Anna Kennedy

A leader in Toronto’s real estate industry, Anna Kennedy says her four-decade career of organization-building has laid the foundation for her new role as chair of the University of Toronto’s Governing Council.

From 2011 to 2022, Kennedy was chief financial officer and chief operating officer of KingSett Capital, one of Canada’s leading real estate private equity firms. Prior to that, she enjoyed a 25-year tenure at Oxford Properties Group, progressing to the role of executive vice-president and chief financial officer.

She is board director and chair of the audit committee of the C.D. Howe Institute, a board member of Jona Capital and an advisory board member of the KingSett Canadian Real Estate Income Fund. This builds on her previous board experience at organizations such as Tricon Capital Group, REALPAC, Toronto CREW and Women’s Habitat of Etobicoke and her executive leadership at the Canadian Diabetes Association.

Kennedy will draw on this experience as she prepares for her role overseeing governance at the university. “��˾��ֱ�� is a huge contributor to the economic growth and development of the City of Toronto," Kennedy says. “It is personally very rewarding for me to be able to contribute to this city building through my work on the Governing Council.”

Appointed to Governing Council in 2019, Kennedy began her term as chair of ��˾��ֱ��’s governance body on July 1. She takes over from Janet Ecker, with whom she served as vice-chair during the 2022-2023 academic year.

Sandra Hanington, former president of the Royal Canadian Mint who has previous experience in the financial services sector and co-founded a youth mental health charity, was elected to serve as vice-chair. She was first appointed to Governing Council in 2020.

Janet Ecker (supplied image)

Ecker says it’s been an honour to be part of an institution that “values the old and the new.” She notes that her term coincided with the 50th anniversary of ��˾��ֱ��’s unicameral governance model – a model that ensures financial decisions support the university’s academic mission and vice versa.

Ecker says she’s confident that Kennedy and Hanington will continue ��˾��ֱ��’s track record of sound financial stewardship as Ontario universities face a challenging economic landscape.

“Despite the fact that ��˾��ֱ�� is in very strong financial shape, the challenges that are coming at the university sector are going to be significant,” Ecker says.

“I think having Anna's business background and financial acumen – and Sandra’s as well – is going to be very helpful in working … to make sure that ��˾��ֱ�� can continue to provide the incredible quality of education that is routinely recognized in international rankings.”

Kennedy, for her part, says she’s grateful to have worked alongside and learned from Ecker as she readies herself for serving as Chair of the Governing Council – a role that involves presiding over council and other meetings and providing executive oversight.

“It’s a pleasure to contribute to an institution with such a strong culture of achieving excellence through collegiality and collaboration while focused on broad inclusive excellence, fairness and respect,” she says.

“The university’s success in its equity, diversity and inclusion initiatives is truly inspiring. Diversity of thought and opinions lead to richer discussions, stronger decisions and better outcomes.”

Kennedy adds that she’s impressed by ��˾��ֱ��’s “student-focused emphasis” on achieving excellence through innovative course delivery, experiential learning, mental health supports, robust financial aid and the ongoing support provided by the university’s extensive network of alumni around the globe.

She also commends ��˾��ֱ�� President Meric Gertler’s “exemplary” leadership of a 196-year-old institution – including his work shepherding ��˾��ֱ��’s Defy Gravity campaign, which she says will help ensure ��˾��ֱ�� can continue to invest in the student experience, leading research and other bold initiatives.

“It is an honour and a privilege to contribute to, and lead governance oversight, at the University of Toronto,” she says. “It is a first-rate university focused on excellence in teaching, research, and innovation in partnership with so many leading international institutions, advancing the reputation of Toronto and Canada globally.”

How ��˾��ֱ��’s 'secret sauce' governance model set it up for five decades of success

Christopher.Sorensen — Mon, 14 Nov 2022 20:26:54 +0000

How ��˾��ֱ��’s 'secret sauce' governance model set it up for five decades of success

Christopher.Sorensen Mon, 11/14/2022 - 15:26

Cutline

Clockwise from top left: Richard Nunn, Mary Anne Chambers, Annamarie Castrilli, Judy Goldring, Brian Lawson, Tom Simpson, Claire Kennedy, Anna Kennedy, Rose Patten, Janet Ecker, Wendy Cecil, Alice Dong and Jane Pepino (photo by Lisa Sakulensky)

Topic

Along with its partner hospitals, the University of Toronto is world renowned for its many well-publicized innovations and achievements, from insulin, stem cells and deep learning to revelations about Stalinist Russia and medieval poets.

