I’d been planning the last week of March for a long time. Two important events collided. The first was the Foodbanking Leadership Institute (FBLI) in London, an annual event that brings together food banks from around the world. The second was the entrepreneurship competition at McGill University in Canada, where I graduated 20 years ago. In addition to my duties as a judge and mentor at the McGill Dobson Cup, I was also scheduled to teach two classes the next day: one for graduate students and one for undergraduates. Ultimately, I found a way to travel to both the UK and Canada.
First of all, the Global Foodbanking Network’s (GFN) Food Banking Leadership Institute 2019 event in the UK was slated for Monday. Since I had to go to Ankara that day, I arrived in the UKon Monday evening. I flew from Ankara to Istanbul Airport and then directly to London. I was ready for my speech on Tuesday. Interestingly, my speech ended at 2:00 PM, and I needed to leave the hotel without delay to catch my 4:30 PM flight from London Heathrow Airport.
TİDER’s board chair Hande Tibuk, board member Yasemin Ahıskalı, and general manager Nil Tibukoğlu attended this year’s GFN FBLI event. After landing in London on Monday evening, we dined at a Spanish restaurant and discussed the association’s topics and had a pleasant conversation.
The privilege of my first innovation award
The next day, I attended FBLI. Of course, I also prepared for my afternoon departure from the hotel. I also greeted and chatted with all my friends during my participation in the GFN (FBLI) event. Having participated in FBLI for the last three years, I’ve now built up a decent network. I know food bankers from all over the world. Those who see me chat with me with the same warmth. In fact, everyone remembers that we won the GFN’s first-ever Innovation Award in 2017. Those who participated in 2017 considered me the champion of that competition. I’d like to share the blog post I wrote about this topic as a reminder: https://www.serhansuzer.com/tr/global-bir-stk-olma-yolundaki-tidere-buyuk-odul
I attended two important panels in the morning. During the break, we met with GFN officials. After checking out from the hotel, I had lunch and then headed to the designated room for our panel discussion.
The topic of our panel discussion was “Food Banking in Hard-to-Reach Areas.” A truly challenging topic in food banking had been chosen. Personally, it was a pleasure for me. The panel featured Canada, the world’s second-largest country by area; Germany, a top choice for immigrants in Europe; and Colombia, a country in South America that also receives immigrants from various places and struggles with a variety of challenges. My selection as moderator for that panel clearly demonstrated the importance they place on Türkiye. Speakers, and especially moderators, are meticulously selected for GFN-organized conferences and it was an important platform for Türkiye to showcase its true potential.
A Panel Like Turkish Delight
After the morning’s conferences, we announced that we would offer Turkish delight to the panel participants. Food banking executives, interested in the topic and appreciating our gesture, filled the room.
As I was informed, I started the panel 10 minutes late and took the floor at 1:10 PM. The panel lasted an hour in total. I spoke in English with Canadian Kirstin Beardsley (Chief Network Services Officer – Food Banks Canada), representing Canada, and American Ryan Harty (Migration and Integration Project Director, Tafel Deutschland e.V), representing Germany. I spoke in Spanish with Colombian Juan Carlos Buitrago Ortiz (Executive Director, Asociación de Bancos de Alimentos de Colombia – ABACO), representing Colombia. I was comfortable with the presence of interpreters and my fluency in both languages.
From left to right: me, Ryan, Kirstin and Juan Carlos
I also shared examples from our own experiences. I discussed how Türkiye has integrated over 4 million Syrian refugees into the country and the challenges it faces. During the very enjoyable session, I asked each panelist three questions, followed by three more from the audience. The time flew by during the conversational atmosphere.
From London to Montreal, full speed ahead!
As soon as our panel concluded, I immediately removed my microphone, went downstairs, grabbed my luggage, and headed straight to the airport. Relieved that I’d already received my boarding passes, I checked to make sure my luggage had been loaded onto the plane before heading to the plane. Besides sleeping for an hour or two on the plane, I read the Dobson Cup competitors’ files. I took notes, answering numerous questions and jotting down my recommendations. After a comfortable journey, I arrived in Montreal.
They’ve significantly expedited entry into the country. I logged in using a digital screen. After giving the officials the printout I was given, I checked into Montreal airport without a second thought. Then, I called an Uber and headed to the hotel. A Montreal Uber driver of Italian origin drove me to the hotel. We discussed everything from ice hockey to comparing New York and Montreal to Canadian politics.
