Ilona Dougherty
Co-founder & Executive Director of Apathy is Boring
A life long social entrepreneur, Ilona Dougherty is the co-founder of Apathy is Boring, a national non-partisan charitable organization that uses art and technology to educate Canadian youth about democracy. Passionate about fusing art and social change from an early age, Ilona Dougherty’s diverse experiences range from being a Canadian delegate to the United Nations at 17-years old to producing concerts across Canada. Along her way, she gained extensive hands-on experience in reaching unengaged youth, active citizenship, and artist management. Dougherty continues to speak around the country about innovative ways to reach unengaged young Canadians and give them the tools to become active citizens.
Passionate about fusing art and social change from an early age, Ilona Dougherty’s diverse experiences range from being a Canadian delegate to the United Nations at 17-years old to producing concerts across Canada. Along the way, she gained extensive hands-on experience in reaching unengaged youth, active citizenship, and artist management.
A life long social entrepreneur, in January 2004 Dougherty co-founded Apathy is Boring, a national non-partisan charitable organization that uses art and technology to educate Canadian youth about democracy.
As Apathy is Boring’s current Executive Director, Dougherty has accompanied the Governor General of Canada on the 2009 State Visits to the Ukraine and Norway, been featured by the national media (CTV’s Canada AM, MuchMusic, CBC’s The Current, The Ottawa Citizen), worked with rock stars (K’naan, Nelly Furtado, Melissa Auf der Maur, Raine Maida), and given thousands of youth the tools they need to get involved in their communities.
Dougherty has won awards including the Yukon Women’s Award: Young Women Leader, and she was recently named as an Ashoka Fellow. She was also featured in the book, Notes from Canada's Young Activists.
Raised by socially engaged parents in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan and Whitehorse, Yukon, Dougherty currently lives in Montreal. She continues to speak around the country about innovative ways to reach unengaged young Canadians and give them the tools to become active citizens.
Ilona's Blog Entries:
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4. Why Youth Don't Vote and What You Can Do About It
This presentation explains why young people aren't casting a ballot and explores solutions in a Canadian context. Guaranteed to get the audience thinking about youth engagement in a new way, and how we can all do something about youth voter apathy.
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3. Being Youth Friendly: How to Engage Youth in Your Work
So you want to work with youth but don't know where to start? You know that cool is an important word but feel like the latest hip-hop trends are a bit out of your league? You want to make sure that the next generation takes up the mission of your organization and keeps it vibrant, but you know that the long boring meetings and 70s decor in your boardroom probably won't be the vibe young people are into. This presentation will give participants a guide to effectively engaging youth in their work.
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2. The Lessons I Learned While Making a Difference
This inspiring presentation will take you back to the party where it all started. It will explore the challenges of being a social entrepreneur, why Apathy is Boring's mission resonates with so many people, and how any young person can take an idea or cause they are passionate about and turn it into a successful project, campaign, or organization.
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1. Apathy is Boring: How and Why to Get Involved
‘I want to make a difference, but where do I start?’ Is a question we often hear from youth that Apathy is Boring’s staff and volunteers meet across the country. This presentation will break it down step by step. Do you want to volunteer, vote, or just get involved in a cause you care about? In this presentation Ilona will give you the tools you need to make a difference.
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