Yet, the most important innovation in its 195-year-old history may well be one the public rarely sees: an unusual – and unusually effective – system of governance.

The university adopted a unicameral model 50 years ago in a bid to ensure business decisions supported its academic mission and vice versa. The mutually reinforcing system, known as Governing Council, has gone on to play a key role in enabling ��˾��ֱ�� to attract top scholars and researchers, as well as the necessary funding to support their work – all of which has contributed to the university’s consistently high international ranking and enviable credit rating.

��˾��ֱ�� was the first – and, for many years, the only – Canadian university to use this model.

“I think it is fair to say that our unicameral system of governance deserves a good deal of credit for the University of Toronto’s extraordinary success,” ��˾��ֱ�� President Meric Gertler said at a recent event celebrating Governing Council’s 50^th year in operation.

��˾��ֱ�� President Meric Gertler (photo by Polina Teif)

The final oversight body in ��˾��ֱ��’s governance system – supported by a number of boards, councils and committees – Governing Council has the last word on literally thousands of critical decisions at the university. It comprises 50 volunteers (known as governors) representing what are often referred to as the five estates – faculty, students, staff, alumni and community members appointed by the Ontario government.

It wasn’t always this way.

Until 1972, ��˾��ֱ��’s governance was based on a bicameral model made up of two groups. One was the Board of Governors, composed mostly of people from outside ��˾��ֱ�� who were charged with oversight of the strategic direction of the university and matters such as revenue, control of property and business and operational decisions. The other group was the Senate, which included mostly academic leaders, including deans and departmental chairs, and was responsible for the university’s academic mission, strategy, educational policy and programming.

In the early 1960s, Claude Bissell, then ��˾��ֱ��’s president, saw a problem with this approach, calling it “double innocence.” As ��˾��ֱ�� Law University Professor Martin Friedland noted in his book, The University of Toronto: A History, “academic decisions were being made by the senate without their financial implications being known, and financial decisions were being made by the board without their academic effects known.”

Governing Council Chair Janet Ecker (photo by Polina Teif)

After almost a decade of discussion and debate (which included involvement from student leaders, including Bob Rae (a future premier of Ontario and a future governor), the model was adopted when the ��˾��ֱ�� Act was approved in 1972 by Ontario Premier William Davis. Today, current Governing Council Chair (and former Government of Ontario minister) Janet Ecker says it is an achievement to celebrate.

“We have made it to 50 years, and not only do we have rules and traditions, but we have a very strong culture of collegial governance – and we continue to build on that tradition,” she said at an anniversary event held Oct. 27.

Bringing the former two governing bodies into one “created a focal point for governance decisions,” says Jack Dimond, who was secretary of Governing Council from 1981 to 1999.

He adds that the model also places an emphasis on accountability.

“The unicameral model established a high level of transparency,” he said.

Current Secretary Sheree Drummond agrees. “The unicameral model has done what it was designed to do: bring the perspectives from all five estates into one body. With this model, anything that happens at the University of Toronto that makes its way through governance is always seen through the lens of the academic mission.

“We really do think that it is the secret sauce on being able to get our governance right.”

Drummond and her team are currently in the early planning stages of a symposium on ��˾��ֱ�� governance to be held in the spring of 2023.

��˾��ֱ�� Chancellor Rose Patten speaks at a recent event celebrating 50 years of Governing Council (photo by Lisa Sakulensky)

Chancellor Rose Patten, an executive in the financial sector for many years, noted at the Oct. 27 event that the unicameral model continues to work well at a time when corporate and organizational accountability is receiving more scrutiny than ever before.

“In our world today, many crucial institutions are suffering a crisis of trust,” she said. “Truth and transparency are being questioned. In contrast, through our profound commitment to principles, values and inclusive excellence, the University of Toronto offers a source of credibility, confidence and hope.

“This is more relevant than ever in this time of social polarization, economic turbulence and geopolitical upheaval.”

Patten – who served on Governing Council as a lieutenant governor in council member, and was vice-chair, and then chair – praised the work commitment of governors.

“The past 50 years of governance at ��˾��ֱ�� demonstrate the impact of wise and steady leadership. It makes a difference. You make a difference, for the better.”

Anna Kennedy

Anna Kennedy succeeds Janet Ecker as chair of ��˾��ֱ��’s Governing Council

How ��˾��ֱ��’s 'secret sauce' governance model set it up for five decades of success

See a list of Governing Council’s chairs and vice-chairs throughout history