Communicating in Uncertain Times
2022-11-03 17:00 - 19:00 (America/Toronto) | Ontario
Communication is key to any successful project and organization, particularly in uncertain times.

The Harvard Club of Ottawa and the Rideau Club welcome you to a conversation with global communication experts. Barry J. McLoughlin and Laura Peck have over three decades of experience training global leaders in communication strategies. They will be interviewed by learning specialist and podcaster, Dr. Kinga Petrovai. Come and join the conversation on how to communicate in these disruptive times, enjoy refreshments while meeting old and new friends.

Barry J. McLoughlin and Laura Peck, TLC Transformational Leadership Consultants Inc, are recognized names in leadership communications training, with extensive experience training international leaders on how to communicate effectively.

Dr. Kinga Petrovai, The Art & Science of Learning Inc, is a learning consultant helping companies improve their workplace learning. She also hosts a podcast interviewing global thinkers and leaders on topics impacting lifelong learning.

Please register through Eventbrite:

Register on Eventbrite

Alumni networking night
2023-01-18 05:00 - 19:00 | Ontario
Join us on Jan 18th for our Alumni Networking Night! It will take place from 5 – 7 pm at the Metropolitain Brasserie (700 Sussex Drive). Come join fellow alumni from Harvard, Oxford, Cornell, Columbia, Princeton, Cambridge, and LSE. Free hors d’oeuvres will be served.

Mathematics, Spirituality, and Art in the Islamic World
2023-02-21 17:00 | Ontario
Join us on Feb 21 for an evening of art and culture! This free event will begin at 5:00 and will include a tour of the Ottawa Art Gallery, a talk from our own Dr. Sheema Khan on Mathematics, Spirituality and Art in the Islamic World, and a social.

About the speaker: Dr. Sheema Khan (AM ’87, PhD ’89) holds both an A.M. in Physics (’87) and a Ph.D. in Chemical Physics (’89) from Harvard, where she served as a Resident Chemistry Tutor at Lowell House for 4 years. She has been a Globe & Mail columnist since 2002, writing on such topics as reconciling Muslim practices with Western principles. A collection of her columns was published in her book “Of Hockey and Hijab: Reflections of a Canadian Muslim Woman”. She co-founded the Toronto-based think tank The Tessellate Institute and The Family Honour Project in London (Ontario), which is devoted to eliminating honour-based violence in Canada and abroad. She is currently a Board Member of the United Nations Association in Canada, a Director of the Harvard Club of Ottawa, and a life-long fan of the Montreal Canadiens.

Register on Eventbrite here:

Register on Eventbrite

Golden: The Power of Silence in a World of Noise
2023-04-18 19:30 - 21:00 | Ontario
The Harvard Club of Ottawa is pleased to welcome Harvard grad, Justin Zorn, and Leigh Marz, authors of Golden: The Power of Silence in a World of Noise, for a virtual book talk on Tues, April 18 at 7:30pm.

Please register on Eventbrite:

Register on Eventbrite

Informal Learning – Where Learning, Life, and Technology Converge
2023-06-01 18:30 - 21:30 | Elmwood School, 261 Buena Vista Road, Ottawa, ON, K1M 0V9, Canada
The Harvard Club of Ottawa is pleased to welcome Harvard Senior Lecturer and Faculty Chair of Learning Design, Innovation, and Technology, Prof. Joe Blatt for a talk about informal learning in childhood and beyond. Please join us at Elmwood School, who have generously offered to be our venue partner and will be hosting refreshments following the talk.

Prof. Blatt’s Talk Description:

Throughout our lives – even in childhood and adolescence – we learn more in the time we spend outside school than in the classroom. Like the Bourgeois Gentilhomme in Moliere’s play, we are often learning even when we don’t know we are doing it. In this presentation I will explore the world of informal learning: what it looks like, how it happens, and what educators can do to take advantage of it. I will illustrate how informal learning, both deliberate and unconscious, suffuses our lives, and how this phenomenon has particular impact and unique potential in childhood. Among the questions I plan to tackle: What are the avenues through which children and young people experience informal learning? Technology is a ubiquitous and powerful informal learning source for children and young people – so how can we distinguish between media that enrich their social and cognitive development and media that are a potential threat to healthy growing up? What lies behind the documented success of Sesame Street, now more than 50 years old and still spreading to new regions of the globe? What roles can parents play in helping children get a head start on learning – and does this really matter in the long run? I plan to speculate briefly on the future of the promising but also fraught relationship between technology and children’s healthy development, and I hope to engage participants in discussion, reflection, and interaction.

