The Ontario Broker - February 2018 - 16

T

he Young Brokers Conference aims
to inspire and enhance leadership
qualities in its members. Annually
YBC creates opportunities for its
members to attend educational
sessions, network with industry leaders, forge
lasting relationships with their peers and provide
practical skills that can be applied at their
brokerage. These opportunities have real-world
effects for brokers - brokers like Zac Sutherland.
Being a broker is in Zac's blood. He represents the
fifth generation at his family brokerage, Sutherland
Insurance, founded by his great-great grandfather
in 1870. His first job was working in the mail room
when he was only 13.
"I've worked in the office in every facet of what we
do, from reception to invoicing, Personal Lines,
Commercial, sales," said Zac. After earning a
Bachelor of Business Administration, Zac joined
the brokerage full-time and was recently promoted
to Vice President. Reflecting on his career path
he said, "looking back at everything I've done, it's
taught me every aspect of the brokerage, and that's
only helped me in my role and what I'm taking on
now."
Although he was open to how his experiences
could assist him in his new role, Zac hadn't
yet found a way to apply one of his greatest
strengths - analytics. "I was a Finance major in
university and I love numbers," said Zac. He had
been contemplating how to implement advanced
analytics when he attended the revamped Young
Brokers Conference last year.

A CASE STUDY

In previous years YBC was primarily comprised
of educational seminars and networking events,
but organizers wanted to do something different.
Influenced by business programs like those offered
at Western and Ivey, YBC would be built around
a case study format. The morning started with a
class about best practices, then that afternoon
in groups, they would apply the lessons they'd
learned along with their individual perspectives to
a hypothetical scenario.
"It allowed them to apply real-life examples to the
lessons being taught," explained IBAO Director of
Operations Brett Boadway. "When they got back to
their offices, they would know how to apply what
they'd learned to their own business."

JEFF TOTH, MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS COORDINATOR, IBAO

FEBRUARY 2018

16

One of YBC's case study facilitators was Adam
Mitchell, Owner of Mitchell & Whale Insurance
Brokers and 2016 IBAO Innovator of the Year.
With a unique business model relying exclusively

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Ontario Broker - February 2018
