2023 World's Challenge Challenge Judges
Oana Branzei
Oana Branzei is the Donald F. Hunter Professor of International Business and full professor of Strategy and Sustainability at the Ivey Business School. Oana is also the founding director of the Ivey Sustainability Certificate Program, the founder, convener and host of PhD Sustainability Academy, an annual event of the Alliance for Research on Corporate Sustainability, and the co-founder of the Spring Institute on Abilities.
She serves on Western’s Senate, University Research Board, the Steering Committee for Carbon Solutions at Western, the Interdisciplinary Development Initiatives, and the Advisory Board of the Africa Institute. Ivey’s champion for the United Nation’s Principles for Responsible Education during the past decade, Oana has recently pioneered the ESG and SDG platform for Ivey Publishing.
Oana heads her global Resilience lab, originally formed with funding from her Early Researcher Award, and currently featuring collaborations with rapid-response research teams tackling grand challenges on five continents.
Kiran Enns
Kiran is a business owner, registered dietitian and Western alumni, graduating in 2013 with a Bachelor of Science in Foods and Nutrition. She started her own business in 2011 while still an undergrad, offering nutrition education lunch and learns to employees across Southern Ontario at various businesses including RBC, CTV News and more.
After becoming a Dietitian, she worked in various clinical settings for four years before doing a Masters degree studying food marketing at the University of Guelph. Soon after, she launched a gluten free food product line into retail stores in Guelph.
While understanding the struggles of business ownership, especially in the food industry, she joined forces with another business partner to start Food Venture Program Inc - an online incubator and community for food entrepreneurs who want to learn how to start and scale a food business. Since its launch in 2020, they have graduated over 800 alumni from their programs offered across North America!
Aside from her work in the food industry, she and her husband own Bloom Acres, a micro wedding venue for forest weddings.
Rick Konrad
A science graduate of Western (1975), Rick earned his MSF from Northeastern University and completed the Harvard Business School Executive Program on behavioral investing. He earned his CFA charter in 1988 and his CFP® designation in 2004. A member of Western’s investment committee since 2008, Rick has served on the Board of Governors since 2014 and is currently the Past Chair.
After beginning his investment career as a portfolio manager, Rick becoming director at Sceptre Investment Counsel and a partner at Lincluden Management. In 2002, he founded Value Architects Asset Management which merged into Roosevelt Investments, now a business of CI Private Wealth Management US.
Rick has a long-standing interest in education as an adjunct instructor in retirement planning and investments at New York University, and has been actively involved in education programs in CFA Societies both in New York and Toronto. He was also a member of the Advisory Committee to The Center for Corporate Reputation Management at Drexel University.
