IGNITE 2025 Honours Gail Asper

Of the approximately 850 people who attended the 2025 IGNITE gala dinner on Wednesday, September 17, nearly half were new Asper School of Business students.

The other half was made up of Asper senior students, faculty, staff, and the Manitoba Business community. Distinguished guests gave the students a warm welcome at their first event of this kind, sparking connections between speeches and dinner.

However, no guest was more distinguished than Manitoba’s Gail Asper, recipient of the 2025 IGNITE award. She’s a philanthropist, lawyer, former President of The Asper Foundation, and the daughter of Israel (Izzy) Asper.

She joins past recipients of this outstanding distinction, which includes Mark Chipman, Dayna Spring, and Ash Modha.

“Simply showing up”: Gail’s Speech

Throughout her speech, Gail Asper shared countless tidbits of meaningful advice from her four-decade career, but started by giving a lot of credit to her father.

“I wanted to be here with you tonight so that I can share with the first-year students a little bit about the remarkable man after whom your business school is named,” she said.

Israel (Izzy) Asper

“Because frankly, everything I’ve done and achieved in my 65 years of life was a result of the advice and mentorship and the opportunities my dad gave me.”

She described her father’s brilliance as a tax lawyer, a very successful entrepreneur and a “relentlessly generous philanthropist.” His mantra was to reach for the stars.

Izzy Asper could’ve been successful anywhere, but planted himself firmly in Manitoba, which he felt committed to giving back to.

“He was a very proud prairie boy who believed you can accomplish anything in Manitoba,” she said.

His entrepreneurial spirit, his innovation and his foundational belief in advancing Manitoba business all played into the decision to rename the UM Faculty of Management to the I.H. Asper School of Business in May 2000.

Shortly after, in July of 2000, Izzy began his campaign to create a national museum in Winnipeg, even though national museums were only in Ottawa at that time.

The result, the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, is the Asper Foundation’s crowning achievement. Gail never thought her dad’s passion project would become hers, but when Izzy suddenly died in 2003 at the age of 71, she spearheaded the massive endeavor as a tribute to him.

This is when she learned that one of her dad’s favourite sayings—“Success is 10% inspiration, and 90% perspiration”—was indeed true.

Shouldering the challenging project until the end is her greatest story of perseverance, but it’s one that lives on as the extraordinary centrepiece of Winnipeg (and, of course, on the $10 bill).

Gail stressed the importance of “simply showing up” at events like IGNITE, where you can meet future mentors and make lifelong connections.

“It can be very intimidating coming to events like this, but the more you do it, the easier it gets, knowing what to wear, […] knowing what fork to use,” she said.

But she also wanted students to know that if they’re trying their best, it’s ok to fail. Because it teaches you something. She then donned a thick British accent to quote Winston Churchill: “When you’re going through hell, keep going.”

Dr. Bruno Silvestre, Dean of Asper School of Business, highlighted Gail’s and her father’s impact earlier in the evening: “25 years ago, Izzy Asper, Gail’s father, changed the trajectory of our school and business education in Manitoba through an investment that made the Asper School what it is today. And Gail continued her father’s legacy, as the President of the Asper Foundation for two decades. What a visionary family!”

Summing everything up, he said, “It is a huge responsibility and honour for our school to carry your father’s name, Gail. We don’t take it lightly.”

But after dinner, after an inspiring speech, Gail Asper offered a counterpoint. She said that it was actually the opposite, and that it was she who felt the pressure to live up to the integrity and innovation associated with the Asper School of Business name.

Then she came off the stage to a standing ovation. Students began wandering up to each other to network, filled with fresh inspiration ahead of a long journey through school.

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The Young Associates is Manitoba’s premier network of young professionals, working alongside the Associates of the Asper School of Business. Together, they are dedicated to the advancement of the business education at the Asper School of Business through mentorship, networking and philanthropy.

Brett Maclaren