Giving Back
We believe that, as entrepreneurs, we have an obligation not only to our clients, speakers, staff, and suppliers, but also to the communities in which we work and live. That’s why over the years we’ve supported various charities and community groups. Here are some that we are actively working with now and have supported in the past.
Red Cross Ukraine Emergency Appeal
Given the devastating situation in Ukraine, we are currently making donations in support of the Red Cross Ukraine Emergency Appeal to help provide vital aid to the people of Ukraine during this difficult time. Every day, volunteers and staff of the Ukrainian Red Cross travel to different parts of the country to support people who have found themselves in difficult living conditions or are suffering from emergency situations.
National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation
The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation is a place of learning and dialogue where the truths of the residential school experience will be honoured and kept safe for future generations. They are committed to facing the painful truths of our history and present in order to move forward on the path to reconciliation. We are committed to supporting survivors and honouring the many children who never made it home.
The Black Health Alliance
The Black Health Alliance is a community-led registered charity working to improve the health and well-being of Black communities in Canada. Their mission is to reduce the radical disparities in healthcare. Driven by ground-breaking research, strong partnerships, and people, this movement strives to build innovative solutions, and mobilize people and financial resources to create lasting change in the lives of Black children, families, and communities.
Kids Help Phone
We’ve partnered with Kids Help Phone, Canada’s only 24/7 national support service offering professional counselling, information and referrals, and volunteer-led, text-based support to young people in any moment of crisis or need.
Since 1989, they’ve provided kids, teens, and young adults with a critical lifeline of hope and support through their free, anonymous service, and are recognized as a Canadian and world leader.
We’re proud to support their vision to create a future where every young person in Canada can access the support they need, in the way they need it.
Pathways to Education Canada
Pathways to Education Canada seeks to reduce poverty and its effects by lowering the high school dropout rate and increasing access to post-secondary education among disadvantaged youth in Canada.
The Pathways program provides four key supports: academic, social, financial, and advocacy. We have set up a scholarship fund to help students graduate from high school and enable them to continue their post-secondary education.
charity: water
Nearly 800 million people around the world do not have access to clean drinking water. Unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation cause 80% of diseases and kill more people every year than all forms of violence, including war.
charity: water is a non-profit organization bringing clean and safe drinking water to the people who need it. In just over five years, they have funded more than six thousand water projects in twenty developing countries. When complete, these projects will provide clean, safe drinking water for more than 2.5 million people.
In January 2013, we sponsored a water project in India, where approximately 100,000,000 people lack clean water. We will include updates, photos and GPS coordinates of the exact community we are helping as the project is completed.
Jacob's Ladder
In 2014 we joined forces with the grassroots charity Jacob’s Ladder, The Canadian Foundation for the Control of Neurodegenerative Disease, which aims to benefit children by reducing occurrences of neurodegenerative disease through education, awareness, and research into ground breaking discoveries for diseases such as Autism, Rette’s Syndrome, epilepsy and Gaucher’s Disease. Their work has also made it possible for both women and men to be screened for a wide variety of genetic disorders.
Ellen and Jeff Schwartz started this charity in their son Jacob’s honour, when he was diagnosed with Canavan disease, a rare, fatal and progressive illness. Through their sheer will, hard work, and determination, their small family-run charity began to grow as they were joined by dedicated business and community leaders, doctors, researchers, and concerned parents. Now millions in funding has been raised and great strides are being made.
Kiva.org
In 2008, we partnered with Kiva.org, the world’s first person-to-person micro-lending website, which empowers individuals to lend directly to an entrepreneur in the developing world.
By combining microfinance with the internet, Kiva.org is creating a global community of people connected through lending for the sake of alleviating poverty. To date, we have made loans through Kiva to nearly 3,500 entrepreneurs in the developing world.
Regent Park School of Music
In 2016, we partnered with the Regent Park School of Music (RPSM), a non-profit Toronto-community music school whose goal is to provide cost-free or subsidized music education to as many youth as possible.
For over 16 years, the school has seen that the study of music allows young people to flourish creatively, personally, and academically, and enriches their lives and their future prospects. Their students have access to over 70 dedicated music teachers and an array of musical options and instruments, and they learn everything from classical piano and violin, to “turntablism” and electronic music.
This year, the RPSM is set to give music education to 1,750 young people between the ages of 3-18 at their central hub in Daniels Spectrum in Regent Park, and in satellite locations in Jane and Finch, Parkdale, and other high-priority neighbourhoods in Toronto.