Leaders of Tomorrow Leadership Cafe with Big Brothers of Greater Vancouver
By Corbin Lowe
Big Brothers of Greater Vancouver and Members of the Leaders of Tomorrow (LOT) program met at SFU's Segal Graduate School of Business to talk about some issues that Big Brothers is facing.
Attendees were tasked with creating solutions for two different issues that the organization is currently facing. The winning team received prizes from London Drugs, while Big Brothers was presented with valuable possibilities on how to tackle these issues.
This event was structured as a mini-case competition. Tables of eight Members were asked to brainstorm and come with a solution to the issue they were given to resolve. They then had two minutes to present their ideas to the larger group.
To provide the groups with some background, Valerie Lambert, Executive Director at Big Brothers of Greater Vancouver, gave a presentation outlining the two issues and the challenges the organization is facing.
The first case revolved around helping Big Brothers recruit more volunteers for their In-School Mentorship program. They have seen a downturn in applications for this program and needed fresh brainpower from an outside source to provide creative ideas. Groups provided solutions ranging from a recruitment video through social media to starting a Big Brother student club at each major post-secondary institution in the Greater Vancouver region.
The second case was in someways a continuation of the first issue. Once Big Brothers has recruited more volunteers, how can they more effectively keep them. Big Brothers felt that their recognition program may need some sprucing up in order to ensure volunteers are not leaving because they do not feel cared for. Groups presented Big Brothers with several different ideas including earning points towards prizes to personalizing the gifts based on each volunteer's preference.
Ali Najaf, a Member of The Vancouver Board of Trade's Leaders of Tomorrow program, emceed this successful event. Another LOT Member and Big Brothers participant, Corbin Lowe, gave a short speech on his experiences with being a Big Brother.
The event concluded with some networking and more discussion around how Big Brothers can fix some of the issues they are facing. As a result of what they heard at the event, some Board of Trade Members even enquired about how they can sign up to become Big Brothers.
For more information on Big Brothers of Greater Vancouver, please visit bigbrothersvancouver.com. For Big Sisters of Great Vancouver, please visit bigsisters.bc.ca
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