The University of Manitoba (UM) is proud to announce a transformative $5.4 million gift from Drs. Wayne [BSc(ME)/80, LLD/23] and Eleanor Chiu to establish the Chiu Centre for Business Serving Community, a visionary initiative housed within the I.H. Asper School of Business.
"Business is a powerful tool of change, and it must be about more than just profit. It must drive positive social and ecological change," says Michael Benarroch, UM president and vice-chancellor. "Thanks to this selfless gift to our university, we will spark big ideas that will change how we think about and do business, and that will change the world."
From engineering to entrepreneurship
An award-winning businessman, activist and philanthropist, Chiu grew up in a low-income neighborhood in Hong Kong before moving to Canada to pursue an engineering degree. He says UM provided him with the foundation and education to pursue his dream. As the founder of Calgary-based Trico Group, Chiu, alongside wife Eleanor, have exemplified what it means to build communities through business. Through their decades of work building homes, supporting women, families and new Canadians, and restoring communities in need, they've shown what's possible when business puts people first.
In 2004, Trico was on a corporate retreat in Thailand when a catastrophic tsunami hit. As he clung to a tree watching misery below him, Chiu had an epiphany that led to him and his wife launching the Trico Charitable Foundation in 2008 that focuses on helping businesses solve problems in society.
"We are facing significant challenges in our society, from climate change to social inequality, and we need people who can come up with creative solutions," says Chiu. "Throughout my career, I've always put community first. I firmly believe that doing well by doing good is not only the right thing to do but is also good for business. Through the Centre, students will learn to use entrepreneurial skills to create positive social change."
Empowering students to lead with purpose
The Chiu Centre will be a university-wide initiative designed to advance our understanding and practice of fully harnessing the power of business models to enhance social impact and foster community, care and compassion. Students will benefit from:
- Research opportunities: Engagement in research focused on systems thinking, social innovation, and business models for social change.
- Thought Leadership: Stimulating thought and culture change in capitalism to the entire UM student body via promoting business models that address social and ecological crises facing humanity.
- Real-world experience: Co-op opportunities, internships, and hands-on projects in companies and organizations that promote progressive and innovative approaches to business, including not-for-profits, Indigenous nations and companies promoting or adopting business models for social and ecological impact.
- Career development: Exposure to purpose-driven careers through speaker series, mentorship, projects, and networking opportunities with national and international stakeholders.
- Interdisciplinary collaboration: Opportunities to work across faculties within UM through embedded programming and student advisory boards.
"The Centre will empower our students and future leaders to approach business with compassion, drive innovation with purpose, and create meaningful impact, all while advancing a culture that keeps community at its core," says Bruno Silvestre, Dean, I.H. Asper School of Business.
A national leader in this space
This new Centre represents a bold, forward-thinking approach to business and research.
"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," says Bruno Dyck [BComm(Hons)/84], inaugural Director and Norman Frohlich professor in Business Sustainability at the Asper School of Business.
While ideas like this are often led by fields such as sociology or economics, it's groundbreaking to see this kind of leadership coming from a business school. By bringing together experts from across disciplines, it challenges the traditional profit-only model and calls on companies to "make the move" toward advancing social and environmental wellbeing alongside economic success.
"I've been a graduate student for a number of years, and I have always felt that there was a need for the university and the business school to do more in terms of setting a path for the local community and beyond," says graduate student Arjun Odedra. "The Chiu Centre for Business Serving Community will be an important resource for both undergraduate and graduate students to help bridge the transition from ideas to actions, serving as a focal point for the community and allowing students to learn about and interact with businesses that are anchors of communities - that harness the intrinsic good that business was meant for."
A centre built for impact
The Chiu Centre will not only support students, but it will also foster a culture shift in how business is taught and practiced. Rooted in Manitoba, the Centre is poised to inspire collaboration across the province's business community and beyond. It has the opportunity, and the responsibility, to lead a new movement in which purpose and profit work together to drive sustainable growth and positive change.
Supported by an endowment fund, the Centre will provide sustained resources for leadership, programming, and research, ensuring long-term impact for UM and the broader community.
Learn more
You can hear more insights from Bruno Dyck on the latest episode of What's the Big Idea podcast.
What does a future fuelled by generosity look like? It's in the faces of new graduates with big ideas, in bold research solutions for Manitoba and the world, and in community initiatives coming to life in collaborative ways. Here, a legacy of philanthropy is shaping the leaders, innovators and change-makers of tomorrow. Learn how you can get involved.
