University of Toronto Students' Union

• A full bylaws revision was conducted with Pappano Consulting Inc., seeing a complete overhaul to the entire governing framework of the UTSU. The revision saw the bylaws become reduced by more than half their original length. The priority for the project was to only include what is absolutely necessary, in an attempt to address a destabilizing culture of constant, arbitrary amendments at each annual meeting.

• The UTSU Board of Directors was reduced from 43 members to 12, following recommendations from several consultants that the board not be allowed to exceed more than 20 members. To preserve the representative function that the former system was built for, a new organ called the Senate was created, with a mandate to represent students and advise the Board of Directors on appropriate action to be taken.

• The Elections & Referenda Code was established, amalgamating the former "Elections Procedure Code" and "Charter for Referenda". Prior to being amalgamated and cleaned up, these elections documents contained countless inconsistencies and differing definitions of identical terms. In terms of compliance and risk, there was certainly room for improvement. As a result, I wrote the Elections & Referenda Code.

  • We provided more notice and resources than ever before for elections, leading to a record number of candidates and twice as many voters.

  • A professional CRO was hired, and new controls were instituted to ensure the permanent separation of executives from elections affairs.

  • Equal access rules were instituted, making campaigning free-of-cost and accessible to everyone. Following the successful collection of the necessary valid signatures to become nominated, candidates were provided (and limited to) a campaign spending allowance by the UTSU.

• Issues pertaining to culture and performance were addressed, and a Chief Administrative Officer role was created to replace the previous role of General Manager. A new HR plan was developed and subsequently approved with the guidance of our Director of People & Culture.

• The budget was overhauled to reflect the status of assets and reserves alongside the budget itself, and to ensure that all the information that students wanted to see was being provided in as transparent and accessible a manner as possible. Major efforts were taken to make sure that information is constantly being retained and controls are being respected, with the goal of reducing any risk of future mismanagement.

• Through some simple budgetary changes and great deal-making on the part of our Chief Administrative Officer, we cut the deficit by more than $300,000. In one year, we put the UTSU on a solid trajectory towards financial stability following the opening of the Student Commons.

• The Student Commons had its formal "grand opening" in Fall 2023, where we invited major university figures and UTSU leader alum. The opening followed the most successful orientation the UTSU has had since COVID-19, and the first concert in a decade, featuring Loud Luxury.

• The Student Commons is finally slated to have a recording studio built in the next couple years, which is a project I introduced in 2019/2020.

• There was plenty more to note from that experience, but if you've read this far already, then I can tell you about it myself. Get in touch!

The organization transformed rapidly, and by the time the year was over, those being welcomed to the organization for the first time were entering an entirely different place from the one we'd entered. This was the groundwork the UTSU needed so that it could continue growing.

In addition to this, I personally developed a from-scratch accounting system for the organization’s Student Aid Program, which during the 2020-2021 fiscal year directly provided nearly 700 students with financial support to the tune of nearly $120,000. I wrote reforms to the organization’s bylaws and policies, spearheaded a new website, and started a review of the UTSU’s financial operations with the help of BDO Canada. I also oversaw many general office operations such as timesheets, contracts, personnel info, and more until the hiring of the Director, People & Culture.

Through this role, I became proficient in adapting to a wide variety of new challenges, and gained an appreciation for the importance of constantly growing and learning. In this environment, I also experienced targeted harassment while performing my duties, an experience which brought several lessons of its own, and required me to make serious decisions about managing my own goals and health.

As I wrapped up the job, the most important part was to ensure that those who were taking over had all of the meetings, materials, and open lines of support that they needed. I worked with staff to ensure that hand-written 'thank-you's were delivered to outgoing members of the Board of Directors and executives, and that both the outgoing and incoming groups had the support they needed to make things work.

There is so much about my experience as VP Operations at the UTSU that forced me to just 'figure it out', and that's the most fundamental thing I got out of it. There are a million reasons why people will say no to an idea; it's more challenging to seek out possible reasons to say yes. I'm grateful to the team I worked with, and even though my experience was a mixed bag, it was also fascinating, eye-opening, and necessary.