Founded in 2010, Change Her World  promotes education opportunities for girls and women in the developing world. Starting from the simple idea of supplying underwear and menstrual products so that girls would not have to miss school, this organization's programs have expanded to support all ages of girls to attend school, including paying post-secondary fees, building classrooms, dormitories and a library, purchasing food supplies, and supporting impoverished women in the community, including opportunities to start businesses in animal husbandry.

For 60 years, CODE has been working towards the vision of a literate world and today, is Canada’s leading international development agency focused uniquely on education and literacy. Together with their partners, they have helped more than 10 million children gain access to better quality of education in order to improve their lives and that of their families. In 2019, CODE launched its new strategic plan called “Teaching Matters: Development through Education”. CODE’s work supports the UN Sustainable Development Goals, in particular - SDG4: Quality Education. Improved learning outcomes are achieved by:

1. Advancing the instructional skills of teachers;
2. Enhancing the quality and availability of teaching and reading materials;
3. Putting the empowerment of women and girls at the heart of our approach;
4. Building institutional capacity to ensure sustainability; and
5. Supporting research in education by African scholars and educators.

Ecosource supports The Peel Environmental Youth Alliance (PEYA), a network of over 1,400 action-oriented students in the Region of Peel concerned about environmental issues and determined to make positive change. PEYA unites students across Peel working to improve the environment in their schools and neighborhoods through monthly meetings, events, and an online community. They provide a forum for students to learn from one another and form relationships with local environmental organizations, including a seat on Mississagua’s Environmental Action Committee. Annual events include the Ecobuzz conference and the Amazing Green Race.

Elephant Thoughts is a leader in Indigenous educational programs, integrating both traditional and contemporary knowledge. In 2015, they won the Natural Sciences and Research Engineering Council of Canada’s Promoscience Award as the top organization in Canada promoting science education, including robotics and coding. At their Riverstone Retreat campus they run internship programs in sustainable building, agriculture, culinary arts, and digital media/technology to provide employment skills to underrepresented urban and Indigneous youth. Weekend retreats with Indigenous Elders provide opportunities to learn about traditions and culture, and to promote leadership skills.

Based in Malindi, Kenya, Elimu runs Elimu Resource Centre which houses the Digitech Lab offering the Cisco Networking Academy suite of courses so that youth after high school gain skills for the modern technology demands of the workplace. It also houses an Artisan Maker Space where alumni from Elimu’s sewing project gain hands-on entrepreneurship experience to boost their income generating potential. Their sewing project keeps young girls from being forced into early marriage by helping them start their own sewing business.  Elimu’s Stay in School Project sponsors children to stay in school throughout their basic education. Elimu is an official charitable organization, registered in Canada since 2011. Elimu’s work in Kenya began informally under founder Nina Chung in 2006. Today a team of Kenyan professionals manage all aspects of local operations while Nina remains actively involved, focusing on development with the Canadian board of directors.

Friends of Honduran Children seeks to improve the lives of Honduran children by supporting basic needs and empowering them to break the cycle of desperate poverty. They run a children’s village in Honduras, called Nuevo Paraiso, and school for young women in Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras. Every year, they organize brigades of volunteers from Canada to go to Honduras and work on construction projects and in medical outreach teams. 

Ghana Medical Help has worked since 2010 to sustainably improve the basic quality and availability of healthcare in rural northern Ghana for millions of people. Their projects have a three-pronged approach to improving the health and wellbeing of these northern communities, including the provision of lifesaving medical equipment to rural hospitals, clinical training programs for healthcare workers and biomedical engineers, and public health education combined with poverty alleviation programs. Their weekly training sessions have led to a fourfold increase in physicians working in northern Ghana. Recently they have launched a Computerized Equipment Maintenance Management System so that hospital equipment can be kept in working order.   

Horizons of Friendship empowers people and strengthens communities to eliminate poverty and injustice across Central America and Mexico. Projects include: assisting traditional Maya K’iche’ midwives in bringing pre-natal/newborn health care to remote regions of Guatemala;  helping the Indigenous Terraba people in Costa Rica to start income generating activities; supporting Indigenous subsistence farmers in Mexico to re-establish native species and medicinal plants; training staff at centres for victims of sexual trafficking.

