United Way Niagara takes pride in its mission to help others, both within the community and in the workplace. United Way fosters new talent through its work-integrated learning programs, in which students have the opportunity to complete an internship or co-op placement at United Way Niagara.

This year, we have had the privilege to work with four incredible students through co-operative learning. Students can build new skills, and our team gets a fresh set of eyes and perspectives that help us find innovative solutions in the workplace.

Please continue reading to learn more about our students and the work they have done throughout their time with United Way!
Lillian Wood
Logan Malcolm
Ruby Hill
Harjot Merwar

Lillian Wood: Hi, my name is Lilly. I am a Brock University graduate and recently a Centennial College graduate in the Community Development program. I have had the opportunity to do a student placement in this program, and I was fortunate enough to do this with United Way.

Like many, I have always been passionate about helping others, supporting my community, and wanting to implement positive change. However, I struggled to find out how to mobilize that passion into a career.

My role at United Way was to work closely with the Community Impact team. I was able to work on projects including funding approvals, coordinating sponsorship, event planning, advocacy, developing workshops, research, policy review, and more. This experience has given me the opportunity to develop skills that will propel me forward in my career, and I feel inspired to take on new career challenges and reach new goals.

The most useful learning experience for me has been collaborating with community partners. United Way is a complex organization that connects and collaborates with many diverse community partners. This experience was the most valuable to me because I learned from and worked collaboratively with diverse leaders in our community, working on unique and innovative projects. Working with diverse community leaders allowed me to learn from their unique perspectives regarding innovative solutions to complex problems and their groundbreaking new ways to support our community. The most valuable lesson I’ve learned from my experience at United Way is that we work best when we work together.

Over the last year, I felt incredibly supported and valued as a true member of the team. My placement coordinator made a truly meaningful effort to ensure I got the most out of this experience by allowing me to take on a leadership role, exposing me to diverse projects and positions, challenging me to develop new skills, and demonstrating their sincere investment in my success.

What I am most grateful for now is that my dedication to this role has now grown into a c