Grad year: 2002

Degree: MBA

Current role: Investment and portfolio manager with the Ontario Capital Growth Corporation (OCGC). OCGC manages the interest of the Government of Ontario in the $205 million Ontario Venture Capital Fund LP (OVCF) and manages the Ontario Emerging Technologies Fund (OETF), a $250-million venture capital fund designed to co-invest in innovative, high-growth, private Ontario companies.

Brenda Hogan (MBA’02) had been in the workforce for over five years, in both Halifax and Japan, when she decided to take advantage of Dal’s part-time MBA program. At first it was a challenge to fit study time into a busy schedule of full-time work and numerous volunteer endeavours, but Brenda quickly got the hang of it – even bringing her stacks of reading to the hairdresser if she had to. One benefit of returning to school from the workforce was the focus she had at that stage of her career: “I could be quite focused on what I thought I needed to know or wanted to know, so that helped me focus and pick a concentration. I had a sense of where I thought I wanted my career to go, and I was looking for pieces to add to the puzzle.”

Dalhousie Alumni Association: Why did you decide to attend Dal?

BH: I was with MT&T, which became Bell Aliant, in the strategic investment group. This was a brand-new frontier for our company. A team of us were investing in early-stage technology companies to give Bell a window on cutting-edge technology – it was kind of a unique role on the east coast at that time because there weren’t lots of funds doing investing of that kind. I wanted to continue in that role, but I also realized that I wanted to do an MBA. The proximity of Dal and the ability to work part-time made it a good fit.

DAA: Where did you live while you were at Dal?

BH: By then I’d been working, so I lived in my own home.

DAA: Favourite place to study while at Dal?

BH: I found the volume of reading to be enormous, so I had to read whenever and wherever – on planes, while I was getting my hair done. As a result, I’m a pretty fast reader and I can distill a lot of information quickly.

DAA: What was your biggest distraction while you were at Dal?

BH: Other part-time students will relate: balancing a full-time job with part-time studies. I was also active in the community as Treasurer with the Junior League of Halifax, an organization working on developing the potential of women and improving the community. I definitely learned time management.

DAA: What was your favourite cafeteria food on campus?

BH: I was always rushing from my office to campus so I didn’t even know where to find a cafeteria. Off-campus, I do remember the Fireside. I liked that place.

DAA: What is your favourite Dalhousie memory?

BH: That would be graduation day. My parents were there, my grandmother (who is 103 now) was there, along with my sister and her husband, so that was a great day.

DAA: How did your Dal experience prepare you for your current role?

BH: I think it positioned me to take on leadership roles in business and also in the community. Shortly after graduation I moved to Toronto, and I wound up becoming President of the Junior League of Toronto and a founding member of the YPC (Young Patrons Circle) of the Royal Ontario Museum. In the past few years, I have been on the board of Women in Capital Markets, and also on the board for the Geneva Centre for Autism.

DAA: What do you see as the best thing about being a Dal alum?

BH: I think one of the greatest things is being able to help those students who come behind me.  I was approached to be a mentor (through the Dalhousie Alumni Association) and I am now mentoring a current [MBA] student.

DAA: Do you have any words of wisdom for current Dal students?

BH: Spend time building a network, through fellow classmates but also through opportunities to get involved in volunteer activities at Dal or in the broader community. These networks can be very successful in helping you achieve results in business or whatever your profession and in helping you improve your community, whether it’s Halifax or elsewhere.