APPLY NOW FOR SEPTEMBER 2012 - DEADLINE IS MARCH 1, 2012
We welcome both aspiring and practising economic development professionals to the only Master's program in Canada devoted solely to local economic development.
With just 15 to 20 students admitted each year, you'll be part of a friendly, interdisciplinary program that will prepare you for a career in local/community economic development. Students typically specialize in one of three areas of study: business development, sustainable development or international development.
Looking for a career boost? Interested in broadening and upgrading your skills? The academic program includes a broad range of local development issues including entrepreneurship, information technologies, labour market processes, globalization, strategic economic planning, service sector expansion, indicators and evaluation, environmental and healthy community initiatives as well as community sustainability.
Established in 1988, the LED program joined the Faculty of Environment's School of Environment, Enterprise and Development (SEED) in 2009.
An invitation to LED alumni - keep in touch with us - drop us a line at lzepf @ uwaterloo.ca to let us know what you are up to or where you are working.
Watch LED alumnus, John Tracogna, as he goes undercover as CEO of the Toronto Zoo in the first episode of Undercover Boss Canada, airing Thursday, February 2, 9:00 p.m. on the W Network.
LED alumnus Stephen Thompson wins New Economic Development Professional of the Year award at the 2011 International Economic Development Council annual conference, September 18-21, 2011.
This award "recognizes outstanding achievement by a young, emerging leader in the economic development profession," based on their significant career achievements and how these have impacted their economic development organization and community as a whole
LED Alumna Jill Yuzwa’s Gallery AyrSpace Makes Prime Time
Exploring the charming villages and farmland southwest of the GTA is within easy reach. Jill Yuzwa [LED graduate 2008], turned her family’s hardware store in Ayr into a gallery, engaging local artists and community enterprise. more...
LED Alumnus Sean Van Koughnett heads Waterloo's New Office of Student Success
The University of Waterloo announced the creation of the Office of Student Success on Wednesday, October 13, 2010. The Director of the new office is LED alumnus Sean Van Koughnett (1996). See the University of Waterloo Daily Bulletin of Thursday, October 14, 2010, for more information.
Lindsay Polkinghorne at FedDev Ontario
'I currently work for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario) in Kitchener as a Development Officer supporting the delivery of a variety of community and economic development programs and engaging with a variety of stakeholders.
Working for the federal government in program delivery, I need to understand who FedDev programs are reaching and how to best serve their needs. The LED program has been extremely valuable in providing me with a balance of perspectives and understanding of southern Ontario and its stakeholders that assists me and benefits the public in my job every day.'
Melissa Scaman - Ingenuity Consulting
Melissa Scaman is a LED graduate, originally from Calgary, Alberta. After graduating, she worked for municipal and regional governments for 3 years in Ontario, Sask, and Alberta. Then Melissa started a consulting company, Ingenuity Consulting, that specializes in community resilency and sustainable development - to get away from the politics and smoke stack chasing of the EDO office. She works almost exclusively with rural towns and community groups, often not governments, who want to make things happen in their communities, and keep rural places alive. Melissa currently lives in Edmonton, and works mostly in Alberta, BC and SK. She is in the process of starting an CED blog.
Aleem Kanji - Greater Toronto Airports Authority
Mr. Aleem Kanji is the Manager of Government and Public Affairs for the Greater Toronto Airports Authority. In this role, he manages proposals and positions regarding policy, legislative and regulatory changes and issues of interest to the GTAA. In addition, he identifies new economic development opportunities for collaboration with stakeholder groups as it relates to the GTAA’s interests.
2011 should prove to be an exciting year for Andy Bacchus, an MAES Candidate in Local Economic Development; he is currently working on his MRP, which is exploring the relationship between microfinance activity and local economic development in developing countries. In the Spring, he will be starting his internship with an organization based in Europe; this organization works in post-conflict economic development with a focus on youth-entrepreneurship and microfinance; additional internship and field-research opportunities have been explored in Haiti.
Since completing his courses last year, Andy has been working tirelessly on his blog Street Ecology: www.streetecology.com, in which he combines photography with simple LED analysis. He recently created a web page for his research, which can be viewed at: http://www.environment.uwaterloo.ca/u/abacchus/. You can follow Andy on Twitter: @streetecology
