Victoria Sypher

University of Toronto, Rotman School of Management

“An empathetic leader and driven problem-solver, passionate about continuous learning and growth.”

Hometown: Toronto, Ontario

Fun fact about yourself: I don’t drink coffee and never have.

Undergraduate School and Degree: Civil Engineering, University of Waterloo

Where was the last place you worked before enrolling in business school? Senior Structural Engineer at Entuitive (in the high-rise residential team)

Where did you intern during the summer of 2025? Investment Banking, TD Securities

Where will you be working after graduation? I am excited to be returning to Investment Banking at TD Securities

Community Work and Leadership Roles in Business School:

* RFA President: Led a 200+ member student group, delivering targeted programming to equip aspiring finance professionals with the skills and network needed for long-term career success

* Analyst, Rotman Student Investment Fund (RSIF): Healthcare Sector

* Deans List & Andrew Alexander Kinghorn Fellowship

* Forte Fellowship

Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? Serving as President of the Rotman Finance Association. Leading our executive team to execute a full calendar of case competitions, fireside chats, and speaker panels was incredibly rewarding, but I am most proud of how we maintained strong club engagement despite a smaller incoming MBA cohort. Beyond the events, mentoring first-year students and helping them navigate the demanding recruiting landscape gave me the greatest sense of fulfillment.

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? Seeing a project through from paper to skyline. I started my career as a structural engineer designing a 60+ story tower, and right before I left to pursue my MBA, I was there for the building’s topping off. Watching something I actively designed come to life, and seeing how much my own role and responsibilities had grown from the ground up during that time, was a profoundly full-circle moment.

Why did you choose this business school? Pivoting from an engineering background, I wanted to fully embrace the MBA experience and chose Rotman for its two-year program, location, breadth of coverage in the corporate community, and club culture. The two-year program allowed me to gauge my fit within the Investment Banking environment during my summer work term and deepen my financial toolkit during the school year. I also recognized I needed to work at building out my corporate network, so I prioritized a school that could help bridge that gap. Rotman’s location in the heart of downtown Toronto offered unparalleled access to the financial district and alumni network. Just as importantly, I wanted a school with a deeply entrenched club culture. Second-year students run these organizations and play a huge role in mentorship and job placement. I wanted to immerse myself in that ecosystem, try different paths, and leverage those second-year connections to find my place in finance.

Who was your favorite MBA professor? Tiziana Casciaro, who teaches Power and Influence in Organizations. She is incredibly passionate and brings her own cutting-edge research directly into the classroom. But what makes her truly exceptional is how deeply she cares about her students on a human level. When I ruptured my Achilles and had to navigate surgery and recovery during the school year, she was unbelievably supportive. It’s one thing to teach leadership; it’s another to actually model it with that kind of empathy. She has left a lasting impact on me.

What was your favorite course as an MBA? The Leadership Development Lab (LDL) with Scott Rutherford and Anthony Naimi. The course takes foundational concepts like accountability, self-discipline, and initiative and turns them into transformative, retreat-style learning experiences. It challenged us with deep reflections into our irrational fears and personal roadblocks. It was the most impactful course I took, not only for my own growth as a leader, but because the vulnerability required brought me incredibly close to my cohort.

What was your favorite MBA event or tradition at your business school? The cultural celebrations hosted by Rotman and the student clubs. Much like Toronto itself, our cohort brings together people from all over the world, and these events give us a chance to actually share and experience where everyone comes from. We are a highly driven group, but these traditions prove that we prioritize community. It reflects that Rotman students care just as much about celebrating each other’s heritage as we do about our future careers.

Looking back over your MBA experience, what is the one thing you’d do differently and why? I would have participated in an exchange program or a Doing Business Internationally (DBI) course. Rotman has incredible partnerships with business schools around the world, and taking advantage of that to broaden my global business perspective is one opportunity I wish I had pursued.

What was the most impactful case study you had in business school and what was the biggest lesson you learned from it? The Petrozuata project finance case in Professor Sergei Davydenko’s class. It examines how severe sovereign risks surrounding a $2.4 billion Venezuelan oil project were mitigated through creative financial structuring. The biggest takeaway for me was deeply personal: risk is not a reason to walk away from a great opportunity. Just as the dealmakers structured around the financial hurdles, it reminded me that taking calculated risks in life, like stepping away from a comfortable engineering career to dive into capital markets, is entirely manageable when you build the right foundation and trust your capabilities.

What did you love most about your business school’s town? The people and the food. Toronto’s diversity means you can find incredible, authentic meals from almost any culture just by walking into a new neighborhood.

What business leader do you admire most? Mel Robbins. As the founder and CEO of her own media enterprise, she built a massive business from the ground up, which I deeply respect. But I admire her most for her no-nonsense approach to execution. Her entire philosophy centers on a relentless bias for action and eliminating the overthinking that paralyzes teams. As a pragmatic leader, I look up to her ability to cut through the noise and deliver straightforward, actionable tools that drive accountability and real results.

What is one way that your business school has integrated AI into your programming? What insights did you gain from using AI? Rotman doesn’t just teach the benefits of AI: we dive deeply into its limitations, risks, and practical integration into business workflows. Through dedicated machine learning courses and tech seminars, my biggest takeaway is that AI is an incredible accelerator, but only if you know how to use it. Learning how to properly frame prompts and ask the right questions is a crucial skill. By using it to rapidly synthesize information and expedite my foundational research, it actively enhances my output. But it’s not a replacement for doing the work; it simply frees up mental capacity so I can focus entirely on the strategic and creative problem-solving that you simply cannot outsource to an algorithm.

Which MBA classmate do you most admire? Anureet Mann. She is fiercely intelligent, incredibly grounded, and leads by example as President of the MCA. Having collaborated with her on multiple projects, I am always struck by her ability to lead a room while remaining completely composed under pressure. She brings a genuine, stress-relieving warmth to our cohort, but never at the expense of her boundaries or her strength as a leader. In a high-stress MBA environment, I’m very lucky to call her a friend.

What are the top two items on your professional bucket list?

* Continuous learning: I want to constantly challenge myself to grow, but specifically in balancing my analytical side with my interpersonal skills. I can produce results. In business, being the smartest person in the room only gets you so far; emotional intelligence is what actually makes you an effective leader.

* Paying it forward: Transitioning into investment banking without a traditional finance background was a steep climb, and I couldn’t have done it without incredible mentors. A major career goal of mine is to hold the door open for other young women entering capital markets, especially those taking non-traditional paths.

What made Victoria such an invaluable addition to the Class of 2026?

Victoria has demonstrated remarkable drive and versatility, securing both an internship and full time offer at TD Securities as an Investment Banking Associate despite her background as structural engineer with no prior finance experience. For non-finance professionals there is a steep learning curve to get prepared technically for investment banking positions.  From a Career Coach perspective, she demonstrated a high level of resiliency throughout her time at Rotman. As President of the Rotman Finance Association, an elected position, she has showcased her commitment to her classmates making herself always available to support them with technical interview preparation. With a turbulent economy, she successfully led her team through the ups and downs of the changing market environment. She was dedicated to the success of her classmates with a constant focus on student learning and readiness for finance job opportunities and was a strong partner with Career Services.”

Maria Parente
Career Consultant
Rotman School of Management

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