Dr. Beth Rubin. Photo by David Lipnowski.
Completing the circle: a conversation with Dr. Beth Rubin
Graduating Asper student John Lodge interviews one of the visionaries behind Indigenous Business Education Partners after three decades of Indigenous student support at Asper
Beth Rubin joined the University of Manitoba in 1990 as an assistant professor in the Faculty of Management (which would become the Asper School of Business in 2001).
An expert in human resource management and organizational behaviour, Rubin’s work focused on employment equity. The more she learned about Manitoba’s Indigenous communities, the more she saw gaps in the educational landscape. “There’s an access problem here, I realized,” she recalls in conversation.
Rubin, in collaboration with Jonas Sammons, began to design a program that would support Indigenous students pursuing business across three key areas: academic, financial, and social. In 1993, funding for the program was approved, and the next year the Aboriginal Business Education Program (ABEP) launched, marking the beginning of a thirty-year history that would lead to the Indigenous Business Education Partners (IBEP) of today.
On May 8, 2025, eight IBEP students celebrated their graduation from the Asper Bachelor of Commerce program. John Lodge graduates this year with a double major in finance and marketing and will begin studying Indigenous law at the University of Alberta this fall.
In the weeks before the IBEP graduation ceremony, Lodge connected with Rubin to learn more about the beginnings of the program from which he graduates this year.
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JOHN LODGE:
In your own words, could you share the story of that initial funding proposal for ABEP?
BETH RUBIN:
When I arrived at UM, I was told that there had been five Indigenous students in the history of the Faculty of Management, five in a city that was at the time over 10% Indigenous.
There was a push from the business community to hire Indigenous graduates. I brought this to the Dean, William Mackness along with an idea for an access program. He supported this idea and connected me with a member of The Associates, Jonas Sammons.
Jonas and I worked together for two years designing the program.
Once we secured funding, Wanda Wuttunee was brought on as the first program director, and Roxane Shuttleworth came on the first program coordinator. At that point, I stepped back, advised where I could, interfaced with faculty, but Wanda and Roxane were the experts—they took it from there.
If you think of it as a giant bonfire, I wasn’t the kindling, but I was the first light to get it going, and then I watched it grow.
JOHN LODGE:
When you were designing the program, what did you envision for ABEP?
BETH RUBIN:
Our long-term vision at that point was really addressing the issue of access and support. To my knowledge, there were no Indigenous students in the Faculty of Management.
We focused on access—cranking open a door that was shut, and we used this program as a lever to push it open and help pull people though the gap.
I never imagined that it would change so much in thirty years, that the program would move from helping people get in the door to helping them succeed once they are inside. That door is open much wider now, but people still need help getting through and succeeding once they’re on the other side.
JOHN LODGE:
That’s right. And that doorway can always be widened further, right? As I saw through my experience as an IBEP student, a lot of the value comes once you get into the program.
BETH RUBIN:
Exactly.
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Rubin left academia briefly, moving into for-profit education and the emerging boom of internet-based learning. She moved back into academic as Director of Online Learning at DePaul University, designing courses for students who needed more flexibility than traditional universities could offer.
Before her retirement, Rubin served as the Dean of Adult and Online Education at Campbell University in North Carolina, where she led the development of bachelor’s programs for incarcerated men and women.
“I have been so lucky that in my first job and in my last real job, the people above me supported me to build programs that make the world better,” she says.
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JOHN LODGE:
How did your involvement in IBEP’s beginning influence your career path?
BETH RUBIN:
Well, it let me know that it’s possible to build programs—to give access and make the world a better place. To open the door.
I’m going to jump ahead a bit, but coming to the IBEP 30th anniversary celebration, I felt a closure of the circle—with IBEP, I played a role by co-designing the program and handing it off for implementation, and at Campbell, I was handed a program to implement.
These programs are the best things I have produced in my academic career.
I’ve produced 30 or so academic papers or publications. I’ve done a gazillion workshops. I’ve taught thousands of students, but designing that program is the work of which I am most proud.
JOHN LODGE:
Speaking of the IBEP 30th celebration, tell me a bit more about your experience reconnecting at that event.
BETH RUBIN:
It was pure joy. It gave me so much joy, I cannot tell you… It was the high point of my year, without a doubt.
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JOHN LODGE:
What advice would you offer to student leaders who are inspired to get something off the ground or spearhead a new initiative like what you did with IBEP?
BETH RUBIN:
First, do your research. You have a great idea, that’s good—find out if anybody else has dealt with these issues. Be respectful, do the work, but don’t reinvent the wheel.
If you can find a caring and supportive collaborator you can work with, that’s a wonderful thing.
Finally, reach out to people informally—build a community of support, talk about what needs to be done, and have one-on-ones to build the relationships.
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Lodge reflects on how his tenure a President of the student group University of Manitoba Indigenous Commerce Students (UMICS) followed these steps. This year alone, the group hosted its first case competition and study trip this year alone. Rubin points out that he already had the answer to his last question. “That’s why you’re a leader,” she says.
He pauses.
“It’s a moment of realization, though. Because while it’s all happening, while you’re balancing four classes and all the new initiatives, you don’t recognize that you’re becoming a leader. But looking back on it now, and having that validation from your experience, it really proves to be true,” he says.
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As Lodge attends graduation dinners and convocation this June and Rubin looks back on her career from the vantage point of retirement, they connect over the moments where it all came together, the program that influenced their journeys—IBEP, where change was possible, and where inspiration comes full circle.