In addition to the annual BE6 workshop, the Ted Rogers Leadership Centre sponsors the Business Ethics Speaker Series (BESS). Since its inception in 2012, the series has brought 4 to 5 speakers per term to Ryerson.
Next event:
The Business Speaker Series in on hiatus for the winter 2021 term.
Free Registration:

BESS takes a big-tent approach to business ethics. Our speakers are academics, practitioners or both, speaking on a very wide range of topics — everything from corporate governance to product-labeling to diversity in the boardroom.
The talks are open to the public. And while the bulk of the audience consists usually of TRSM students and faculty, everyone is welcome.
Past talks:
– Leanne Nicolle: The Power of Values in Leadership
- Leo Groarke (Trent University): Dissecting Images
- Alison Kemper (TRSM – Entrepreneurship and Strategy): Free, Prior, and Informed Consent
- Joel Lexchin (York University): Big Pharma and the Canadian Medical Profession – Too Close for Comfort
- Leanne Nicolle (CEO – Big Brothers Big Sisters Toronto): Leadership in the Times of #MeToo
- Soussana Karas (Electrical Safety Authority): Providing Guidance or Playing Cath-Up: The Challenge of Regulating Disruptors
- Aaron Ancell (University of Toronto): To Nudge or Not to Nudge
- Fei Song (TRSM -HRM/OB): The Good and Bad of Generosity
- Sonya Graci (TRSM – HTM): Examining Best Practices in Sustainable Indigenous Tourism Development in Canada
- Idil Boran (York University): The Role of Business in Global Climate Action
- Rupa Banerjee (TRSM – HR/OB): Do Large Employers Treat Minorities More Fairly?
- Sara Mojtehedzadeh (The Toronto Star): Undercover Among Temps
- Caroline Shenaz Hossein (York University): The Black Social Economy
- Daniel Robinson (University of Western Ontario): Health Marketing, Canadian Big Tobacco, and Ethical Quandary
- Andrea Benoit (University of Western Ontario): Ethical Practices, CSR, and the Case of M.A.C. Cosmetics
- Julia Nefsky (University of Toronto): One Burger Won’t Make a Difference
- Rahul Dhanda (T2 Biosystems): Ethics, Biotechnology, and Building a Business
- Ian Stedman (Osgoode Hall): Transparency, Accountability, and Trust
- Andreas T. Schmidt (Princeton/Groningen): Should the Government Manipulate People for Their Own Good?
- Jonathan Farrar (TRSM – Accounting): Get Even and Get Rich
- Dragana Bodruzic (University of Toronto): Corporate Social Responsibility in the Global South
- Mario Silva (Ryerson): Is there a Right to be Forgotten?
- Hamish van der Ven (Yale): Can Industry Self-Regulation be Credible?