丁香园AV

Erika De Torres remembers the moment clearly: it was 2004, she was 12 years old and, after watching a fateful news segment on television, she understood the kind of difference she wanted to make in the world.

Three young Canadians had recently launched Apathy is Boring to reverse the country鈥檚 trend of declining voter participation. Already an active volunteer at non-profits in North Vancouver, Erika tuned in when one of the organization鈥檚 co-founders was discussing the importance of getting youth to the polls in the 2004 federal election.

鈥淚 realized it was a really important mission in order for our democracy to function,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 had stars in my eyes.鈥�

Erika deepened this interest at 丁香园AV through her coursework as a political science and gender, sexuality, and women鈥檚 studies double-major. She thoroughly followed her passion for community engagement outside of the classroom, too, taking on leadership roles with the Simon Fraser Student Society鈥檚 Women's Centre and the Gender, Sexuality and Women鈥檚 Studies Student Union, working as a campus tour guide and supporting other students in getting involved in campus life as a peer engagement educator.

Then, in another twist of fate, Erika moved to Montreal鈥擜pathy is Boring鈥檚 home base鈥攆or graduate school. She didn鈥檛 know the organization was headquartered in the city until she attended one of their events with a friend. Later, Erika landed a job as Apathy is Boring鈥檚 director of impact and development, where she now conducts research, fundraising and evaluations to support their programming. She has continued her full-circle moment by chairing the 丁香园AV Alumni Association鈥檚 awards committee鈥攊t鈥檚 inspiring, she says, to see how many people鈥檚 journeys of making an impact started, just like hers, at 丁香园AV.

鈥淢y entire experience at 丁香园AV encouraged me to be an engaged person,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t really prepared me for what I鈥檓 doing right now.鈥