Apps to Download:

You are welcomed to download the following two apps that will be discussed and demonstrated during the talk. They are available in both the App Store and Google Play.

– Small Wonders for Families

– Animal Antics for Families. https://www.gse.harvard.edu/apps/early-literacy

Harvard Men's Basketball Game
2023-08-22 19:00 - 2023-08-23 19:00 | Ontario
As part of a Canadian tour, the Harvard Men’s Basketball team will roll into Ottawa this summer to take on our local university teams. Alums and friends are encouraged to don their Crimson attire and come out to cheer them on!

On Tuesday, August 22, 2023, the Crimson play the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees at 7pm. Tickets can be purchased here: https://www.eventbrite.ca/…/basketball-m-ottawa-cvs…

On Wednesday, August 23, 2023, the Crimson play Canadian Champions, Carleton Ravens, at 7pm. Tickets can be purchased here: https://carletonravens.universitytickets.com/w/event.aspx…

If you’d like to sit with other Harvard alums and friends, please RSVP to the Harvard Club email.

Please share this invitation broadly within your networks. This is a unique opportunity to see the team in action. Let’s show them a warm welcome!

Reflections on Making the Most of Canada with the Rt. Hon. Joe Clark
2023-09-13 17:30 - 21:00 | Ontario
You are invited to join the Harvard Club of Ottawa for an evening with the Right Honourable Joe Clark on his talk Reflections on Making the Most of Canada. His talk will be followed by a Q&A and reception. Seating is limited to the first 100 people.

The Rt. Hon. Joe Clark served 25 years in the House of Commons of Canada, including as Prime Minister of Canada (1979-80), Secretary of State for External Affairs (1984-1991), Minister of Constitutional Affairs (1991-93), Acting Minister of both National Defence and Justice, and Leader of the Opposition. He led the Progressive Conservative Party from 1976-83 and 1998-2004. In this talk the Rt. Hon. Joe Clark will share his insights and reflections on making the most of Canada.

For Harvard Club of Ottawa members, the Club’s Annual General Meeting will also take place in advance of the keynote. There will be a vote on our new board and an update on the fall 2023 programming.

Our venue sponsor for this event is KPMG. Please join us at their offices on 150 Elgin Street, Suite 1800.

Event schedule

5:15 pm Arrival of Harvard Club of Ottawa members

5:30 pm Annual General Meeting of the Harvard University Club of Ottawa

From 5:30 pm, the Welcome desk stays open for the incoming public/ non-member attendees while AGM underway.

6:00-7:00 pm Talk by The Rt. Hon. Joe Clark followed by Q&A

7:00 pm Social

Registration for this event is through Eventbrite.

Register on Eventbrite

Year-end social
2023-11-19 17:30 - 20:00 | Ontario
2023 is drawing to a close! On Nov 22, celebrate with fellow Harvard alums at our year-end social at the Heart & Crown restaurant in the Byward Market at 67 Clarence Street in Ottawa. The event will run from 5:30 – 8pm – drop by at any time! Appetizers will be served, courtesy of the Harvard Club of Ottawa.

Talk: Thomas d'Aquino at the AGO
2024-01-30 17:15 - 20:00 | Ontario
You are invited to join the Harvard Club of Ottawa for an evening of art, discussion, and community on Tuesday, January 30, 2024.

The Ottawa Art Gallery at 10 Daly Avenue, Ottawa, welcomes you starting at 5:15pm to tour their galleries.

At 6:00pm, in Jackson Café, we’ll hear from Thomas d’Aquino, whose talk on leadership and subsequent conversation will be followed by a reception at 7:30pm.

Drawing from his recent #1 national best-selling book, “Private Power Public Purpose – Adventures in Business, Government and the Arts”, Mr. d’Aquino will reflect on what he has learned from his three decades as the head of the Business Council of Canada where he worked with over 1000 CEOs, his work with six Canadian prime ministers, and his many decades of engagement with arts philanthropy.

A lawyer by profession, Thomas has served a Special Assistant to Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, a professor adjunct of international business law at the University of Ottawa law school, and as a Founder and Chair of the National Gallery of Canada Foundation where he serves as Chair Emeritus and Founder and Chair of the Gallery’s Distinguished Patrons. He is a member of the Order of Canada and the Order of Ottawa.

