Learn more about our volunteers and their social impact projects in the Social Impact Accelerator Workshops (SIAW) program.
1st cohort – February 2023
Agathe Leroy
Nomad Art Tool Library
The 4891 Collective promotes community building through free art events and workshops that inspire and support diverse identities. By offering more art sessions and a system of borrowing great art tools, we promote accessibility to community care and introduce different mediums to our community.
Brice Obianga
Livre-photo
I am a young photographer and writer involved in. My project is to produce a photobook. It is about promoting the living together in my region (Sherbrooke). It is important to build bridges between the migrant and Quebec communities. The communities need to get to know each other better in order to overcome many ills such as racism and individuality. My project will consist of bringing together all the stakeholders so that they can find this beautiful social texture.
Cheryl Liang
Our futurity
Our Futurity is an online platform that provides free resources for students to acquire the skills they need to succeed in their journey to post-secondary education.
Colleen Wilson
The Monthly Cycle (TMC)
TMC offers bike rides and workshops for under-represented cyclists in Halifax. The aim is to build confidence and community while promoting cycling.
Daphné Deschênes
Bibliothèque l’Anguille
My project is a community library that makes accessible alternative works that are more difficult to access in the regions. It’s also a place to get together and host different cultural events (story time, screenings, book launches). It’s located on the second floor of Le Récif, a Queer and Trans housing collective. The idea is also to be able to share this space, which is on the banks of the Rivière Trois-Pistoles and the St. Lawrence River.
Debora Bomolo
Cultur’elles MTL
Cultur’elles MTL is an initiative that aims to help racialized women overcome barriers in the field of culture, arts and communication. The goal is to strengthen digital platforms and organize cultural activities to enable racialized women to gain skills and feel free to achieve. The project has already made a positive impact and received support on social media. The team consists of Tania Bodika, Helene Badibabungi and Debora Bomolo.
Delaney Peebles
Indigenous Youth Council
Helping Aboriginal youth living in poverty in Winnipeg. There are a lot of missing youth and women, so we need to help them by giving them hope and a safe place to be heard and to express themselves.
Ekaterina Pavlova
Fredericton Pet Masquerade Ball
Create a Pet Masquerade Ball in Fredericton by offering a day full of snacks, entertainment, prizes for participation. Helping the community to come together and build new relations.
Ella Raine Paul
Sporting Change Podcast
A podcast on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in sports. Humanizing issues and experiences to give sport leaders tools to create shifts in their communities.
Emile Lalonde
Verger communautaire de l’œil Dormant
The project consists of continuing the restoration of an abandoned orchard in the Haute-Gaspésie region by establishing a community orchard of about 100 fruit trees and a small nursery. The project aims to become self-sufficient in the reproduction and production of plants, to contribute to the food autonomy of the local community and to promote food justice, in partnership with the garden angels and the food bank of St-Anne des Monts. The space will also be developed as a small community park to stimulate a greater social mix.
Gabriel Boucher
Projet d’apprentissage collectif
To create a space for sharing that promotes mutual aid and learning practical knowledge said to be more traditional, a place for the benefit of a more united and autonomous community. This project aims to build a bread/pizza oven, but this is only a pretext to get in touch with the neighbourhood and create a common goal, that of learning.
Gabrielle Thomas
Mother Goose Montreal Non-Profit Creation
The Mother Goose Montreal program promotes language development and socialization of children from 0 to 3 years old and strengthens the emotional bonds between parents and children. We hope to become a non-profit organization in order to broaden our scope of action.
Jessica Zapata
Wing Cycle 2
I want to raise awareness and educate Canadians by promoting the importance of a second language, especially in communities where there is a lack of quality education and extreme poverty, which reduces the chances of children and youth to access new learning opportunities.
Jessy Rabarijaona
olotanana STK VOMM FJKM Kanada
Today, most apartments are rented unfurnished. Newcomers and international students find themselves in a new country without necessarily having a contact to help them. A lot of furniture is wasted and thrown away in the streets, which is detrimental to sustainable development. The goal of this project is to help them integrate and protect the environment by recycling.
Johanna Trapier
Mon Unique Royaume
Podcast that shares stories about people and their relationship with their bodies from childhood to now. Inclusive, caring and uncomplicated, this podcast is offered in English and French. The goal is to feel less alone in the relationship with one’s body, to develop knowledge around it and to bring kindness for others as well as tips for parents but not only.
Kanica Saphan
Podcast Le Sofa Sexologique
There are few podcasts on sexuality in French, and those that do exist are either in the “entertainment” category (anecdote, vulgar joke, testimony, sensationalist sexuality), or are very academic, and therefore not accessible to the general public who do not master certain social science notions.
My podcast is a happy medium that uses non-academic language, a regular register language, while popularizing scientific concepts.
Mael Pelletier
Slamavoix
In an effort to professionalize slam, promote it and make it accessible, Slamavoix was created by Mael’Sir, whose real name is Mael Pelletier. Proudly adopted by the Baie-des-Chaleurs for nearly fifteen years, he performs from the Salon du Livre de Bonaventure to the one in Toronto and has been involved locally for nearly a year, among others with the Château Bahia, to create artistic events that make the region shine. A 3rd edition gathering again slammers from all over Quebec will take place at the end of June to celebrate the first year of Slamavoix.
