Get to know Jordan Daniow, ILead’s new Leadership Education Specialist!
What are the responsibilities of your role at ILead and what initiative are you most looking forward to participating in?
I will be responsible for the design and implementation of co-curricular programming like the Leadership Labs. I will also be involved in ILead’s interaction with industry partners. I’m most excited about bringing together student club leaders to work through common organizational level issues, and engaging with clubs in promoting the value and application of leadership development within the club realm.
What do you think has been the most influential leadership experience you have participated in?
I think there are two experiences that I really have to give credit for in influencing the person and leader I have become today. One would be my involvement with Engineers Without Borders right before and during a one year contract in Malawi. The EWB mindset of driving meaningful change and valuing people as a means and end to that change really shaped my path and broadened my perspective in the way that I approached problems. Also, my roles with Culture Shock Canada, a non-profit urban dance based organization, has also been a very important training ground for me. From leading various student and professional dance teams, to leading the National Board of Directors, I have learned so much through the various levels of leadership I’ve had within the organization over 10 years.
What do you think are some crucial mindsets aspiring engineers need in the workplace?
A key mindset that engineers need in the workplace is an openness and continuous desire to learn and improve on their technical as well as their interpersonal abilities and approaches. This balanced with a strong drive to contribute and influence positive changes at any level will lead to a very rewarding and successful career.
How will your industry experiences contribute to your work with engineering students through the ILead programs?
I hope to bring workplace and industry relevant perspective to students to help them better understand, cope with, and prepare for the professional environment and challenges that they will be thrown into once leaving university. I’ve also spent a lot of time educating engineering professionals on technical concepts, and hope to translate that experience to better help engineering students learn about leadership concepts, which I believe can have more of a meaningful impact in the world.
And finally, Leafs or Sens?
Even though it’s a well know and sad fact that the Leafs suck, I still support them as a Canadian team when they aren’t playing the Sens! 🙂
You can reach Jordan at jordan.daniow@utoronto.ca.
-Michael Sabatini