Registration includes gallery access, the talk by Mr. d’Aquino, the reception, and a signed copy of Mr. d’Aquino’s book.

Information on access and parking can be found here: https://oaggao.ca/visit/plan-your-visit/

Register on Eventbrite

Alumni Networking Night 2024!
2024-03-04 17:00 - 20:00 | Metropolitain Brasserie Restaurant – Ottawa, ON, 700 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, Ontario, K1K0G6, Canada
The Club is hosting our annual Alumni Networking Night at Metropolitain Brasserie Restaurant (700 Sussex Drive)! We will be joined by alums from Oxford University, Cambridge University, the London School of Economics, Princeton University, and other top schools. Admission is free and free hors d’oeuvres will be served. Also, there is no need to register.

See you there!!

Talk with Harvard Professor Michèle Lamont at the Canadian Museum of History
2024-05-28 17:00 - 21:00 | Canadian Museum of History, 100 Laurier Street, Gatineau, QC, K1A 0M8, Canada
We invite you to hear Harvard Professor of Sociology, African American Studies, and European Studies, Michèle Lamont, speak on her newest book, Seeing Others: How Recognition Works and How it Can Heal a Divided World. the evening of Tuesday, May 28, 2024. While this will always be topical, we feel it has particular resonance now. Professor Lamont will be joining us from Harvard specifically for this lecture, held in partnership with the Canadian Museum of History.

Guests are welcome to arrive at the Canadian Museum of History, 100 Laurier Street, Gatineau, QC, starting at 5:00pm for private access to the new Canadian History Hall. The talk will commence in the History Hall Hub at 6:00pm, and following questions, a reception with refreshments will take place until 8:30pm. Guests will have continued access to the History Hall after the talk.

We host a visiting professor only once a year and are thrilled to have Professor Lamont join us. Copies of her book will be available for purchase on site.

Tickets for alums and guests are available here and include museum access, the talk, and refreshments.

We look forward to seeing you there to warmly welcome our guest.

Annual Fall Clean-Up
2024-10-19 10:00 | NCC River House, 501 Sir George-Étienne Cartier Parkway, Ottawa, ON, K1M 2K7, Canada
Thank you to all the participants of our shoreline clean-up along the Ottawa River! It was a beautiful day and we managed to collect and remove several bags of garbage from this important ecosystem.

US Election Watch Party
2024-11-05 18:30 | Bier Markt, 156 Sparks Street, Ottawa, ON, Canada
Who will win the US election?? Find out with the Harvard Club of Ottawa at our US Election Watch party on Tuesday, November 5! Join us anytime from 6:30 pm onward at the Bier Markt. No need to register. See you then!

Annual General Meeting
2025-01-20 17:00 - 17:30 | Metropolitain Brasserie Restaurant – Ottawa, ON, 700 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, Ontario, K1K0G6, Canada
The Harvard Club of Ottawa will host our Annual General Meeting (AGM) just prior to the Alumni Networking Night. The meeting is open to all Club members and will include highlights from 2024, plans for 2025, a review of the club’s budget, and an election of club officers.

Alumni Networking Night!
2025-01-20 17:30 - 20:00 | Metropolitain Brasserie Restaurant – Ottawa, ON, 700 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, Ontario, K1K0G6, Canada
Start the year off right – join alums from Harvard, Oxford, LSE, Cornell, Princeton, Columbia, Durham, and Cambridge at our annual Alumni Networking Night on January 20!

Meet interesting people over stimulating conversations….and, to top it off, enjoy some free hors d’oeuvres! No registration needed.

Affordable and Inclusive Housing in Canada and the US
2025-03-04 17:30 - 20:30 | Rockcliffe Park Community Centre, 380 Springfield Road, Ottawa, ON, Canada
We are thrilled to once again host a visiting professor through the Harvard Alumni Association’s Speakers Bureau Program. Harvard Graduate School of Design Professor, Daniel D’Oca, has accepted our invitation to speak on Affordable and Inclusive Housing in Canada and the US on Tuesday, March 4, 2025 at the Rockcliffe Park Community Centre, 380 Springfield Road, Ottawa.

Drawing from his experience as both a professor and co-founder of New York’s Interboro Partners design and planning firm, Professor D’Oca specializes in a multi-disciplinary and creative approach to urban design and teaching.

