After receiving his MBA and LLB from Queen’s University, Powers began his legal career in Toronto with Smith, Lyons, Torrance, Stevenson and Mayer (now Gowlings) before serving as Corporate Counsel for Honda Canada Inc. He joined the University of Toronto in 1992 where he currently holds the position of National Academic Director, Governance Programs at The Rotman School of Management at the University.
Prior to teaching in Rotman’s MBA, Executive MBA, OMNIUM, and Executive Education Programs, Rick was deeply involved with U of T’s Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Business Administration. His areas of expertise include corporate governance, ethics, business and corporate law, and sports marketing, for which he’s received numerous teaching awards.
In addition to providing frequent commentary on legal and governance issues in various media across Canada, Rick is an Academic Director of The Directors Education Program, the Governance Essentials Program (in partnership with the Institute of Corporate Directors – ICD), and currently sits on the Boards of several not-for-profit organizations including:
- Rugby Canada (Representative to Canadian Olympic Committee and Past Vice-Chair)
- Rugby Ontario (Past President)
- Childhood Cancer Canada (Director)
- eLearning Consortium Canada (Director)
- Powers has been the Team Leader for the Canadian Maple Leafs Rugby 7s team at the World Games in Cali, Columbia (2013), and was also a representative of CSC at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.
Prior to being elected President of Commonwealth Sport Canada, Powers served as CSC Treasurer of from 2006-2014 and currently resides in Toronto.