Five Questions With: Mary Gillett, Lecturer in the Managerial Accounting and Control group at the Ivey Business School and the Faculty Director of the Executive MBA Program

For more than two decades, Mary Gillett has been shaping the financial and strategic acumen of business leaders at the Ivey Business School, where she is a Lecturer in the Managerial Accounting and Control group. A former Faculty Director of both the Executive MBA and HBA programs, Mary has left her mark on generations of students — earning some of Western University’s highest teaching honors along the way.

But her influence extends well beyond the classroom. A Fellow of the Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario, she has spent years advising organizations on governance, financial strategy, and leadership. As Treasurer of St. Joseph’s Health Care London, she works at the intersection of finance and community impact. And as an active faculty member with the Ivey Academy, Ivey’s executive education wing, and the Program Director of The Ivey Academy’s Finance for Non-Financial Professionals Program, she has helped leaders at major institutions — from TD Bank and RBC to Bruce Power and Syngenta — develop the financial literacy necessary to drive strategy.

We spoke with Mary about the leadership lessons that have shaped her career, the future of business education, and what it really takes to prepare today’s executives for the world ahead.

You’ve held leadership roles across Ivey’s HBA and EMBA programs and have shaped countless careers. What leadership principles have guided you throughout your journey, and how do you instill them in the next generation of leaders?

Authenticity, transparency, accountability, and inclusion — these are the values that guide me. I try to bring my full self to everything I do, including the classroom. I’m a small-town girl, raised by two loving and hardworking self-employed parents, and I think people would say: what you see is what you get with Mary.

Being the Program Director for our Executive MBA during COVID-19 really cemented the importance of transparent and inclusive leadership. People wanted clarity — even when the plan was still evolving. And I learned that listening matters. People around you have great ideas. I hope I’m seen as someone who listens deeply, and who has the confidence and humility to give credit where it’s due.

With economic shifts, technological disruption, and evolving workforce expectations, business education is under pressure to adapt. What do you see as its most urgent challenge — and its greatest opportunity?

Without question, AI. It’s transforming how we learn, how we evaluate, and how we think.

On one hand, it’s a powerful tool, it can polish our thinking and help us communicate more effectively. But much of what we strive for in the classroom is developing critical thinkers. So the question becomes: does AI support that goal, or undermine it?

Some of our EMBA participants have pushed back on our “no AI use” policy, arguing that using it to prepare for cases is simply efficient. And maybe that’s true. But we also have to ask — what’s lost in the process? Are we skipping over the deeper thinking that leads to insight?

I also think a lot about fairness. Does someone with better access to AI tools gain an unfair advantage? And how would we even begin to detect that? These are complex questions, and we’re still figuring them out.

As an educator, you’ve received numerous awards recognizing your impact on students, who leave your classroom with more than financial models and case studies. If there’s one idea or mindset you hope they carry with them for life, what would it be?

That learning and growth are never solitary.

We are all better when we are all better. That may sound simple, but it’s a powerful idea. I want my students to know that success isn’t about going it alone — it’s about collaboration, community, and shared progress.

How do you see the intersection between academic expertise and community leadership? What role should business schools play in shaping socially responsible leaders?

The word privilege gets used a lot these days, but I think it’s appropriate here. Those of us who work and study in business schools are privileged, and with that comes responsibility.

We have so much to offer, and the needs in our communities are significant. One of the curriculum changes I’m most proud of was integrating learning about Canada’s history with Indigenous peoples. It was a step toward honouring that responsibility and acknowledging that business education doesn’t happen in a vacuum, it’s part of a broader social fabric.

At its core, I think leadership is about learning and sharing. That’s the essence of what I try to do.

Every career has a turning point, a moment of clarity, a decision that changed everything. What was yours?

Before Ivey, I taught in a different program. I had four young kids, and at the time, teaching was just a job, something that paid the bills and gave me time to be a mom. The focus was more about helping students pass exams than inspiring learning. It was fine. But then Ivey called.

That was the turning point.

Ivey gave me the opportunity to turn a job into a career — and, as it turns out, one I’m incredibly passionate about. Not long after, I became Director of our undergraduate program. That role helped me realize how much I love seeing the big picture — understanding the goals, connections, and demands that shape a program. I love the collaboration with faculty, staff, and students. I love program design. I love problem-solving. And I love watching students thrive because of what we’ve built.

I’d say that leading through COVID provided me with another turning point. I loved the unknowns. I loved reassuring my team and our participants that we were doing everything we could to preserve the quality of the EMBA experience. I loved delivering alongside such an incredible team. It brought out the very best in us.

You’ve spent your career in fields where women have historically been underrepresented. What’s the leadership advice no one gave you — but that you wish they had?

Know that you’ve earned your seat at the table. You belong.

You bring something unique and valuable: your perspective, your experience, your whole self. Don’t dim that. Surround yourself with people who lift you up, and who you want to lift up, too.

That’s how we move forward — together.