It’s National Volunteer Week! There is no better time to pause and applaud our volunteers in Canada and all around the globe, for their incredible dedication to the McGill community.
This large network includes 1,189 Board and Committee Members and 3,481 Student and Alumni Ambassadors. Together, our volunteers are championing our fundraising campaign, providing insight on our strategic priorities, and helping to increase engagement within our alumni community.
From our Campaign Cabinet to our Regional and Faculty Advisory and Advancement Boards and the McGill Alumni Association, our volunteers lead by example. No matter the initiative, they roll up their sleeves and devote their time and energy to help McGill prepare the leaders of tomorrow and foster meaningful change on a global scale.
We are deeply grateful and inspired by your commitment. Thank you!
The power of volunteers
At McGill, so many of our activities are powered by volunteer organizers from across McGill and around the world. Our volunteers are engaged in an impressive range of activities: from creating scholarships for students in need to mentoring the next generation of leaders.
As the University moves forward with Made by McGill: the Campaign for Our Third Century, our leading volunteers have been crucial in helping the University work towards its Campaign goal, fundraising at a level not seen before in our history.
Our 47 Campaign Cabinet members pilot fundraising efforts and engage McGill’s global network towards a culture of philanthropic support. Our Regional Advisory Boards help strengthen McGill’s reputation and reach, and foster a greater sense of community among University’s constituents by promoting the University and its initiatives in their respective regions. And our Faculty Advisory and Advancement Boards work in consultation with deans to promote the mission, plans, and priorities of the faculties they serve.
“Why I volunteer…”
Sixteen years ago, I started getting involved with McGill because I wanted to give something back. It was a gradual process.
"It started with my involvement with the Faculty of Engineering, endowing a small scholarship. Soon after, it was a call from the Dean of Engineering that led me to join the Faculty Advisory Board, which I later chaired. Six years ago, the Principal asked me to join McGill's Board of Governors. Today I’m honoured to serve as the Chair of the Board.”
Ram Panda, MEng’71, MBA’77, Chair, Board of Governors
"It all started with a casual conversation with a fellow Jordanian McGillian that made me realize we are not sufficiently represented or connected. A few referrals and phone calls led to a recruitment snowball effect that culminated in a chat group with 140 McGillians in Jordan in less than three months!
It is then that I realized how eager McGillians in this part of the world are to connect to their University and how proud they are of their alma mater.
Dr. Issa Abu-Dayyeh, PhD'09, President of the McGill Alumni Association of Jordan
Increased representation
Increasing diversity on campus – and representation of that diversity – has led to a more diverse alumni population and new alumni affinity groups.
Under the umbrella of the McGill Alumni Association (MAA) and in alignment with McGill’s Equity, Diversity & Inclusion efforts, groups including the McGill Queer Alum Association and the McGill Latino Alumni Society were formed recently, in addition to the more established McGill Black Alumni Association.
These groups are powered by dedicated volunteers who organize activities and events, creating opportunities for graduates and students to find, support and advocate for each other.
A McGill Indigenous Alumni Association is currently being developed in collaboration with Indigenous Initiatives and First Peoples’ House.
Grassroots initiatives
Every year, hundreds of student and alumni ambassadors come together to champion various fundraising efforts, including reunion class giving and grassroots initiatives through McGill’s crowdfunding platform.
MWAA scholarship for women students in STEM
An enthusiastic team from the McGill Women’s Alumnae Association (MWAA) marked its 130th anniversary with a successful fundraising drive to raise $130,000 for a new scholarship for women students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) to help address the gender gap in STEM fields.
It’s nothing new for the MWAA – annually they provide some $60,000 to support 30 female students. To date, more than 2,000 MWAA scholarships have been awarded.
Bursaries for Lebanese students
Alumni worked with a dedicated group of students to raise emergency funding to support McGill’s Lebanese students left without a financial lifeline after a series of catastrophic events in Lebanon.
Alumni and students from the McGill Lebanese Students’ Association launched a McGill Crowdfunding campaign that marshalled the generosity of 140-plus donors, raised more than $80,000 and generated much needed bursaries for 23 students.
The Lebanese Student Bursary Support Fund project is ongoing, as project team members keep the momentum and the situation for many of McGill’s more than 300 Lebanese students remains tenuous.
Volunteers by the numbers
1,189 Board and committee members
47 Campaign Cabinet members
70+ Alumni branches worldwide
3,481 Student and alumni Ambassadors
200+ mentor-mentee pairs in 2021, connecting undergraduate and graduate students with alumni from around the world.
Read our volunteer stories here. You can also share your Made by McGill story with us here. We’d love to hear from you!