MBA Voices: Lessons On Hosting A Panel On An Unfamiliar Topic

What is one of the biggest benefits of pursuing an MBA mid-career? You get to step back from any preoccupations and assess the state of the world. Better still, you have world-leading professors and executives guiding you through how it is changing.

As luck would have it, I’ve chosen an exceptionally interesting moment to do this! Two trends are dominating discussion within and beyond the classroom: the rise of artificial intelligence and the rupture of an established global order, as alliances are undone and redrawn. Incidentally, my career to date has been directed towards addressing another transformative trend: rapid decarbonization.

Together, these three thread are connected by common themes: the fundamental importance of mined minerals to scaling renewable energy, building computational infrastructure, and re-equipping militaries across the world.

UNEXPECTED CONSENSUS

Six years as a climate policymaker has taught me that energy transition runs on minerals. It did not teach me much about mining them, despite their importance to my chosen sector and the transformational trends I mentioned earlier. So when I was asked to moderate a panel on mining and sustainability. Here, I sat to moderate a distinguished panel on the topic at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, I accepted, and then started reading.

‘The Energy Transition Reimagined’ panel brought together students, academics, and C-suite leaders with the objective of fostering cross-sectoral collaboration. The panel I was asked to moderate featured Stephen de Boer, Canada’s Former Ambassador to the WTO, Tim O’Connor, Group Exploration Officer at major global mining firm BHP, and David Willick, VP and Regional Leader of Mining and Metals for North America at Schneider Electric. This was my opportunity to ask the brightest minds in the sector how we can deliver on our ambition to boost mineral production without pursuing extractive practices which compromise our principles.

Media narratives often frame sustainability as a luxury many firms cannot afford. I was surprised that all three speakers highlighted the potential for alignment between sustainability and profits. In many instances, mining practices can be rendered cleaner, safer, and cheaper through deployment of electrification technologies. Panelists debated the merits of Canada’s current environmental assessment regime and concurred on the importance of pushing for open access to environmental data, which is the norm in some jurisdictions and not others.

At a moment of heightened geopolitical tension, the existential risks which Canada faces are a topic of frequent discussion in the MBA classroom – and the same was true on this panel. Panelists highlighted that Canada’s reliable, rules-based system would form the basis of our competitive advantage in the global critical minerals supply chain. That includes strong environmental standards, which can in fact bolster access to new export markets.

I came away from the panel with the firm belief that a principled, sustainable approach can deliver a competitive edge to Canada’s mining sector. Cleaner operations, open data, and rules-based trade are in themselves scarce and valued in today’s world.

LESSONS LEARNED IN BEING A MODERATOR

This was my first experience moderating a panel, and I took several lessons from the experience. First, channel your curiosity. I set aside the time for extensive reading, and was guided by my professional experience to certain sub-themes of interest: the role of cleantech innovation in decarbonizing mining operations; geopolitical instability and the strategic implications of supply chain concentration; and the legacy of extraction in Canada’s north. If you are genuinely enthused by the topics being discussed, your energy and interest will be contagious – for the panelists and audience alike. Balance your own curiosity with a healthy regard for the needs and interests of your audience; I took the time to consult with peers on the topics they would like to see addressed and ensured these were reflected in the discussion.

Next, start strong. Once questions are drafted, pull together an engaging introduction, which sets the scene for discussion and assures the room that you know your stuff. A party trick of mine, left over from student theatre days, is my capacity to recite a fairly extensive slew of facts and figures from memory. I started off with a few eye-popping statistics about projected increases in demand for critical minerals and the extent to which these were driven by clean technologies. From there, I framed the discussion around two themes: the sustainability of mining practices and the importance of mined minerals to the broader energy transition. Taking the time to gather your thoughts into a punchy, informative opening will pay off; it allows you to demonstrate your competence right off the bat, so you don’t feel the need to do so as the discussion progresses!

That may seem like a strange aspiration, but one of the most common mistakes I see from inexperienced interviewers is an impulse to interject with their own opinions, concur ad nauseam, or otherwise prove their intellect to the room. This draws attention and time away from the panelists, who are the main event. So, the final lesson I will carry with me to future panels? A moderator doesn’t need to be the most knowledgeable person in the room, just the most curious one.

THE BENEFITS OF THE LAWSON CLIMATE INSTITUTE

Fortunately, the University of Toronto makes it easy to stay curious. This opportunity came across my desk thanks to my mentor, Faith Goodman, Founder of the VeriStell Institute. I had met her through Rotman’s Leadership, Exploration, Advice, Development and Success (LEADS) mentorship program. Over the year that I’ve known her, Faith has demonstrated a deep generosity of spirit and unbridled enthusiasm for empowering students to engage with sustainability challenges.

The event, which attracted over 40 students and executives, was hosted by the VeriStell Institute in collaboration with the Rotman Energy and Natural Resources Association and the University of Toronto’s Lawson Climate Institute (LCI). The LCI, launched just last year thanks to the exceptional generosity of Brian and Joannah Lawson, is a fixture at so many of the University of Toronto events I’m drawn to. The breadth and depth of programming the LCI supports is truly impressive, from a course introducing the fundamentals of renewable energy to a cross-disciplinary cohort of scholars, to my own campus group’s upcoming case competition on Indigenous leadership in renewable energy development in Canada, and much more besides.

I was thrilled to be selected for the LCI’s Global Climate Finance Accelerator (GCFA) program, which empowers graduate students to find financing solutions for cleantech innovations. This pioneering initiative has helped the University of Toronto to become a centre of excellence in bringing innovative decarbonization technologies to market – and MBA students sit at the centre of the initiative. However, that’s a story for a future post.

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Isabel Duchesne is a second-year MBA candidate at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management. She currently serves as the President of Rotman Net Impact and is undertaking a research project on impact investing as an Institute for Gender and the Economy Student Fellow. In her first year, she held the RBC x Rotman Sustainable Finance Student Fellowship. Prior to Rotman, she spent a decade in the UK, where she managed climate and energy policy teams in the British Government. Before that, she worked in international development at a reproductive healthcare NGO. She holds degrees from Cambridge and the University of Toronto. Reach out to her on LinkedIn here.

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