2012 Speakers

Keynote Speaker 

Lisa Huynh, Winner of Canada’s Next Top Young Philanthropist & Founder of It Starts With Her

As a recent graduate from the Not-for-Profit Management Program at the University of Western Ontario, Lisa has been named Canada’s Next Top Young Philanthropist in the inaugural year of the competition. Spearheaded by One Dreem and sponsored by Rogers, Changio and File Mobile, Canada’s Next Top Young Philanthropist invites young people to submit ideas on how they could improve their community. The top 10 with the most votes advanced to the judging ceremony where finalists pitched their idea to a panel of judges: John Tory, Shoaib Khan, Ajay Virmani and Jerome Williams.

Lisa’s winning idea It Starts With Her is a year-long after school group mentoring program promoting positive life choices for at-risk adolescent girls. As the winner of this competition, Huynh receives up to $10,000 and help from One Dreem to fund the development of It Starts With Her over the course of the year


It Starts With Her
Schools participating in this program will nominate a group of eight at-risk adolescent girls to take part and each group will be paired with two female post-secondary students who act as mentors. Every week, the mentors will meet the girls for a 90-minute after-school session, each focusing on a different theme such as reproductive health, nutrition, world news, volunteerism, physical activity, job-hunting, etc. Through games, activities, cooking lessons, multimedia and field trips, the girls will get a hands-on approach to learning. For instance, rather than showing them what a balanced meal should look like, the mentors will work with the girls to prepare & cook it. Rather than hearing how it’s important to give back to the community, the girls will organize a food drive or volunteer.

Ultimately, the goal of It Starts With Her is to provide at-risk adolescent girls with the skills and resources that will help them realize their full potential, which can be anything from being the first person in their family to graduate high school, to avoiding teen pregnancy, to finding a full-time job, to pursuing post-secondary education.

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Workshop Leaders

Youth Action Workshop

Louroz Mercader, President and Founder of Mississauga Youth Games

Louroz M. Mercader is the Founder and President of the Mississauga Youth Games (MY Games), a grassroots non-profit that has provided free sporting and artistic programs to 1500 young people across the city of Mississauga.

With a background in communications and community development, Louroz has worked for the Ministry of Health Promotion, Youth Can Move the World, Elections Canada, Peel HIV Aids Network and MIAG Centre for Diverse Women & Families. He is a director on the boards of Civic Action, Emerging Leaders Network, GO Transit Customer Service Advisory Committee, Safe City Mississauga, Toronto 2012 Ontario Summer Games Organizing Committee, United Way of Peel Region and serves as Chair of ACCESS: Allowing Children a Chance at Education.

Louroz will be sharing his expertise in the field of starting and maintaining youth initiatives within the community. By the end of his workshop, you’ll feel inspired to take action!

Social Media Workshop

Matthew Manzano, Social Media Representative for Good Movement & Social Media Intern for The Young Onez

Matthew has been a part of the Good Movement executive team for a year and has completely reshaped the way we connect with our youth. He has taken over our Facebook page, our Twitter timeline and our Tumblr feed to create a new and improved experience for the Good Movement follower. He has spearheaded the 30 days of Good campaign and is currently working on a new series of Good Movement Talks.

Bolstered by his connections in the social media field, Matthew has learned how to harness the power of social media to achieve its main purpose: keeping the conversation alive. His hard work has been noticed by many, including the popular Toronto Raptors fan community, Young Onez, who have made him an official social media intern and guest tweeter.

Matthew will be talking about how to use social media for social good, answering questions like, “How does ‘Kony 2012′ get as big as it does?” and “How can my tweets and posts possibly make a difference?”

Philanthropy Workshop

Adriane Beaudry, Program Manager for Volunteer MBC

Adriane Beaudry first learned the value of volunteering as a child through her involvement in Guiding, volunteering on a weekly basis at a local senior’s residence. Though no longer volunteering at a senior’s residence, Adriane is still an active volunteer in a number of community groups. Her Aunt, who has spent her entire career in the non-profit sector, provided the inspiration to pursue a career in Volunteer Engagement. Currently, she is Past President of Professional Administrators of Volunteer Resources – Ontario (PAVR-O). As well, she is past chair of her local AVA, the Peel Volunteer Administrators Network (PVAN).

At present, she is Program Manager at Volunteer MBC, which facilitates volunteerism in Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon. One of Adriane’s roles is to provide educational opportunities to those engaged in the non profit sector as well as fulfilling the Mission of Volunteer MBC, recognizing that everyone has the capacity to engage meaningfully in their community through volunteerism.

Adriane will be talking about the importance of volunteering as a tool for a non-profit professional.

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