When I arrived at the hotel, I felt like I’d come home. I’d booked a room at the Omni Hotel, where my father and I stayed when I first arrived in Canada in 1994. The Omni Hotel is right across from the Bronfman Building, where I studied. As I checked in, I remember gazing at the Bronfman Building, where I’d spent so many years, and the corner of the hotel on Peel Street.
Here is the view from the outside of the Omni Hotel
The Bronfman Building, where McGill’s Faculty of Business Administration is located, is where I spent four of the most formative years of my life.
Everyone needs a second chance in life
I’ll never forget the first moment we left this hotel when I first arrived in Canada in ’94. My father, my twin brother Baran, and I left the hotel. We rounded the Peel corner, and as soon as we did, a sharp squeal of brakes culminating in a crash rang in my ears. As I turned my head, I remember a homeless man lying in front of the car, his entire body shaking. The shaking was so intense it haunts me. Then, I remember a woman quickly getting out of the car and shouting, “Help me, please, oh my God, how did this happen? Please help!” The entire street echoed with her voice. As we all watched in shock, I remember my father saying, “The man’s dying. Look the other way if you want.” I remember telling him, “No, I can handle this.” As we watched these events unfold in seconds, an ambulance and police cars arrived shortly thereafter. But it was too late. The homeless man lying on the ground stopped shaking within seconds, and we realized he was dead. We weren’t doctors and didn’t know first aid. In those few seconds, I quickly thought about what I could do. After realizing he was dead, I remember thinking, “Poor man! What a life he had! Everyone needs a second chance.” Then, in shock (and, of course, the helplessness of not being able to do anything), we continued on our way. I remember remembering what we experienced and trying to figure out what needed to be done to get the homeless and homeless out of this situation. We never discussed this incident again.
I don’t know, maybe this incident is one of the sources of motivation for me at the Basic Needs Association, of which I am the founding president today.
Judging the company competition
Before going to bed at the hotel that evening, I reviewed the Dobson Cup file. I was ready for the next day. The program began with breakfast at 8:00 a.m. At 8:30 a.m., opening speeches and briefings were held. The event began at 9:00 a.m. I served as a jury member for the social enterprises section.
Throughout the day, McGill students who had founded 10 companies gave presentations. We had a lunch break. All meetings lasted until 4:00 PM. Afterward, the scores were calculated. The scoring revealed an interesting result. All four jury members had the same top three favorites. Only the rankings were different. We debated among ourselves about which one was most deserving. Ultimately, we unanimously decided on the top three. Since the winners hadn’t been announced at the time of writing, I won’t be sharing them here. I’ll just add a note below this post for information after the winners are announced on 4 April.
The scoring process lasted until 5:00 PM, followed by a cocktail reception from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM. During the cocktail reception, I had the opportunity to chat with many students and members of the jury. I was especially pleased when students from the social enterprises group, where I serve as a jury member and mentor, approached me and chatted. I answered additional questions from many students for two hours, feeling the joy of having spent the day with them and sharing all my experiences with them, and I continued to share my experiences at the cocktail reception. After the cocktail reception at 7:00 PM, it was time to get ready.
We had a pleasant conversation with these students of Chinese origin who made a presentation to us.
These young women will return to their countries and undertake important work.
While eating dinner, I worked on my presentations and speeches for the next day. My preparations continued until late into the night. Of course, I also answered important emails I’d received.
At my university, this time, students were in my class.
The next morning, at 8:20 a.m., I met with Daniel Cere, our business department’s advancement officer, and went directly to the graduate student classroom. As soon as we entered, everyone introduced themselves, and the lecture began at 8:35 a.m. and went on until 9:25 a.m. The course was called Managing Strategy and Innovation. I explained solar energy, the EcoRE strategy, and our perspective on innovation.
During the presentation, students bombarded me with some very good questions. The level of education at McGill, one of Canada’s top universities, is truly high. I’m not saying this just because it’s my university, but I can easily tell from the quality of the questions that the level is at the highest level. Personally, when good questions come, I’m delighted and my motivation to speak is boosted. I could have answered many more. However, we had to cut it off there because my time was up.
