Canada

Kingston, Ontario

The Global Goals Jam Case Competition at Smith is hosted as a collaborative effort by clubs from the Full-Time Master of Business Administration (MBA) program at the Smith School of Business at Queen’s University, with the Sustainability Club (SustaiMBA) spearheading the event and in collaboration with real live clients and local challenges. We are already planning the 2021 edition. Check the information below to get an idea of last year’s event.  

Global Goals Jam at Smith 2020 Edition:

Located in Kingston, Ontario, the Global Goals Jam at Smith is a multiple-day case competition, gathering professionals from diverse backgrounds and Canadian Schools’ programs to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals by creating local solutions with long-term impact. More than an event, it is a network of cities and organizations that are excited to engage their local communities to create a real impact on the Global Goals.
Let’s #design2030now

Participating Schools

We are delighted to have students joining us from different schools across Canada: Ivey, Rotman, Sauder, Desautels, Schulich, HEC Montreal, and Smith. Gathering professionals from diverse backgrounds and Canadian Schools will incentivize creative thinking.

How does it work?

The competition will be 100% virtual. You sign up individually and the teams will be created by the organizers in order to promote diversity before assigning one of the three cases to each team. The teams (made of students from the different programs) will then have a chance to ask questions to their respective clients during a live Q&A session. After working on a solution on their own time, each team will then have the opportunity to present their case to a jury composed of faculty members, the client, and an external party. There will be one winning team per case. In short: 3 Cases, 3 Juries, 3 Winning Teams.

Expected time to invest by each student: 8 to 10 hours.

 

The Judges

There is a variety of judges, including Smith Faculty Members, real clients, and external parties pertaining to the cases (e.g., The City of Kingston and Sustainable Kingston). As faculty members, we are proud to have Elspeth Murray [Associate Dean], Matt Reesor [MBA Director], JP Shearer [Associate Director, Centre for Business Venturing], Jim Hamilton [Diploma in Business Director], Jean Baptiste Litrico [Centre for Social Impact Director], and Kate Rowbotham [Assistant Professor]. Clients and external parties will be announced closer to the event, and upon registration.

The Challenges

With three unique organizers this year, the Global Goals Jam at Smith is excited to tackle multiple aspects of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals based on the mission statements of the organizing clubs. Attendees will be provided with the option to prioritize the challenges that best fits with their own personal interests before they are assigned to a team.

Challenge #1: Sustainable Cities & Communities

Did you know that the city of Kingston, Ontario, has been long recognized as being one of Canada’s leaders in sustainable waste disposal? Even so, there is always more that can be done, and the city recognizes that to remain a leader in sustainability requires further innovation. SustaiMBA has partnered with Sustainable Kingston and the City of Kingston to provide attendees the opportunity to tackle the complex topic of waste management, which extends well beyond our own city limits.

 

Challenge #2: Gender Equality

Please join the Women In Leadership Club to tackle a gender equality issue that hits close from home: equal parental leave. Research and statistics show that both parents taking longer and equal times of parental leave is beneficial for the parents and for the children. Even in Canada, equal parental leave is not yet accessible to all income levels and to all parts of society. Let’s work together on making it easier for all parents to enjoy their newborn child without fear of income loss or negative career impact.

 

Challenge #3: Reduced Inequalities

Often times, the symptoms of inequity issues are quite apparent and visible, however, because these issues can be deeply intertwined within the fabric of an organization, the root cause can be difficult to unearth. The solution lies in identifying and eliminating discriminatory policies, process, and practices in large organizations that leads to systemic discrimination and toxic culture. We invite you to go deep and think creatively to create feasible and practical solutions that can be replicated across the world.

The Dates

Spreading out the competition over multiple days allows the teams to research accordingly and accommodate their schedules to collaborate efficiently. The end goal is to discover creative solutions with long-term impact instead of coming up with “quick fixes”. On the other hand, this season might be busy for several programs, benefiting them with the option of spreading out the time commitment throughout multiple days.

  • Registration Deadline:                            Thursday, August 25th
  • Teams Announcement:                           Thursday, September 4th  
  • Cases’ Release:                                          Monday, September 7th 
  • Q&A Sessions with Clients (Live):      Saturday, September 12th 
  • Solution PPT Submissions:                  Thursday, September 17th
  • Final Presentations (Live):                   Saturday, September 19th

Prizes

Surprise Prizes! Local and sustainable, on par with the Global Goals Jam! More details upon registration.

About the Organizers

SustaiMBA

At SustaiMBA, we are passionate about the addition of purpose to everyday business practices. Following the triple bottom line strategy, we employ our efforts toward People, Profit, and Planet, with focused solutions in the areas of social betterment, economic empowerment, and environmental consciousness. We are advocates of these three pillars by engaging thought leaders and events in these areas to strengthen the sustainability mindset of the modern business graduate.

 

Women in Leadership Club

The Smith Women in Leadership Club will ensure a continuum of support from the 2020 MBA class, transitioning the women and men in our class to building a more inclusive workplace, and creating a broader network of Smith MBA alumni supporting women in leadership. We will create an inclusive Women in Leadership Club to provide access to opportunities and to build awareness surrounding gender inequity, with the ultimate goal of empowering women to become leaders.

  • Co-President: Virginie Bellec
  • Co-President: Sammi Lin
  • Vice President of Finance: Jacob Carbonaro
  • Vice President of Social Impact: Nidhi Handa
  • Vice President of Events: Axie Hauser-Kawaguchi
  • Director of External Relations: Jackie Nguyen
  • Director of Internal Affairs: Lucy Zhou

Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) Club

EDI club focuses on two purposes – first, to raise awareness about the EDI issues that exist within organizations, and second, to educate about the policy and process changes that can alleviate the EDI issues.

  • President: Joban Chahal
  • Vice President: Shambhavi Singh

Disclaimer

  • PLEASE REGISTER WITH YOUR SCHOOL EMAIL to verify school affiliation. Non-school e-mails might not be considered for team creation purposes.
  • During registration, you will be able to choose which case you would prefer to work on. However, depending on the registration numbers, you might end up being assigned to a different case, as case assignments are done on a first-come, first-served basis. There is a participation limit per program.