Social Entrepreneurship, Leejoo’s Award Story

Leejoo is a Gold Award participant and Passion to Purpose Alumni from Vancouver, BC. Leejoo is the Co-founder and COO at MeaningfulWork. Before MeaningfulWork, Leejoo was responsible for the growth of social enterprises at Enactus as a project development manager. During his time with the Government of Canada, Leejoo built out the first draft of the national youth policy, working on topics such as employment, volunteerism, and climate change. On the side, Leejoo manages TiE, Vancouver’s largest entrepreneur network, teaches entrepreneurship to high school students, and helps grow social enterprises as a fund manager at the Vancouver Social Value Fund. Leejoo is also a Watson Scholar and a Ford Scholar and also sits as an advisor for Health Canada, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and the City of Surrey.

Starting the Award 

“I started the Award because I saw adventurous and curious people like me partake in the Award. It’s often given me an excuse to do more outside the expected path of life, and I’ve found that entirely meaningful. And especially, it fills my soul to give back to my community. Ultimately, I found a group of like-minded people, and I wanted to be part of it! 

Building Relationships at Passion to Purpose 

It’s hard to say you have friends in every province, but P2P allows you to build those relationships. You get to understand the diverse culture of Canada and each of its regions. As you learn each of their stories, you take a piece of Canada back home with you. When you have a personal connection and diverse relationships, start to be more mindful of the current events throughout Canada, especially at the moment with the hurricane that passed through the Maritimes. 

Passion to Purpose Forum 

The forum provides the opportunity for you to not only meet amazing like-minded people across the country but also get a chance to network with great organizations that can support your next project. Like many other opportunities, you get what you put in. Suppose there’s a specific area of interest in one of the topics covered during the forum. In that case, you have the opportunity to dive deep as you bounce off ideas with each other, staff, and past participants who’ve gone through the process of building great community projects. 

Next Steps 

I’m currently building MeaningfulWork (meaningful.ca) to help bridge passionate volunteers who deeply care for impactful change-making nonprofits in dire need of extra support. We want to take this a step further to encourage companies to partake in giving back to their local community to promote corporate social responsibility and help empower their people to unlock their purpose. 

You Should Join the Award  

If you’d like to grow as a person, take the road less traveled, and is open to an exciting adventure, the Award is a great place to start. You’ll get the inspiration and support you need to complete the Award as long as you have the drive!”  

• Leejoo, Gold Award participant and Passion to Purpose Alumni (Summer 2022) 

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