Rotman’s 2025 Alumni Award recipients are redefining leadership for the long term

From growing the legacy of family- and founder-run commercial bakeries to enhancing diversity in global consulting to leading Canada’s largest restaurant group through crisis, this year’s honourees show how thinking long-term drives meaningful results. 

Leader to Watch Award recipient Kayla Rochkin (MBA ’13) champions people and purpose-driven growth in her role as Chief Growth Officer at Bond Bakery Brands. Volunteer Excellence Award recipient Robert Davis (BCOM ’89) invests in the next generation as Tax Partner and Chief Inclusion, Diversity & Equity Officer at KPMG Canada. And Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Frank Hennessey (EMBA ’05) leads with curiosity and compassion as CEO of Recipe Unlimited.

Together, they reflect the power of Rotman’s alumni community – a network of global leaders who are shaping a more resilient, inclusive and sustainable future. Here is a glimpse of their career journeys and the values guiding their leadership. 

Leading with purpose: Leader to Watch, Kayla Rochkin

When Kayla Rochkin left a successful career in marketing to pursue her MBA at Rotman, she was looking beyond a job and toward making an impact. “Legacy is what drives me,” she says. “I wanted to build something that would last.”

She was also keen to grow her network, which is precisely what happened. Connections made at Rotman ended up leading her to Bond Bakery Brands, an impact-driven food company where she now serves as Chief Growth Officer.

Founded by three fellow Rotman grads, the company invests in family- and founder-run commercial bakeries that lack a succession plan and helps fuel their next wave of growth.

Today, Rochkin is helping to expand a portfolio of bakeries across Canada and the U.S. – businesses that might otherwise have struggled as their original owners retired. “We invest heavily in our companies,” she says. “We want to build on the incredible legacy these founders have built. Their name stays on the door. Their people stay in place.” Her role spans sales, marketing and purpose, a combination that reflects her belief that long-term profitability depends on values-driven leadership. 

“We absolutely look at profit,” she says. “But we want the businesses to be around in another 100 years. And the only way to do that is by focusing on purpose and people.”

That philosophy is embedded in everything from sourcing local flour to reducing plastic waste – decisions that are both environmentally responsible and financially sound. “There are lots of ways purpose and profit can go together,” she says. “It’s about building it into your culture so that small, day-to-day decisions ladder up to something bigger.”

She credits her experience at Rotman with unlocking the confidence and breadth of knowledge to lead across disciplines. “You learn enough about every aspect of business to be dangerous. In a good way,” she says. “You can ask the right questions, challenge assumptions and make better decisions.”

But Rochkin’s proudest achievement is also her most human: introducing regular town halls at each bakery to foster open, two-way communication. “It sounds simple,” she says, “but it’s helped us build a culture that’s collaborative, transparent and deeply connected to our people.” 

Investing in others: Volunteer Excellence, Robert Davis 

Growing up, Robert Davis never imagined he’d one day chair the board of one of Canada’s largest professional services firms. “I didn’t have any role models who looked like me,” he says. “The rational part of my brain said, ‘Of course I can do this.’ But the other part thought, ‘There’s got to be some barrier.’”

Years later, when he was elected Chair of KPMG Canada’s Board of Directors by a group of peers at the highest level of leadership, it was a deeply meaningful moment. He had gone further than he ever thought possible.

Now serving as Tax Partner and Chief Inclusion, Diversity & Equity Officer, Davis has spent more than three decades building not just a career, but a culture. “Our business is nothing without our people,” he says. “If you can’t attract, retain and promote good people, you get nowhere fast.”

For Davis, success isn’t about titles. It’s about fostering growth long-term. “It’s my job as a partner to make myself redundant,” he says. “To mentor and bring up people behind me who are going to take my job. That’s a good thing.”

That philosophy has shaped his work inside and outside the firm. He chairs KPMG’s Executive ID&E Council, sponsors the firm’s Black Professionals Network and created the Robert Davis Black Excellence Award at the University of Toronto. “Meeting the students who’ve received it – that alone is worth the investment,” he says.

Davis’s leadership is grounded in empathy, humility and a deep belief in representation. “I want to do what I can to make sure people see themselves across this industry,” he says. “It’s not about special treatment. It’s about levelling the playing field, so everyone has the same opportunity.”

Doing the right thing: Lifetime Achievement, Frank Hennessey 

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Frank Hennessey had a choice to make. As CEO of Recipe Unlimited – home to brands like Swiss Chalet, Harvey’s, The Keg and over 1,200 restaurants across Canada – he could have focused on cutting costs. Instead, he focused on people.

As restaurants across the country had to close their doors, Hennessey knew many of Recipe’s franchisees wouldn’t survive without support. Rather than collect full rent, he offered a lifeline: they would only be responsible to pay eight percent of their sales toward their rent. If they had no sales, Recipe would cover the difference. “That cost us around $60 million,” he says. “But it was both the right thing to do and the smart thing to do.” 

That clarity of purpose – doing what’s right, even when it’s hard – has defined Hennessey’s leadership. “Culture is what directly correlates to ROI,” he says. “If you have the right culture, and it permeates down to the teammate serving your food, that’s what brings people back again and again.”

Under his leadership, Recipe has done much more than survive. It has thrived. “Last year, we had our best year ever as an organization. And we did that with 120 fewer restaurants than before COVID,” he says. “We focused on human connections and experiences, not just cutting costs.”

Hennessey isn’t just focused on what’s working today. He’s always looking ahead. For him, leadership means staying curious, anticipating change and building teams that can adapt. “Leadership is about managing the incoming fire while still moving the mission down the road,” he says. “If you just become a firefighter, you’re not going to move the organization forward.”

He credits his Rotman EMBA with helping him grow from ego to confidence, and with giving him the credibility to lead at the highest level. “I’m fairly certain I never would have become a CEO without those three little letters,” he says. “It gave me both the credibility and the tools to lead.” 

Originally published by Rotman School of Management