Last Wednesday the Ivey Non-for-Profit Club hosted the closing ceremonies for their inaugural Volunteer Internship Program. In its first year, the Program matched Ivey students with five charitable organizations operating in the London area over a ten week period. These organizations include the London Housing Registry, Sunshine Foundation, Canadian Mental Health Association, Meals on Wheels, Boys and Girls Club, and CONNECT for Mental Health.
As the primary sponsor of the program, RBC provided the keynote address to begin the evening. Sandra James, Regional Manager from RBC’s Commercial Financial Services division, spoke about the impact these students have had within the various organizations and on the local London community.
The Sunshine Foundation reported that they had learned a lot from their student in terms of business strategies, and found the student’s opinion to be very valuable for website marketing and analytics.
CONNECT for Mental Health similarity reported having a positive experience with their student. Their organization received tremendous value through their student volunteer’s passion and enthusiasm which increased reception of volunteer teams, and helped push new ideas forward with a few quickly reaching their board of directors for immediate implementation.
The Ivey Not-for-Profit Club is supported by the RBC Foundation and the Ivey Centre for Building Sustainable Value to give students a better understanding of what a career in the not-for-profit sector is like while providing real-world experiences where they apply a variety of skills gained at Ivey.
A vital part of the Ivey experience is due to the initiative of student clubs. There are a variety of student clubs that highlight the diverse interests of the Ivey student body. Club events provide companies direct access to the student body through opportunities that are promoted and supported by the students themselves.