A photo I took in front of our Bronfman building
Afterward, Daniel and I went to a cafe right next to Bronfman’s for coffee and a chat. Around 10:00 a.m., I went to the other undergraduates’ classroom. The Strategic Management class started at 10:05 and ended at 11:25. I gave a presentation like the one I’d given to the previous class, this time to the undergraduates. The younger students, as I’d anticipated, were initially shy, but then I insisted, “Look, if you get stuck, ask me,” and questions started pouring in. I was thrilled. Even the first- and second-year students at McGill are incredibly bright and curious. Just like the previous class, I couldn’t figure out how this one went.
I’d like to share with you the sticker on the bathroom door of my school, which I’m proud of and which includes student activists.
After these two classes, I received very positive feedback from both professors and students. I received many thanks for offering them a different perspective. I received LinkedIn messages saying, “Thanks to you, I learned so much. This was a special treat for me.
I’d like to share one of the presentations I gave to McGill students here as an example:
Interview, library, and friends…
After these lectures, I had a bite to eat, and in the afternoon, Karl Cooper, one of McGill’s renowned professors, interviewed me. He informed me that my interview would be published in the Globe & Mail, one of Canada’s most widely read and respected newspapers.
Afterward, I had a long conversation with another assistant professor about my outlook on life. After this conversation, I went shopping at the McGill Bookstore, as I’d planned. I hadn’t been there in a long time. I bought all the McGill clothing, accessories, and books I liked. I joked with the cashier, “I’m here to boost your sales today.” Afterward, we discussed why they’d moved the bookstore from its previous location. They’d moved the McGill Business students to the bookstore’s current location. Moreover, I had taught my first master’s degree course in the old Bookstore building (incidentally, they’ve renovated the building beautifully. Congratulations to those involved). I joked with the cashiers, “Thank goodness they moved our department to where the bookstore is. I don’t mind that. If it were another department, it would have been a problem.” We laughed.
After leaving, I went to the hotel. After answering some work-related messages and emails, I went to dinner with Sirel, one of my closest friends at McGill since 1995. Sirel also stayed in Canada and built a successful career there, where he currently manages a different business model for Samsung.
Return to the polls after final meetings
The next morning, after checking out of the hotel around 7:00 a.m., I went to meet with Targray, a major solar energy company located in Kirkland, on the outskirts of Montreal. Our meeting, which began with breakfast at 8:00 a.m., lasted until 10:15.
The shot we took in Tangray
Afterward, I had a meeting and lunch with a manager from Investissement Québec, the provincial investment agency. After that, I went to Moisson Montréal, Montreal’s food bank.
The entrance to Moisson Montreal. If you enlarge this image, you can see they’ve written “Welcome, Serhan Süzer” on the whiteboard as a gesture.
What’s interesting here is that Maggie, one of the directors of this organization, turned out to be a classmate of mine from McGill. She wanted to talk to me on the phone the night before. I called her, and she said, “Serhan, don’t you remember me? We were in the same class together a few times.” I didn’t remember her name, but seeing her face made me remember. After a one-and-a-half-hour meeting with Richard Daneux, the Executive Director of Moisson Montréal, and Maggie Borowiec, and a tour of the food bank, I left and visited Jill and Xeno, who had treated me with parental affection 20-25 years ago and helped me in every way, at their home. After this approximately one-and-a-half-hour visit, it was time to go to the airport, so I set off.
A photo we took with Richard, the head of Moission Montreal
Frankly, I was planning to stay in Montreal for the weekend. However, to fulfill my civic duty, I left on Friday night so I could be in Türkiye on Saturday evening and get both myself and my grandmother to vote on Sunday.
I had packed so much into these fast-paced three days that I fell asleep the moment I boarded the plane, and by the time I woke up, we were in London.
But as the saying goes, things happen to whatever you’re meticulous about. I had meticulously packed the McGill belongings I’d purchased 20 years ago into one of my suitcases. When my plane landed in Istanbul, one of my suitcases showed up, but the suitcase with the McGill stuff didn’t. After a rather unpleasant reporting process, I left the airport.
Someone else had grabbed my suitcase, even though it had my name on it. They called the next evening. It turned out my suitcase had ended up in Beylikdüzü. I’m waiting for them to dispatch it to Çekmeköy. What can I say? May God give wisdom to the friend who took the suitcase and took it to Beylikdüzü without even looking at the labels. My only consolation is that they are well-intentioned people. Thus, I was welcomed into the country’s complex agenda.
Tag: special days
