While at McGill’s Faculty of Management, I learned key leadership skills that are still relevant to me today. Above all, what stands out from my McGill experience is my involvement in student government, first as President of the Management Undergraduate Society (MUS) and later as President of the Student Society of McGill University (SSMU), which was one of the most gratifying and formative experiences of my life.
I ran for SSMU President in both languages, and as President I was focused on building bridges between the anglophone and francophone communities on campus, which was a novel approach at the time. The diversity of the student body allowed me to expand my horizons beyond the bubble I grew up in. That experience has been important in my efforts to work on projects that build bridges between communities.
Having always had an interest in owning my own business, after graduating from McGill I studied business at Harvard and later started an apartment investment company in Los Angeles. An early investment opportunity and a Montreal connection sparked a career transition at the time and helped guide my career in real estate.
My student involvement at McGill has since inspired me to give back civically to my local community, which is currently Los Angeles. Now I am grateful to use my experience in the housing industry to try to solve my city’s biggest challenges related to homelessness and affordable housing. As a mayor-appointed Commissioner of the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles, I oversee an agency with a US$1.4B budget that funds the city’s rent subsidy program, and owns all of the public housing in our city.
My advice to McGill students is to make time to pursue your other interests so that you can transition to these passions later in your career. If you become an entrepreneur, you will be spending a good chunk of your time creating and growing your business(es). If you are lucky and all your work pays off, realize that making an extra dollar may not be as important as spending your time pursuing your other passions. Many successful entrepreneurs keep going and can’t stop because that’s the only life they know.
McGill prepared me with both business skills and a passion for civic engagement – two common threads in my life that encouraged me to create this balance from a young age, and for which I am grateful.