Douglas Cumming, a professor of finance and entrepreneurship at York University’s Schulich School of Business, says businesses such as P2P will play an increasingly important role in venture capital markets, particularly as they develop and become better established. As they do, capital flows should free up and new mentoring relationships will be fostered between experienced business leaders and budding entrepreneurs, wrote the National Post in a story about Toronto-based P2P Financial Inc. and its plan to help venture capital in Canada get back on its feet.
“The importance of the angel investment market is huge and cannot be overstated,” Cumming says. “Without it, the number of new successful innovations and patents generated in the country will remain well below potential.”
Pleasantville principal honoured as one of Canada’s best
Having students eager for each day of school may sound like a pipe dream to many educators, but that became reality at her former school, award-winning principal Lisa Walsh (BA ’88) said, in a story by YorkRegion.com Jan. 31.
Currently in her first year of leadership at Pleasantville Public School, Walsh was one of 11 Ontario principals chosen as 2011 winners of the Canada’s Outstanding Principals award. The award is presented by The Learning Partnership to those deemed to have made a measurable difference in the lives of their students and community.
Although now principal at Pleasantville, this honour is predominantly in recognition of Walsh’s time spent building the successful model that is Hartman Public School in Aurora, where she resides.
“It’s amazing to see the impact. I have seen so many kids excel in all walks of life because of their learning through the arts,” said Walsh, who has an undergraduate degree in theatre performance from York University[‘s Faculty of Fine Arts] and a PhD in educational administration theory & policy studies. “They come to life, become more confident and motivated, all the while being introduced to risk taking. This helps builds a sense of community in the classroom.”
No charge to use road, so why pay for transit?
Dana Larsen wants you to ride the SkyTrain for free, wrote Vancouver’s The Province Feb. 1, in a story about a campaign promise made by the NDP leadership candidate.
Larsen credits, in part, the research of environmental consultant Dave Olsen (MES ’92), who has studied free transit services as far away as Hasselt, Belgium, and as close as Whidbey Island, just south of the border in Washington state. “We’re paying people to drive, but we’re not paying them to take transit,” said Olsen, who has a master’s degree in environmental studies from [the Faculty of Environmental Studies at] York University. “A simple way is to make transit fare-free.