On June 20, 2025, BC-India Business Work organized its annual Education and Skills Summit at SFU’s Segal Centre in Vancouver. The well attended event emceed by Jatinder Dhir and Anna Mathews started by acknowledging the unceded ancestral lands of the Coast Salish Peoples and welcomed education sector leaders, institutional heads, academics, students, government officials and others.The main theme this year was Reimagining the Future of Education.
Guests were officially welcomed by Dr. Vivek Savkur, Founder and President Emeritus of BC-IBN and Dr. Savkur received a citation from the BC Government’s Speaker Hon. Raj Chauhan. The Consul General of India in Vancouver, Mr. Masakui Rungsung, made opening remarks that was followed by a keynote from James Mandigo, President of the University of Fraser Valley.
A panel discussion on Reimagining the Future of Education moderated by Tina Balachandran included:
- Dr. Randall Martin
- Ajay Patel
- Dr. Philip Laird
- Supriya Devgan
The event also included a Special Address by Dr. Joy Johnson (Vice Chair Universities Canada & President, SFU)
One of the highlights of the Summit was having an accomplished Harikatha and Indian classical Carnatic musician – Sharvari Somayaji performing. She was accompanied by Kiran Sunil, an international pianist. The closing keynote was by youth speaker Monisha Mothilal.
Vive Dhume in his vote of thanks, thanked all guests, speakers, sponsors, volunteers and performers for their excellent contributions and also acknowledged the Board of BC-IBN for their hard work.
“The annual Education and Skills Summit helps us get a pulse of the education sector and brings in experts who are passionate about education and want to reimagine it for society’s good. BC-IBN is grateful for their invaluable contributions”, said Dr. Vivek Savkur.
