About

Actua is a national charity that is preparing youth, age 6-26, to be innovators and leaders by engaging them in exciting and accessible STEM experiences that build critical employability skills and confidence.

How We Deliver

Actua engages youth through two main mechanisms: a national network of 40 university and college-based members, and a national Outreach Team. Together we inspire over 350,000 youth each year, reaching every province and territory in Canada through summer camps, classroom workshops, clubs, teacher training, and community outreach activities.

40

university and college based network members
1,000

undergraduate students employed each year
350,000

inspired youth each year
1,000

volunteers delivering STEM workshops
1,750,000

1 million face to face hours

How We are Different

Actua has engaged over 5,000,000 Canadian youth in the past 25 years and the organization has evolved significantly. What has remained the same is our unwavering focus on engaging the hardest to reach youth in Canada ensuring they have the opportunity to develop essential STEM skills. We have also remained committed to hiring undergraduate students, lots of them, who deliver programs across Canada, getting valuable work experience while developing even stronger employability skills. Actua’s focus is on helping youth to recognize they are leaders today in their communities while also bolstering their skills and confidence to become the innovators of tomorrow. We do this in partnership with leading universities, colleges, corporations, communities and governments at all levels.

A National Voice for Youth in STEM

As a nationally recognized voice for STEM education and outreach, Actua is a strong advocate for the critical importance of early engagement in STEM. We use that national voice to advocate for increasedinvestment in youth STEM programs and to specifically bring attention to the ongoing underrepresentation of key groups in STEM fields. Actua is frequently called upon to speak on our vast program experience and policy expertise through conference presentations, media interviews, community events and social media. We actively share our research findings and experiences with a broad community in order to advance understanding and innovation in the field of STEM engagement.

Network Members

Actua is a network-based organization and we proudly represent and support 40 university and college-based network members. These amazing organizations embody Actua’s commitment to engaging all young Canadians in hands-on STEM and to breaking barriers to youth participation in STEM studies and careers. Network members deliver a host of on and off campus programming including significant outreach work within their local communities and beyond. This outreach is what contributes to the network’s collective impact of reaching 500 communities in every province and territory each year.

Camps:

Network members offer week-long day camp experiences mainly in July and August (and during March Breaks where applicable). Camps offer a wide variety of STEM activities, with many specialty camps offering specific themed weeks. Both co-ed and all-girls camps are offered.
Workshops:

Network members deliver school workshops that meet the required learning outcomes of provincial or territorial curricula.Teachers can select from a variety of STEM themes and book workshops directly through a local network member program.
Clubs:

Many of our network members offer year-round after-school club experiences, giving youth opportunities to deepen their engagement in STEM. Some clubs are co-ed and others offer an all-girls option.

Find a Local Program

Outreach Team

Actua’s Outreach instructors are a team of dynamic, diverse, engaging leaders who are committed to delivering fun, hands‐on science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) programs for youth. Our “for youth by youth” model is extremely effective at helping young people build self‐confidence, connect with role models like them, and engage with STEM programming in an inclusive and safe space.

Actua’s Outreach team delivers programming primarily in rural, remote, and Indigenous communities that are not yet served by our network members. We work in partnership with communities; engaging local Indigenous volunteers and/or Elders who share their traditional knowledge and integrate cultural experiences into our camps. In this way, we connect youth to what they already intrinsically know about STEM from within their own community context and we ensure that the programming we deliver remains relevant and meaningful.

Our Outreach Team delivers school workshops, week-long summer camps, and community science events in Indigenous, northern, rural, and remote communities across Canada.

Leadership

Jennifer Flanagan

President and CEO
Christina Dornan

Executive Assistant to the CEO and Office Manager
Leslie Cuthbertson

Chief Operating Officer
Doug Dokis

Director, Indigenous Youth in STEM (InSTEM) Program
Tracy Ross

Director of Network Membership
Valeria Iannitti

Director of Development and Partnerships
Kristina Martin

Director of Communications
Jenifer Spencer

Director of Education and Outreach
Virginia Hall

Director of Operations and Research
Mark Zwicker

Director of Information and Systems Management
Noreen Demeria

Manager, Indigenous Youth in STEM (InSTEM) Program
Laura Bouwman

Senior Manager, Network Membership
Caitlin Quarrington

Senior Manager, Education
Kaitlynn Carroll

Senior Manager, Partner Relations
Lauren Dickhout

Senior Manager, Outreach
Alicia Henderson

Manager, Outreach Content & Logistics
Emmanuelle Provost

Communications Coordinator
Lara Vronick

Development and Special Projects Coordinator
Julia Filiplic

Network Member Services Coordinator
Emily Hartman

National Girls Program Coordinator
Amanda Herr

Administrative Assistant
Mackenzie Golding

Outreach Coordinator
Mikayla Ellis

Outreach Coordinator
Aimen Aziz

Outreach Instructor
Naomi Bender

Outreach Instructor
Anya Ponomarenko

COOP Student
Dan Munro

Researcher in Residence

Susan Holt, Chair

Vice-President, Strategy & Communications, PQA Testing
Paul Ledwell, Past-Chair

Deputy Minister, Policy & Priorities, Executive Council Office, Government of P.E.I.
Jan O'Donnell, Treasurer

Independent Contract CFO
Jennifer Flanagan, Secretary

CEO, Actua
Kim Warburton, Director

Vice-President Corporate and Public Affairs, TD Bank Group
Melisa Yestrau, Director

Director, Science Venture, University of Victoria
Trevor Cuddy, Director

Director, Continuing Professional Development, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto
Kris Smith, Director

Executive Vice President, Refining & Marketing, Suncor Energy
Marshall Self, Director

Director; Finance, Insurance & Travel, Google
Tyler Wish, Director

CEO, NAC Bio
Kluane Adamek, Director

Assembly of First Nations

Adelaide Burrows

Instructor
Aimen Aziz

Instructor
Aishani Chakravarty

Instructor
Claudia Villatoro

Instructor
Del Heal

Instructor
Hyejun Kim

Instructor
James Hudson

Instructor
John Le

Instructor
Katelyn Bell

Instructor
Katie McCulloch

Instructor
Keith McIsaac

Instructor
Mackenzie Golding

Instructor
Michelle Landry

Instructor
Mikayla Ellis

Instructor
Morgan Murphy

Instructor
Noami Bender

Instructor
Nicole Meeks

Instructor
Sauvanne Julien

Instructor

Annual Reports

Supporters and Partners

Actua is fortunate to have world-class funders from the private sector, foundations and from all levels of government. The majority of our supporters have been with us over the long-term. We are known for our unique partnership approach that creates value and engagement far beyond financial contributions. We offer a range of investment opportunities at regional and national levels with demonstrated accountability and impact.

Please contact us for more information.