Mamy Dio Sow
Les Sacs Essentiels
I am the instigator of the “Les Sacs Essentiels” project, which was set up two years ago to help people living in poverty and homelessness here in Montreal. Thanks to donations and many collaborations, we have been able to supply 100 families in need in Montreal.
Marine Coeurdassier
Call Them Out
The “Call Them Out” Circuit is a series of inclusive and intergenerational street dance events aimed at promoting emerging street dancers in Montreal. The goal is to introduce hip-hop culture through free competitions open to all, celebrating the city’s diversity. The project focuses on equity, inclusion and accessibility to attract youth from all backgrounds, including disadvantaged neighborhoods. The project also helps to deconstruct negative stereotypes associated with street dance and hip-hop culture.
Mathieu Germain Goodman
Community Engagement for Sustainable Home Stead Project
Organized a workshop for a documentary series: introduced indigenous green energy for sustainable living and created a free action plan for indigenous communities.
Maude Massicotte
Balado – Un pas à la fois vers une société inclusive
I am Maude, a young woman of 30 years old. First of all, I am the co-founder of DéfPhys Sans Limite and I work there as the executive director. I am involved in different projects and causes such as adapted housing, universal accessibility, advocacy and equity, equality for people with disabilities. I propose to create a podcast to address these issues with different guests with disabilities, family members, caregivers, specialists and citizens in society.
Mc Berlinguette
La Seiche
Our mission is to make print on paper more accessible in the region, with a desire to encourage artistic and activist projects to emerge. There are few spaces here that offer printing services, and even fewer that offer a quality and affordable service. The goal of our project is to democratize creative practices related to paper and printing, by offering a space where users can access a variety of materials and tools to make their printed projects, either independently or with guidance. We wish to create a space where education and knowledge sharing is encouraged.
Myriam Bravo
Les journées interculturelles
To offer events that
raise awareness of the student community to the the situation of refugees and to intercultural
such as a craft market, a human library with refugees and conference days.
Nikita Paddock
Resilience Retreat
Long-term mental health initiative to combat isolation, promote community, mindfulness, resilience, healthy eating, journaling, health promotion movements by creating an online mindfulness video series.
Sam Paquette
Effervescence citoyenne
A citizen’s group was created a year ago to strengthen citizen’s power to act in the Centre-Sud/Hochelaga-Maisonneuve neighborhood of Montreal. The goal is to catalyze positive change, including the socio-ecological transition, and to strengthen people’s well-being. The group has created a directory of community activities to strengthen the social fabric and fight against the feeling of powerlessness of citizens by creating a small neighborhood newspaper of the “solutions journalism” type, informing people of initiatives launched by citizens in the neighborhood.
Sara Fouquette
Les voix de Montréal
The goal is to create a talkshow that will be a form of therapy and expression for youth, while creating a friendly and safe atmosphere for guests and viewers. In the long term, the goal is to add other types of series to continue to create an open and safe platform for expression for the community.
Sara Fontaine
Gitigandaawiin Sagkeeng Youth Group Green House
The Sagkeeng Youth Green House or SAHS Gitigaandaawin will teach students about food production and preservation while providing fresh produce to the hot lunch program. It is hoped that this project will plant the seeds for youth to return home with the knowledge they have gained and live with bountiful gardens, then create a local farmers market, while reducing diabetes and helping low-income people access healthy food.
Seamus Ward
SURGE Foundation
The SURGE Foundation is an organization dedicated to building resilient, natural coastal solutions. Specifically, we are working to build Canada’s first oyster reefs, specifically designed to serve as living breakwaters in British Columbia.
The primary purpose of this project is to act as a natural coastal defense strategy to slow the impacts of accelerated coastal erosion resulting from climate change induced sea level rise, but it also has a myriad of co-benefits.
Sitra Suleiman
Community Food Hub
Community Food Hub, a volunteer-led organization, has a mission to reduce food insecurity and preventable food waste by installing outdoor community refrigerators/pans in Scarborough. Anyone can access the community fridge/basket, no questions asked. Take what you need, leave what you can.
Skye Jarvis
BCMMP – 2023 Workshop and Tranquille Wetland Restoration
The British Columbia Marsh Monitoring Program (BCMMP) is a community-based ecological monitoring initiative being implemented in British Columbia in 2021 by WildResearch and Birds Canada. BCMMP mobilizes community scientists to collect ecological data on birds, amphibians and marsh habitats in active areas of the province. The goal of the BCMMP is to expand monitoring to all regions of British Columbia; however, each region requires different monitoring protocols due to variability in ecosystems, species and climate.
Valérie Dion
On sème!
The project is to educate people about food resilience, seed harvesting, propagation and sharing, and the importance of nurturing the soil and pollinators to create a sense of connection to the land and food of our ancestors. The goal is to connect people to the land and develop a culture by creating an annual event where everyone can participate and share their knowledge and experiences. The project aims to cultivate the living, to remember what really matters, to care for life and to create a loop of reciprocity. The project provides a space for people of all ages from the same region to gather, be inspired and together cultivate culture.
Victoria King
Urban edible landscapes at uOttawa
Turning grass into a pollinator garden on the University of Ottawa campus.
Zoé Lola Vanier-Schneider
Clinique mobile
I continue my project on a mobile clinic that allows disadvantaged people to access therapies. Along the way, I have developed other components such as accessibility for people with special needs as well as sharing the model with my art therapist peers.
