Steve and Rashmi Gupta.Supplied
The organizer: Steve and Rashmi Gupta
The pitch: Donating $1-million
The cause: The Ted Rogers School of Management at Toronto Metropolitan University
Canada wasn’t Steve Gupta’s first choice when he left India in the early 1970s.
He followed relatives to Britain before deciding to make a trip to Canada in 1971, arriving at the age of 22 with just $108 in his pocket. “I didn’t want to stay here,” Mr. Gupta recalled with a chuckle.
Within a few weeks, he’d obtained a visa and set about finding work. He held a variety of jobs, including selling insurance door-to-door, before he saved enough money to buy a highway truck stop in Port Hope, Ont. From that start, Mr. Gupta built a Toronto-based hospitality business that includes more than 20 hotels, seven residential developments and several other holdings under the Gupta Group of companies.
He and his wife, Rashmi, also became major philanthropists. The Gupta Family Foundation has built an eye clinic in rural India, funded relief efforts in Turkey after last year’s earthquake and contributed to several charities in Canada.
Last month, the family donated $1-million to the Ted Rogers School of Management at Toronto Metropolitan University. The donation will help fund the school’s operations, as well as two scholarships.
“We wanted to do something for the university and the students, because we feel that it’s important to educate the new generation, then they can change the future of the country,” he said.
Mr. Gupta has had deep ties to the university. About 20 years ago, his company converted a former government office building into a hotel and offered students in the university’s hospitality program a chance to gain some work experience. The students “needed practical training while they were getting academic training. So we provided that training,” he said.
The family is hoping to do more with the university, but for now, Mr. Gupta is just happy to give something back to Canada and demonstrate to others the importance of philanthropy. “If everybody contributes a little bit, I think the world will be much better.”