General Information
In 2022, the Victoria Forum and the Global Business School Network have collaborated to launch the Bridging Divides Essay contest, which welcomed 300 registered individuals and teams (347 total students) from 65 institutions, 27 countries, and 6 continents! This international group of students was prompted to submit original, unpublished essays and accompanying creative pieces that share experiences and perspectives, which inspire efforts to bridge existing divides. These written pieces had to also include a subtheme of bridging social, economic, and/or environmental divides.
Through two extensive rounds of judging, the Top 5 submissions (including the essay and creative piece) were determined and the authors have been welcomed to join this esteem panel to discuss their stories and efforts when it comes to bridging divides. These authors will be joined on the panel with the second/final round judges who selected their pieces, and who will additionally discuss their comments and feedback from the submissions.
The panel will be led by the Global Business School Network’s CEO, Dan LeClair as he navigates the conversation and storytelling as they are told by both judge and student. You won’t want to miss this enriching session on how students are striving to make intentional efforts and are tirelessly working to bridge so many divides.
Date & Time
Monday, August 29, 2022 from 6:30-8:00pm EST
Victoria Forum 2022 Bridging Divides: Turf, Truth and Trust
Top Five Essays
(In no particular order)
These Top Five Submissions have been invited to join a panel of elite judges to discuss their essays at the Victoria Forum.
“Of Highways and Byways- How People Have Used Resources to Divide Africa”
Mufudzi Chihambakwe
University of Cape Town
South Africa
“The Plight of Hijab-Wearing Women”
Zainab Siddiqi
Institute of Business Administration, Karachi
Pakistan
“A Promising Heritage at the Age of a Divided but Interdependent World: Conversation”
Duygu Tan
Koç University Graduate School of Business
Turkey
“Connecting Women to Abundant Education”
Panharoth Meas
University of Houston
USA
“Personalized Experiences and Future Outlook of a Growing Problem in the Digital Age”
Anne Venema & Andrew Sahaydak
Johannes Kepler University Linz & University of Victoria
Austria & Canada
Final Judges Panel
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David Dunne, Ph. D.
Professor
University of Victoria
Canada
-
Dan LeClair, Ph.D
CEO
Global Business School Network
USA
-
Divya Singhal
Professor and Chairperson, Centre For Social Sensitivity and Action (CSSA)
Goa Institute of Management (GIM)
India
About the Victoria Forum
The inaugural Victoria Forum took place on November 2017, and brought together approximately 500 participants, representing different levels of governments, business, academia and civil society, to take stock of the state of diversity and inclusiveness in Canada on its 150th anniversary, and to look to the future.
The Forum reflected a Canadian narrative that pluralistic societies require inclusive institutions, where power and benefits are widely held, in order to create the conditions for inclusive and sustainable socio-economic progress.
The final report included thirty-eight constructive recommendations and was widely distributed to leaders at different levels of government, business, and civil society.