How to Get Involved
What is Leave for Change?Leave for Change...
• Promotes and supports employee volunteerism in the developing world
• Encourages employees from participating companies and organizations to transform part of their annual leave into a 2 to 4 week volunteer assignment in a developing country
• Enables volunteers to donate their skills to an international development project with the support of professionals in the host country
Why participate in Leave for Change?
Everybody wins:
• Employers invest in the development of their human resources, thereby strengthening their competitiveness in Canada’s evolving work-force. They also demonstrate leadership in corporate social responsibility at international and local levels. Public recognition and employees morale increase as a result.
• Employees expand their personal and profes-sional horizons and acquire a deeper understanding of international development.
• Both contribute in a rapid and tangible way to a results-driven development project.
• Partner organizations in developing countries acquire valuable skills and working tools.
"Abbott has been a proud UNITERRA partner since 2005, the introduction of this international volunteer program fits perfectly with one of Abbott's core values "caring". This program has allowed Abbott Canada to take corporate citizenship to another level and to demonstrate that commitment to our values by offering employees this unique opportunity. Abbott Canada employees have experienced personal growth through this program and shared their experiences at company gatherings where they received standing ovations. Some have on their return, engaged in their own fundraising and all of them felt that in their own way, they have made a difference in someone's life in Africa. Abbott was recognized as a Top 50 Employer for 2006, 2007 and 2008. The Uniterra program has certainly come through in our company surveys where our employees recognize we are active in the local and the international community."
Laurence L. Dotto
Director, Government & External Affairs, Abbott Canada
Types of Assignments and Desired Skills
All Leave for Change volunteers work with local partner organizations in the following sectors: Private Sector Development, Agriculture and Rural Development, HIV/AIDS, Basic Education, Health and Nutrition, and Youth Programming. As the needs of our development partners are diverse, so are the skills we look for in volunteers. They can include computer and internet training, accounting, business management, marketing, human resource management, youth leadership, engineering, communications and much more. Placements are offered in
Bolivia, Botswana, Burkina Faso,Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea, Malawi, Mali, Nepal, Niger,
Senegal and Vietnam.
Learn more about the work of a Uniterra partner in Botswana through the work of Mike Levy, who took a Leave for Change with the University of Guelph >>
Download Windows Media Player >>
Current Canadian Partners
Abbott Canada >>
Addenda Capital >>
A. Lassonde Inc. >>
Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec >>
CGI >>
Deloitte & Touche/Samson-Bélair >>
La Caisse d'économie solidaire Desjardins >>
MIRTEC Inc.
University of Guelph >>
Ville de Montréal >>
Armtec >>
The Co-operators >>
University of British Columbia >>
Ministère des finances du Québec >>
Humber College >>
Solutions Modex >>
Maison Internationale des Femmes
Olymel >>
Interested Employer?
Contact us to find out more about sponsoring your employees and becoming a partner of Leave for Change:
Philippe Leduc, Leave for Change Programme Officer
pleduc@wusc.ca
Interested employee?
Take a Leave for Change !
If you are an employee interested in volunteering with Leave for Change, your employer must first enter into an agreement with the program. Put a key resource person in touch with us to explore its potential involvement with Leave for Change by having them contact:
Philippe Leduc, Leave for Change Programme Officer
pleduc@wusc.ca