SACKVILLE, NB – Mount Allison University will welcome Tareq Hadhad, CEO and founder of Peace by Chocolate to campus as part of the President’s Speakers Series. Hadhad’s talk, Resiliency Through Adversity: Perseverance from pre-war Syria to the United Nations, will take place in Crabtree Auditorium, 49A York St., on the Mount Allison campus. The talk will also be streamed via MS Teams. More information at: mta.ca/pss

Tareq Hadhad was a Syrian refugee and is now living his new life in Canada’s east coast as the founder and CEO of Peace by Chocolate. Passionate about peace and entrepreneurship, his family relaunched the family business to recreate the chocolates they once exported across the Middle East. In 2020 he received his Canadian Citizenship which garnered international attention. The Hadhads' story has been shared in a best-selling book by Jon Tattrie and feature film, Peace by Chocolate, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and won several awards.

“We are thrilled to welcome Tareq Hadhad to Mount Allison and hear his family’s story first-hand,” says Dr. Jennifer Tomes, Mount Allison’s Dean of Science and Committee Chair for the President’s Speakers Series. “The Hadhads’ are shining examples of innovation and resilience through their journey from Syria to Canada and the wonderful success of Peace by Chocolate. I know his message will resonate with many at Mount Allison and in the wider community.”   

In Resiliency Through Adversity, Hadhad will share his emotional journey from Syria to Canada with heartbreaking and perspective shaping stops along the way. Audiences will learn how a family made the decision to leave everything behind in search of safety outside of their homeland only to find more uncertainty and desperation as refugees in Lebanon. Students, faculty, staff, and community members are invited to witness the life changing impact of being granted a family ticket to Canada and watch as that country’s Prime Minister singles out the Hadhad family and their community for its perseverance and kindness.

In 2022, Mount Allison University collaborated with Peace by Chocolate to create a signature ‘Garnet and Gold’ chocolate bar. The treat is available for purchase at the Mount Allison bookstore and onsite at the event.   

Hadhad’s presentation will be delivered both in-person and online via Microsoft Teams, details at mta.ca/pss. Please note, masks are required to attend the indoor events on campus.   

Hadhad’s talk is co-sponsored by the Josiah Wood Lecture Fund.

The annual President’s Speakers Series brings noted speakers from across Canada and around the globe to the Mount Allison University campus to address issues of current interest or importance.