Attendees are invited to arrive commencing at 5:30pm. We will introduce Professor D’Oca at 6:00pm, who will then address us and take questions. A reception with food and refreshments will follow after. The evening will wrap up at 8:30pm. You and your guests are invited to join us. Tickets are available here:

Affordable and Inclusive Housing in Canada and the US

We look forward to reconnecting with our alumni community and to engaging in thoughtful conversation.

Art & Aperitifs: US/UK Alumni Summer Garden Party at the National Gallery
2025-06-05 17:30 - 20:00 | Tavern at the Gallery, 380 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, Ontario, K1N 6Z1
After the success of our Alumni Networking Night in January, we have teamed up again with our partner clubs in the US and the UK, including Oxford and LSE, to offer a spring social Please join us on Thursday, June 5, 2025 at Tavern at the Gallery (380 Sussex Drive) starting at 5:30pm and running to 8:00pm for another networking night, garden party style. Appetizers will be served.

We are also offering a guided tour featuring highlights of the Canadian and Indigenous collections starting at 5:15pm at the National Gallery. Attendees are welcome to join the social upon the tour’s conclusion at 6:15pm. Entrance into the Gallery is free that evening.

Please register here: https://events.humanitix.com/art-and-aperitifs-a-us-uk-alumni-evening-at-the-national-gallery

Fall Networking Night
2025-09-25 17:30 - 20:00 | Ontario
Building on the success of our summer social, we’re thrilled to invite you to another multi-club Networking Night on Thursday, September 25, 2025 from 5:30pm to 8:00pm at The Caesar Company, 189 Lyon Street North, Ottawa. Complimentary appetizers will be provided. No registration is required.

Talk on "Make Work Fair" with Siri Chilazi
2025-10-16 18:15 - 21:15 | Rockcliffe Park Community Centre, 380 Springfield Road, Ottawa, ON, Canada
We’re pleased to open registration for our conversation with Siri Chilazi, a Harvard College, Harvard Business School, and Harvard Kennedy School of Government grad. Siri’s work as a Senior Researcher at the Women and Public Policy Program at the Harvard Kennedy School has resulted in an exceptional collaboration with her colleague, Iris Bohnet, Make Work Fair.

Siri and Iris challenge not our intentions in seeking equality in the workplace, but our processes of getting there. This topic has implications for us all and, no matter how long you’ve worked, or even specialized in human resources, management, diversity and inclusion, or employment and human rights law, you’ll learn something new.

Harvard Club of Ottawa Alumni and friends are welcome to join us for a fireside chat and pre-and post-talk reception. Siri has offered to sign books, which will be available through the registration page. REGISTER HERE

A Sober Second Look at the Notwithstanding Clause - in conversation with Senator Peter Harder
2025-11-25 17:00 - 20:00 | Senate of Canada, 1 Wellington Street, Room W-120, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0A6, Canada
The Harvard Club’s Dr. Sheema Khan will engage Senator Peter Harder in a fireside chat to discuss the history and purpose of the notwithstanding clause, along with Senator Harder’s proposed bill to put guardrails on federal use of the clause.

Please arrive at 5:00pm to clear security. The discussion will last from 5:30 – 7:00pm. Refreshments and a networking session will follow from 7 – 8pm.

Please register at: https://shorturl.at/D2AuO

The Harvard Club of Ottawa encourages the exchange of ideas and critical thinking. We maintain political neutrality and do not endorse legislation. The views expressed in the talk do not reflect the views of the Club or its Board.

AGM and Talk on the "Implications of AI for the Future of Canada"
2026-01-28 17:30 - 20:30 | Institute on Governance, 60 George Street, Suite 203, Ottawa, Ontario, K1N 1J4, Canada
We are delighted to invite you to our first event of the year on Wednesday, January 28, 2026, our Annual General Meeting, followed by a talk on artificial intelligence, digital governance, and innovation by Ryan Androsoff. Ryan is a Harvard Kennedy School graduate and the Vice-President of Learning and Leadership at the Institute on Governance. He will speak on The Implications of Artificial Intelligence for the Future of Canada at the Institute on Governance, 60 George Street, Suite 203, Ottawa.

Doors will open at 5:00pm

Harvard Club of Ottawa AGM 5:30pm – 6:00pm

Talk, Questions, Networking and Refreshments 6:00pm – 8:30pm

Registration to Ryan’s talk is free for 2026 Harvard Club Members. Non-members may purchase tickets for $15. Members and non-members should register here:https://events.humanitix.com/implications-of-ai-for-the-future-of-canada

We look forward to seeing you later this month!

