đź“Ś Alumni Spotlight: Vincent Chan
Vincent is the founder and chairperson of Project 5K, a nonprofit organization based in the York Region connecting youth with volunteer opportunities. Since starting the organization in 2014, Project 5K has reached over 2,000 participants from over 150 schools across Ontario.
A self proclaimed “business guy”, Vincent is a graduate of the Ivey Business School at Western University, currently the Customer Experience Team Lead at Canadian commerce start-up Bonsai.
What motivated you to start your own organization?
I've always found a lot of joy in helping others, and that's how Project 5K started. When we first started, there wasn't a grand plan to create an organization that would impact so many youth - we just wanted to help our friends find opportunities to be more involved with their community.
One of the first events we planned as Project 5K was simply my friends and I volunteering together to plant trees. Who would have known so many other people also wanted this kind of experience?
What kept Project 5K going?
The single biggest factor that drove Project 5K from being an idea to a real non-profit organization is the partnership my co-founder and I had. While we received an incredible amount of help along the way from our advisors, our teammates, and our volunteers, I'm not sure I could've started this organization with anyone else.
Very few people can put as much energy and time as we did into this random idea we knew we weren’t getting paid for. But, knowing that we were helping others and seeing other help us, we were genuinely fulfilled.
“I think that if you believe in yourself more than anyone else, there’s not much you can’t do. Knowing that motivates me to take on challenges that others might not. ”
What has been your biggest challenge to date?
The biggest challenge we've faced, and are still facing, is setting the direction of the organization and our approach on how we add value to the lives of young people.
The wants and needs of youth today are very different today than what they were 7 years ago, and so we're always trying to find the best way to maximize the value our organization creates for our audience.
We don't always know which solution is better, so we try to test as many different options as possible to see which gets the best engagement.
What are the biggest challenges facing youth today?
I wholeheartedly believe that society puts too much pressure on youth for them to know what they're doing and what the rest of their lives will look like.
After working with a few different companies and people in all kinds of roles, I've come to realize that not even the best CEOs and doctors of the world always know what they want — how can we expect that from our youth?
I think this is a challenge that needs to be addressed in our academic system first, but much more can be done and should be done, to help students explore their interests.
“As long as I keep moving, I’ll eventually find a path that’s right for me. Until then I’m happy with trying unexpected things and seeing where life take me.”
What are some of your strategies for keeping multiple projects on track and staying sane?
Organizational skills and tools are extremely important for my day to day since there are always a lot of things going on. Without them, I'd hardly be able to keep up with my work, my personal life, and all the thoughts I regularly have.
It can be as simple as making your bed each morning and keeping your workspace neat - every little thing helps when you're trying to organize your life. It is stressful though, so if you can live a happy life without a hundred things going on at the same time, I'd suggest doing that instead.
What do you do to decompress when you have a little time to yourself?
I like going on camping trips or playing intense video games. Those two don't seem similar at all, but they both help me decompress because I'm forced to think about things other than being productive.
When I’m camping, I can't help but be present when I’m disconnected with technology and surrounded by the beauty of nature. With video games, I get sucked in to the game and can't help but focus on what is going on in the game, another form of being present in my opinion.
What are the top three tips you would give anyone feeling inspired to make a change?
Do it because you care about it
Find people who care about it as well
Success is built on the back of many failures, so don't stop trying if you really care about it
