Ashoka U renews its confidence in HEC Montréal, Francophone Changemaker Campus
December 7, 2023
HEC Montréal was designated as an Ashoka U Changemaker Campus in 2019, and this distinction has now been renewed for another four years.
The School’s efforts to advance social innovation and changemaking within its institution and in the field of higher education have been endorsed once again.
42 colleges and universities worldwide are part of the Changemaker Campus consortium, and HEC Montréal is the sole French-language campus to hold such a distinction.
A rigorous selection process
Ashoka U conducts a thorough and rigorous selection process for renewing the Changemaker Campus designation.
The evaluation criteria are divided into the following key categories: visionary leadership, innovation and excellence with regard to change, institutional culture and operations, and institutional contribution and influence.
Convincing change initiatives
Ever since the School obtained the Changemaker Campus designation, it has placed social responsibility, sustainable development, and ethics at the heart of its mission. It has also initiated various changes in its internal structures, as follows:
- Extensive consultations with the internal and external community for the development of the institution’s very first strategic plan.
- Integration of a priority project in the 2020-2023 strategic plan which focuses on the ecosystem in sustainable development, corporate social responsibility and organizational ethics that led to the development of an ambitious 2022-2025 action plan for sustainable development, corporate social responsibility, and ethics.
- Changes in the communication strategy to reflect strategic priorities and highlight multiple initiatives in sustainable development, corporate social responsibility, ethics, and social innovation.
- Expansion of the role of the Office of Sustainable Development, now known as the Sustainable Transition Office, to ensure that its efforts are cohesive and efficient in all spheres of the School.
- Publication of the policy on equity, diversity and inclusion and its action plan
- Integration of learning objectives related to sustainable development, corporate social responsibility, and ethics in the programs.
- Addition of a short program and a DESS in social innovation management.
- Creation of First Nations Executive Education
- Addition of the priority “Social Responsibility, Sustainable Development and Business Ethics” in the 2021-2023 Strategic Plan for Research and Knowledge Transfer.
Promising aspirations and commitments
While presenting the School’s main commitments to social innovation for the next four years, the School’s Director, Federico Pasin, shared HEC Montréal’s ambition to “establish itself as a hub for research, teaching and knowledge transfer in sustainable development, corporate social responsibility and ethics. It brings together the expertise and resources of many agents, groups and entities linked through well-established and recognized structures, programs, and projects. Its positioning at the heart of this ecosystem explains why HEC Montréal’s influence extends far beyond its campus.”
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