We believe in the power of education, and scholarships in particular, to transform lives and in turn transform our communities to be fairer, healthier, and more prosperous for all.
We invest in educational programs and scholarships that work to equip the next generation of leaders.
We believe in educational programs and scholarships that provide students with a range of opportunities to actualize their potential and promise. This means more than financial resources, including access to mentorship and role models, international and national networks, ongoing learning, development of intercultural competencies, and a community that consistently supports and challenges its members to make a positive impact on our world.
In all of our programs and investments we strive to nurture and reinforce the value of character traits such as integrity, entrepreneurship, empathy, curiosity, genuine interest in others, self-awareness, adaptability, resilience and drive in secondary school students and students pursuing undergraduate, master’s and professional degree programs as well as post-docs.
The McCall MacBain Foundation’s three strategic priorities for the next five years are:
Strategy 1: Investing in scholarship programs that find and nurture the next generation of leaders
We support leading scholarship and education programs that go beyond financial resources to foster the potential of young people to make significant contributions to society in every field. These scholarships and programs recognize the arc of growth of leadership qualities that spans a lifetime, and do not necessarily reward students for past accomplishments but challenge them to reach higher as they take on various roles throughout their lives. Our programs strive to ensure that students with potential have access to out-of-classroom experiences that will allow them to truly realize the fullest expression of that potential. We want students to have access to opportunities that will provide them practical tools, networks, role-models that will inspire them to take meaningful risks, stretch their intellectual curiosity, and go beyond conventional paths.
Ultimately, we hope our students go on to build careers driven by a desire to improve the lot of others by a willingness to take on some of the biggest and most complex societal issues, and to do so always with integrity and resoluteness. The scholarships we support and our initiatives make every effort to jump-start this trajectory.
Grantees include the Loran Scholars Foundation, the Rhodes and Mandela Rhodes Scholarships, the Kupe Leadership Scholarships and the Global Leadership Experience program at RMIT. Our own initiatives include the MacBain Niagara Falls Scholarships and the McCall Huron County Scholarships.
Our Initiatives
Within this strategy, we also strive to identify gaps in programming and run our own leadership-based merit award initiatives to contribute to efforts to address them. Two such initiatives recognize graduating high school students in our principals’ home communities who demonstrate strong character, have made positive contributions to their schools or broader communities, and are committed to excellence.
McCall MacBain Scholarships at McGill
The McCall MacBain Scholarships will draw outstanding students from Canada and around the world to pursue a funded master’s or professional degree at McGill University, combined with a comprehensive enrichment program. Applications open in June 2020.
MacBain Niagara Falls Scholarships
For graduating students of five Niagara Falls high schools who are planning to go onto undergraduate studies at university in Canada.
McCall Huron County Scholarships
For graduating students of five Huron County high schools who are planning to go onto undergraduate studies at university in Canada.
Spotlight on Our Grantees
Strategy 2: Creating opportunities for undergraduate students that will inspire them to aim higher and maximize their potential
We believe in the importance of out-of-classroom opportunities for undergraduate students to test their comfort zones, discover their strengths, engage in their communities and develop resilience and adaptability. We work to develop these opportunities with an emphasis on “talent-at-risk” and invest in organizations aiming to scale up or extend the reach of high-impact programs that focus on leadership and character development for undergraduates. Our flagship initiative within this strategy is the McCall MacBain Year Abroad. Our grantees include Enactus and the McCall MacBain International Human Rights Fellowships at the University of Toronto’s International Human Rights Program.
Our Initiatives
Our flagship initiative under this strategy aims to develop globally minded leaders with strong intercultural competencies and ties to different regions of the world.
McCall MacBain International Fellowships
For McMaster and McGill undergraduate students between the ages of 19-24 in second, third year or beginning of fourth year studies to live, study and work abroad for a year.
Spotlight on Our Grantees
Strategy 3: Making investments in secondary school students that will ensure that potential is discovered early and given the opportunity to grow for all of our benefit
We support outstanding youth leadership programs that seek out and nurture promising secondary school students and enable them to aim high no matter where they live or their circumstances. These programs recognize that students from unconventional backgrounds have immense potential for leadership which might otherwise be short-changed, and look to reach these students wherever they are.
Grantees include SHAD, Junior Achievement, and the Ontario Educational Leadership Centre.
Spotlight on Our Grantees
