Award: $10,000

TORONTO, Feb. 27, 2015 /CNW/ - The University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management and TD Bank Group ("TD") are announcing the establishment of a two year think tank initiative to support the advancement of women.  Through community outreach with an essay competition and later a research paper, the Rotman School and TD are seeking to generate and share innovative perspectives about women's career, family and legacy aspirations.

"We know that women and men think differently about their family, career and legacy choices," said Walid Hejazi, an Associate Professor at the Rotman School, who will lead the research paper of this initiative. "Working together with TD will allow us to delve into these differences and understand the progression of choices women make regarding their careers, and the role education and financial sectors can play in contributing to their solutions and success."

"Through our Women Investor Program, TD has been committed to supporting women in finance and we're proud to work with the Rotman School of Management to establish an innovative think tank to better understand the challenges women confront in their pursuit of career, family and legacy," said Sandy Cimoroni, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, TD Wealth. "We want to take a real and honest look at how women balance and rebalance competing priorities throughout their careers, and this collection of essays is the first step toward building the foundation for future insights."

Women with more than 10 years of work experience living in Canada are encouraged to submit a maximum 1,500 word personal essay about the choices made between their career, family and legacy aspirations. Essayists are asked to provide an assessment of their career goals and how these have changed as a result of emerging family and/or legacy aspirations. Insights into the underlying drivers and personal impact of these choices are also being sought.  The competition will be led by the Rotman's Initiative for Women in Business. Deadline for essay submissions is 5:00pm on Thursday April 23, 2015.

Five semi-finalists will be selected to present to a private audience of Rotman School and TD judges in Toronto on June 15, 2015. Immediately following the presentations, the judges will deliberate to finalize the winner, who will receive a certificate of acknowledgement and a cash award of $10,000. The winner will be announced at a lunch with senior TD and Rotman leaders in Toronto on June 15, 2015.

All details for the TD & Rotman Women @ Work Essay Competition can be found at: www.rotman.utoronto.ca/tdwomenatwork

Rotman School of Management
The Rotman School of Management is located in the heart of Canada's commercial and cultural capital and is part of the University of Toronto, one of the world's top 20 research universities. The Rotman School fosters a new way to think that enables our graduates to tackle today's global business challenges. The Rotman School of Management is a leader in promoting and supporting gender diversity and is the only business school in Canada with a dedicated Initiative for Women in Business. For more information, visit www.rotman.utoronto.ca.

Rotman's Initiative for Women in Business has been committed to strengthening the female talent pipeline since 2008. With programming tailored for each stage of a woman's career, participants gain strategic decision-making and leadership skills, and learn how to influence and inspire teams. Together with award-winning faculty and corporate partners, we proudly support women's career development as a keystone to organizational prosperity. www.rotman.utoronto.ca/women

About TD Bank Group
The Toronto-Dominion Bank and its subsidiaries are collectively known as TD Bank Group ("TD" or the "Bank"). TD is the sixth largest bank in North America by branches and serves more than 24 million customers in three key businesses operating in a number of locations in financial centres around the globe: Canadian Retail, including TD Canada Trust, TD Auto Finance Canada, TD Wealth (Canada), TD Direct Investing, and TD Insurance; U.S. Retail, including TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank, TD Auto Finance U.S., TD Wealth (U.S.), and an investment in TD Ameritrade; and Wholesale Banking, including TD Securities. TD also ranks among the world's leading online financial services firms, with approximately 9.7 million active online and mobile customers. TD had CDN$1.1 trillion in assets on January 31, 2015. The Toronto-Dominion Bank trades under the symbol "TD" on the Toronto and New York Stock Exchanges.

About TD Wealth
TD Wealth represents the products and services of TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. (Member-Canadian Investor Protection Fund), TD Waterhouse Private Investment Counsel Inc., TD Wealth Private Trust (offered by The Canada Trust Company) and TD Wealth Private Banking (offered by The Toronto-Dominion Bank).

SOURCE TD Bank Group