'Close friends and collaborators': Alumni explain scholarhip's impact
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Question: How did the TD Scholarships for Community Leadership shape your professional and personal paths?
Answer: “The TD Scholarships for Community Leadership changed the trajectory of my life. As a high school student, being recognized for work rooted in justice gave me the confidence to believe in the power of advocacy and collective action.
It showed me that community leadership wasn’t something you had to wait to grow into — that it could start now. That lesson has stayed with me through my journey into medicine and now into the field of palliative care.
Today, as a physician, I lead inclusion-focused health programs that serve people experiencing homelessness and other structural vulnerabilities. That early vote of confidence from TD helped me believe I belonged in these spaces, not just to participate, but to even lead and reimagine them.”
Question: What does being part of the TD Scholarships for Community Leadership alumni network mean to you today?
Answer: “The TD scholarship alumni network has been more than a scholarship — it’s been a lifelong support system.
From the national conference that first connected me with other like-minded youth leaders, to mentors who have walked with me through different career stages, to the alumni I now count as close friends and collaborators, the network has been there throughout.”
Naheed Dosani, palliative care doctor, St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto 2004 recipient
Haley Zavo, Executive Director, Meals on Wheels, PEI 2001 recipient
After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Dosani witnessed a rise in Islamophobia and hate in his Toronto community. A high school student at the time, he decided to channel the fear and frustration he observed into something constructive.
He ran a campaign to raise awareness and support for people affected by the war in Afghanistan. He also founded a radio station to give young people in his community a creative outlet.
Zavo worked to improve access to music in rural Prince Edward Island communities, with a focus on her community’s elementary school. The school lost its music program and Zavo volunteered her time to bridge the gap. Fair access and community building are primary values in Zavo’s life, she said. These values have shown up in Zavo’s work with people with disabilities in Cape Breton and India, in her work in the arts and culture sectors, and now in her role as Executive Director for Meals on Wheels PEI, she said.
Question: How did the TD Scholarships for Community Leadership shape your personal and professional paths?
Answer: “When I consider the impact of the TD Scholarships for Community Leadership on my life, the first thing that comes to mind is ‘space.’ It offered me relief from financial pressures and the space to focus on a rich academic and extracurricular experience.”
Question: What advice would you give to your younger self about how to make an impact in your community?
Answer: “Be curious and listen more. Take the time to build meaningful relationships with different kinds of people, and don't be afraid of vulnerability.”
Madlen Nash, Assistant Director of Policy and Engagement, SMART4TB (Supporting, Mobilizing, and Accelerating Research for Tuberculosis Elimination), Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, and medical student, Queen’s University, 2013 recipient
As a high school student, Nash was involved in a variety of community initiatives, including equipping youth with social-emotional literacy skills and ensuring student engagement in educational development and reform at the provincial level. She also helped get students involved with a local speakers’ forum, which exposed young people in her rural community to global issues and diverse ways of thinking.
Question: What advice would you give to your younger self about how to make an impact in your community?
Answer: “My advice would be to follow your curiosity — and your outrage. Staying curious helps you stay humble, and you need humility to be an effective leader and change-maker. And work with people that bring you joy. More important than finding your purpose is finding your people.”
Answer: “Being a recipient of this scholarship undoubtedly had a profound impact on my life and career path. Free from student debt when I graduated, I went on to co-found a non-profit organization focused on supporting grassroots community responses to health crises. None of this would have been possible without the support of the TD scholarship.”
Question: Looking back, how did the TD Scholarships for Community Leadership shape your personal and professional paths?
Megan Fultz, In-House Legal Counsel, Manitoba Human Rights Commission 2009 recipient
Even as a child, Fultz said she felt overwhelmed living in a world where not everyone has access to the basic necessities they need to thrive. These feelings motivated Fultz to become involved with organizations focused on inclusion and learn as much as she could about the roots of inequality, the pathways towards systemic change, and how she could be part of that change in her own communities. She said she decided to become a lawyer so she could apply her skills in fighting for equality, human rights, and systemic change to the practice of law.
Question: What advice would you give to your younger self about how to make an impact in your community?
Answer: “When it comes to community leadership, don’t underestimate the importance of listening to and developing your own instincts. There will never be a shortage of advice from others, but it’s also important to place value on trusting yourself and your ability to make a difference.”
Answer: “The TD Scholarships for Community Leadership alumni network is invaluable. Not only is it a wonderful group of very supportive people and a fantastic source of community and friendship, but it is full of people doing some of the most fascinating and thought-provoking things you can imagine.
I am constantly in awe of my peers in this community – their work, their initiative, their leadership, their innovation, their determination, their ambition, their compassion, and their kindness.”
Question: What does being part of the TD Scholarships for Community Leadership alumni network mean to you today?
Julien Tremblay, Legislative Counsel, Justice Canada, Ottawa 2009 recipient
The community issue that inspired Tremblay’s leadership in high school was youth empowerment. He observed that young people often feel powerless and believe they need to ask for permission to act. Tremblay took action on this issue by becoming one of the leaders of the youth delegation to the Group of 8 (G8), an intergovernmental political forum.
Question: Looking back, how did the TD Scholarships for Community Leadership shape your personal and professional paths?
Answer: “The scholarship enabled me to attend a university outside of my hometown, an opportunity that would not have been possible without the scholarship.
The scholarship also allowed me to pursue enriching summer internships with non-profit organizations, without the worry of earning money for tuition. The recognition and acknowledgement of excellence that came with the scholarship were instrumental in securing those internships and further professional opportunities beyond university without the burden of student loans.”
Answer: “I would tell my younger self: ‘You are inherently powerful. You don't need permission to do great things. You might think you can't accomplish certain goals, but you will learn that you can achieve much more than the world wants you to believe.’”
Question: What does being part of the TD Scholarships for Community Leadership alumni network mean to you today?
Learn about the 2025 recipients of the TD Scholarships for Community Leadership and the good work they’re doing.
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