From the Nominator

"On Wednesday, June 22, at 10 a.m. Eastern Time, H.E. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, president of Ukraine, spoke directly to Canadian students at an interactive event hosted by the President of the University of Toronto and the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy.    

Under general direction from the U of T President's Office, and in collaboration with other University partners, the Munk School's Strategic Communications and Public Engagement Team assembled a country-spanning hybrid event in less than two weeks. An event of this nature is of specific interest to the Munk School's student body—which comprises those seeking master's degrees in public policy and global affairs and a few undergraduate programs.   

Using the special expertise of each member of our team, the Munk School put to work the lessons we learned from pivoting for pandemic lockdowns to connect with institutions across the country, amplifying the embattled Ukrainian leader's rally for support in facing down Vladimir Putin.  

The event and response were successful and provided mutual benefit to the Munk School and its students, the University of Toronto, many other students throughout Canada, President Zelenskyy, and, more broadly, Canada's leaders of tomorrow.  

The event we produced also embodied the Munk School's recently-defined areas of focus and delivered on a promise to President Zelenskyy's team—to find a way to go beyond our campus and engage students across Canada. We also gained the memory of a once-in-a-lifetime experience."

From the Judges

The panel was impressed with your smart use of resources, as well as your success in pulling off this complex event on such an extremely short timeline. The judges were particularly moved by your ability to capture a historic moment in time in a way that created a shared experience across multiple institutional communities. Other institutions looking to capture attention around current events could use this as a model, following not just the event model, but also the toolkits and process tools provided by you to your partners.