By Betsey Verecky

When Tom Park T’10 was a kid growing up in Montreal, his immigrant parents ran a grocery store that came close to bankruptcy when the economy took a nosedive. His parents tried to get a loan to stay afloat, but they were rejected by every major bank.

“We were about to go under, and every major bank said, ‘No,’ except for the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC),” Park recalls. “And with that loan, we were able to survive for another 10 years.”

Later in life, in a strange twist of career kismet, Park began working for the BDC, most recently as lead partner of the bank’s BDC Deep Tech Fund, a $200 million venture capital fund that invests in Canadian startups ranging from quantum technologies to companies making more energy-efficient AI chips.

“There’s a lot of innovation happening in Canada that can better the world,” Park says. “That’s what led me to come work at a government bank because it’s the most active venture capital investor in the country. These Canadian startups can really put Canada on the map and make the world a better place, whether it’s through more advanced computing, improving the climate, or AI modeling.”

While Park believes that technology has the potential to revolutionize the world, he says there’s one big bottleneck in the system that he wants to solve—inadequate data center infrastructure and reliable energy capacity to support the AI ecosystem. Park is currently working on a project that positions Canada as a way to help solve this pressing global problem.

“Canada has plenty of low-emission energy sources and a cooler climate, which reduces the need for energy-intensive cooling systems in data centers,” Park says, noting that Canada has an abundance of hydroelectric and nuclear power to help ease the environmental impact of AI’s increased energy consumption.

Park participated in Tuck’s dual degree program with Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government but admits that he arrived in Hanover by accident. He had been taking the bus back to Montreal from Boston when it stopped in Hanover in October on the Green.

“I saw the leaves falling and thought I’d never seen a campus so beautiful in my life,” he says.

He attended Tuck during the Great Recession and remembers when Dean Slaughter was called to testify at Congress about the different bailout programs. “To this day, that’s really impacted me because if anything, government is becoming more and more involved in the private sector. It was interesting to go to business school in the middle of a financial crisis because we were able to unpack current events in class, such as the auto bailouts.”

One of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40, Park is also the founder of the Asian Canadian Ventures Collective—a network comprised of allies and mentors to help Asians advance in the workforce. He started the organization as a way to meet the specific needs of Asian Americans. “We’re in a weird bucket— we’re overwhelmingly well educated, but if you look at the top layer of management, we’re still significantly underrepresented,” he says.

Before coming to Tuck, Park worked in human rights law. He also had the chance to work for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as a consultant for McKinsey—experiences that deepened his passion for bettering the world of business.

“At Tuck, there’s an underlying optimism that we can solve the really tough problems facing society and make people’s lives better,” he says. “That really resonates with me.”

Q+A

Tuck Professors I Still Think About: Among the many outstanding teachers, I still think about Sydney Finkelstein. In addition to being an amazing mentor many years after I’ve graduated, his insights on senior executive management was one class that’s become more and more relevant over time.

Best Advice I Ever Got at Tuck: The best advice I’ve received was role modelled to me. I spent many hours in Sally Jaeger’s office seeking her advice and I’m still shocked she gave me time given how busy she is. And I mean a lot of time. Sally showed me what it means to be both an amazing listener and empathetic leader. It’s something I’ve tried to role model since.

Tuck Classmates I Keep in Touch With: I’m lucky enough to stay in touch with Vicki Chen T’10 since graduation. She reminds me how lucky I was to attend Tuck because I was able to connect with such inspiring people. She met my wife before we married, came to see our son when he was just a few weeks old, and hosted us in New York when we visited during the summer. She brings a great amount of energy, support, and candidness to my life.

This story originally appeared in print in the winter 2025 issue of Tuck Today magazine.