Alumni Networking Night
2026-04-08 17:30 - 20:00 | Ontario
Come join us for our annual Alumni Networking Night! Held at Metropolitain Brasserie Restaurant (700 Sussex Drive), the event will include alums from Harvard, Oxford, LSE, Cambridge, Cornell, and Durham! The event is free and there is no need to register. Complimentary hors d’oeuvres will be served. See you then!

National Gallery - Now Inside Only
2026-06-18 17:00 - 20:00 | Ontario
We are delighted to invite you back to the National Gallery and Tavern at the Gallery for a multi-club party.

Please join Harvard, Oxford, and LSE alums, along with graduates of other UK and US universities on Thursday, June 18, 2026.

Gallery admission is free starting at 5:00pm. You are welcome to pre-book your admission ticket at no charge or pick up one from the Group Desk, where we will have some reserved. If you wish, you may join a 30 minute tour at 5:30pm through the Gallery’s 3 to See program, featuring gardens in art. For the tour, meet at the entrance to the Canadian and Indigenous exhibits.

A reception and networking will take place after in the Grand Hall until 8:00pm onward. Food and drinks can be purchased.

This was a highlight last year. We look forward to another great showing.

Ottawa: Honouring the Past, Shaping the Future
2026-06-23 17:30 - 20:30 | KPMG, 150 Elgin Street, Ottawa, ON, ON, Canada
Join us for a conversation with Ottawa’s current Mayor, Mark Sutcliffe.

2026 marks a milestone for our city – Ottawa’s 200th anniversary and two centuries since Lieutenant Colonel John By arrived to oversee construction of the Rideau Canal, transforming a wilderness outpost into what would become the capital of one of the world’s great nations. It is a moment worth pausing to reflect on – and an opportunity to ask what the next chapter looks like.

We are honoured to welcome Mayor Mark Sutcliffe for an evening conversation on Ottawa’s past, present, and future. From the city’s founding to its growing role on the national and international stage, this promises to be a thoughtful and wide-ranging discussion about the city we share and the community we are building together.

5:30 – 6:30 PM | Arrival & Reception (refreshments will be served)6:30 – 7:45 PM | Discussion & Questions 7:45 – 8:30 PM | Networking

FREE Concert at the NAC!
2026-07-21 19:30 | National Arts Centre, 1 Elgin Street, Ottawa, Ontario, K1P 5W1, Canada
FREE CONCERT at the National Arts Centre (1 Elgin Street) | This is an open social.

Join us for a free outdoor concert featuring Flávia Nascimento and Tio Chorinho – a vibrant, high-energy performance blending Brazilian choro, samba, and forró. The Wood Terrace at the NAC is one of Ottawa’s best summer spots, and admission is completely free (first-come, first-served, capacity of 400). We recommend arriving early and bringing a chair. We encourage everyone to wear as much Harvard gear as possible – partially for fun, and partially so that fellow Harvard concert attendees can locate us.

Afterward, we’ll gather at Brown’s Socialhouse Centretown (160 Elgin Street) – just steps away – to continue the evening.

Full event details: https://nac-cna.ca/en/event/40946?fbclid=IwY2xjawTA7WxleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeki_JW0UTmI0huqZ3Y9lhxebXt-6KY4Qm0Fkfg7JMdqELIQPLqzxiPm1Tjos_aem_0GvJ_sQSU78Hf20ZSQcjfg

FREE Parliament Hill Tour and Summer Send-Off Social!
2026-08-27 17:00 | Parliament Hill, 111 Wellington Street, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0A4, Canada
Parliament tour is only open to Harvard Alumni, the social is open. Centennial Flame, Parliament Hill → Bier Markt (156 Sparks Street)

We’re combining two great things into one evening: a guided tour of Parliament Hill led by Harvard Alumni Club of Ottawa President Jordan Weston, followed by a Summer Send-Off Social at Bier Markt. Please bring a government ID for the Parliament tour.

This event is open to Harvard alumni, admitted students and their parents, current Harvard students, and Harvard interviewers. It’s a wonderful opportunity to connect across generations of Harvard in Ottawa – whether you’re heading to Cambridge for the first time this fall or have been a proud alum for decades.

The tour begins at 5:00 PM at the Centennial Flame and runs approximately one hour, after which we’ll head to Bier Markt (156 Sparks Street) for mingling, drinks, and good conversation.

Please register for these free events here: https://l1nk.dev/0z56zdt . We hope to see you there!
