Sport is a powerful avenue for cultivating leadership, but student-athletes often get limited opportunities to build on their skills beyond the field.
Fondation Aléo has welcomed the first cohort of scholarship recipients into the newly launched Fondation Aléo x McCall MacBain Leadership Program. In addition to receiving $4,000 per year for up to 3 years to help balance their sport and academic commitments, recipients participate in a leadership curriculum that enables them to translate the leadership skills they have gained through sports into lifelong leadership across all areas of their lives. The leadership curriculum includes coaching, skill-building workshops, and mentorship.
The inaugural cohort, comprising 10 student-athletes from Quebec, Canada, and the world studying at a university in Quebec, was selected in the Spring 2024 based on their prior experience of leading community initiatives and a desire to develop skills to continue contributing to their communities beyond their sport.
“The Leadership Program is an exceptional opportunity to enrich both my personal and professional development. Thanks to the inspiring exchanges with program members and the stimulating workshops it is an ideal springboard towards my goal of becoming a doctor with empathetic, unifying, and innovative leadership,” says Mathilde Rousseau who is part of the first cohort. A student of medicine at Laval University, Mathilde is an outstanding soccer player, a triple medalist at the U Sports Canadian Championships and a bronze medalist at the Pan-American University Championships. Off the field, she is a researcher for women’s health, supports events on Breast Cancer awareness, and has founded summer camps for kids.
Since 1985, Fondation Aléo, previously known as the Foundation for Athletic Excellence (FAEQ), has been supporting high-calibre student-athletes in Quebec with bursaries and personalized supports, including career advice, networking, and community-building. Through this program, for the first time, Aléo is able to invest in the leadership trajectories of student-athletes who show the potential to create transformative impact across their broader communities.
The program is part of the McCall MacBain Foundation’s investments in seeding leadership-focused scholarships that identify and support talented young individuals across geographies and populations to build their leadership to positively impact our world.
Meet the first cohort here.