Right To Play harnesses play, one of the most fundamental forces in a child’s life, to help children dismantle barriers and embrace opportunities. In Canada, we are walking in partnership with over 75 Indigenous communities to support play-based programs that promote healthy life skills development in youth. Our programs aim to centre the voices of Indigenous youth and support them to become leaders, driving positive change in their communities. Communities design their own youth development goals, while Right To Play supports local Indigenous youth workers with tailored capacity-building guidance, professional development training, tangible resources like equipment, and the ability to connect and share knowledge with other Indigenous youth leaders across the country. 

Youth in Food Systems is a program of Seeds of Diversity Canada that works to engage youth in explorations of Canadian food systems through in-person and remote projects across Waterloo Region and throughout Ontario. Their goal is to support and encourage youth to envision themselves as the next leaders in sustainable food systems. They operate through a self-directed, youth-driven model that encourages autonomous decision making and collaborative opportunities with peers within a supportive environment. Youth need

opportunities to learn about food from one another and from adult allies, to develop

practical, transferable skills, and to be empowered to become strong leaders in the food and

agriculture sectors. Their current project focusses are content creation (blog, social media,

learning modules), the Food Leader Interview Series, and the Youth Food Market. Since  inception in 2021, they have directly engaged more than 345 youth as program participants

and are looking to double that number by the end of 2025!

The Seltzer-Chan Pond Inlet Foundation is dedicated to supporting Inuit culture  and youth in Pond Inlet on Baffin Island. They make grants to local sports  teams, fund music workshops and sponsor awards for high school students, as well  as funding projects to preserve traditional Inuit knowledge and culture, based on community requests. They also support the local food bank and Ikaarvik, a youth-led organization which connects with researchers wanting to work in the community.

Transforming Faces works around the world to equip local teams to provide comprehensive cleft lip and cleft palate care that is accessible for all. They perform surgeries, aid with pre-surgical interventions to optimize infant feeding and provide follow-up speech therapy. As there are very few speech therapists in developing countries, they have designed training courses and a group model approach to therapy. 

For animals living in the Canadian north, access to veterinary care is difficult due to the remote locations of communities and limited number of animal health experts working in the Territories. Veterinarians Without Border’s (VWB) Northern Animal Health Initiative works to bridge that gap by partnering with remote communities in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories upon their invitation. They work together to identify and address community animal health needs and build a plan with local representatives to strengthen capacity year-round. VWB’s partnerships include annual pop-up veterinary clinics with a team of volunteers that provide local animals with health checks, vaccines to prevent deadly diseases and spay and neuter services. In 2023, VWB partnered with 11 remote communities treating over 750 animals. Their aim is to build a sustainable framework that will create the conditions for lasting, community-driven animal health.

In numerous Indigenous communities across Canada, tap water is not safe to drink. Water First Training & Education Inc. is Canada's leading charitable organization dedicated to working with Indigenous communities to resolve local water challenges through education, training, and meaningful collaboration. Their Drinking Water Internship hires and trains young Indigenous adults for careers in water science and is welcomed by Indigenous communities that view training and skill development as a key part of the solution to drinking water challenges. Their Environmental Internship program engages young adults in learning skills that help their communities to best manage their water resources and their Indigenous School Water Program inspires Indigenous youth to pursue careers in water science through hands-on water science workshops, in the classroom and out on the land.  

Located in downtown Winnipeg, Winnipeg Inner City Missions embraces all people in Winnipeg's inner city, inspires life-long learning and builds social and personal well-being. Their First Steps to Employment program  provides housing and training to people who have made a commitment to change the direction of their lives. Recent renovations to their facilities allow residents to share meals, participate in social activities and receive assistance with schooling and job applications through access to a computer centre. Work is underway to create the new outdoor Prairie Education Centre, with native plantings and a play area to provide a green space for the local community.