Zavitz Insurance Inc.
Terry Zavitz has been in the insurance industry for the past 30 years and is the founder and President of Zavitz Insurance Inc. Her practice encompasses life and group insurance but her true passion and expertise is in the area of Living Benefits. She now manages one of the larger blocks of disability insurance in Canada. She is a regular contributor to industry articles on Living Benefits and other insurance related topics and is a regular speaker at industry events in Canada and Singapore.
Terry gives countless hours of her time to the community and is very active within her industry. She is currently sits on the Board for London Health Sciences Foundation and is the co-chair of the Women's Campaign Committee. She is one of the founders of the Financial Strengthening Program through Goodwill Industries Great Lakes and continues to actively manage the coaching element of the program. She is actively involved in various committees through industry associations such as Advocis and CALU. Past activities include her role as Chair of the Board of Advocis (The Financial Advisors Association of Canada), Advisory Committee to Munich Re, Chair of the Board for the London Health Sciences Foundation, director on the Board for London Health Sciences Centre, HR committee member at St Joseph's Health Care, founding committee member for the Women With Vision event and member of various committees and boards at London Community Foundation, Merrymount, Orchestra London, London Ski Cub and Fanshawe Chorus London.
Terry is the recipient of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal, the Women of Distinction award for Business and Trades through the London YMCA and the Hopwood award through Great West Life, honouring her dedication to the industry and community.
Terry’s extracurricular activities include travel, skiing, hiking, biking and working out. She enjoys long distance hiking and has successfully climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Machu Picchu in Peru, Mount Kinabalu in Borneo and the completion of West Coast Trail in Canada.
Terry is married to Doug and they have 3 grown children and a wonderful son in law.
Tara Gruhn
MD, Pecaut Centre for Social Impact
As Managing Director, Tara Gruhn is primarily responsible for building the Pecaut Centre by bringing together talent, capital and knowledge to support Canada's high-potential charities. She is responsible for the Pecaut Centre's operations and outreach activities, including its venture philanthropy portfolio, fund development, marketing and human resources.
Tara was Director of Social Enterprise at Evergreen, overseeing the business planning, implementation and ongoing operations of the Social Enterprise at Evergreen Brick Works. During her time there Tara lead the social enterprise operation to profitability within a two years period while managing the social and environmental mandate of the charity.
Prior to Evergreen Tara worked for an Angel Investor scouting early stage companies for investment as well as at Intrawest Corporation on their business development team helping to create world-class resorts across North America.
Tara holds an MBA from the Richard Ivey School of business where she graduated with distinction. Tara also completed an HBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business and a Bachelor Degree in Media, Information and Technology at the University of Western Ontario.
Sevaun Palvetzian
CEO, Greater Toronto CivicAction Alliance
Palvetzian comes from the Ontario government, most recently as Director of the Ontario Place Revitalization project to transform the flagship site into an iconic, year-round destination that offers visitors increased access to green space at the water’s edge. Previously, she served as Director, Communications for one of the largest communications teams in government, and as Director of Strategy at ServiceOntario, the provincial government’s retail arm which oversees over 44 million transactions each year.
In 2005, Palvetzian launched the Youth and New Professional Secretariat, a government-wide strategy to attract, recruit, and retain future generations of leaders, and led the development of several new employment programs including the Amethyst Award winning Learn and Work Program for at-risk youth. Prior to this, she led the office of the then-Deputy Minister and Associate Secretary of Cabinet Michelle DiEmanuele, during the period in which the Government of Ontario launched the Diversity Office and a human resource and talent management strategy.
Palvetzian has worked at the University of Toronto, the World Bank Group, and Presidential Classroom, a Washington-based civic education organization.
Outside of work, Palvetzian has been involved in a wide range of civic initiatives. She has served as Chair of the Board of Directors of Katimavik Youth Services, as a member of the Advisory Board to the University of Toronto's School of Public Policy and Governance, and was a Canada-Germany Young Professionals Leadership Fellow.
She completed the Ivey Executive Program at the Richard Ivey School of Business and has an M.A. in history from the University of Western Ontario
Elodie Mathieu
Young, Program Development Officer SEDI
Elodie Young is currently the Program Development Officer at SEDI (Social and Enterprise Development Innovations), a national charity that develops and implements programs to expand the economic well-being of low income Canadians.
Prior to this work, Elodie led the Program Operations of Neighborhood Trust, a community organization that offers financial counseling services to low income New Yorkers.
Elodie started her career as a Deloitte consultant, where she worked with clients in financial services, telecom, government, and nonprofit organizations providing strategy development and business process analysis. Elodie graduated from the University of Western Ontario with a Bachelor in Business Administration
and from Columbia University with a Master in Public Administration.
Celeena Sayani
Analyst, Business Development, LoyaltyOne
Celeena is a strategic marketing professional with experience working with government agencies, not-for-profits and social change organizations. Early on in her university career, she identified her passion for social change and marketing which has enabled her to find her niche as a social intrapreneur.
Currently a Business Development Analyst at LoyaltyOne, Celeena is responsible for bringing new strategic and social change partners to the AIR MILES Reward Program, in turn, inspiring people to make better choices for themselves and their communities through incentives. Outside of work, Celeena is an active member of the her Yoga community and has started her own foundation to enhance the opportunities available to young golfers across Canada.