Volunteer
Leave for Change
Since 2004 Canadian organizations have partnered with WUSC through Leave for Change to send their employees on a skilled volunteer assignment to support our partners in Africa and Asia.
Become a Leave for Change partner
Leave for Change is a three way partnership between the employer, employee, and WUSC. The employer offers volunteering opportunities to their employees; the employee uses their vacation time to take part; and WUSC fully supports, facilitates and organizes the volunteer assignment.
Over the course of a three to four week assignment, Leave for Change volunteers share their specialized skills and expertise to strengthen the work of our local partner organizations who are working to create a better world for all young people.
Together we have strengthened the capacity of over 50,000 people who deliver life-changing programs and services for youth in their communities across the globe. Become a Leave for Change partner and offer your employees the chance to create a better world for youth.
Help create a better world
Leave for Change volunteers take part in a three to four week, skilled global development volunteer assignment supporting a local partner organization in Africa or Asia. By working alongside organizations who are striving to create lasting change and by connecting with the local community, volunteers come back more open-minded, motivated and committed to their employer.
Leave for Change employer benefits
93%
volunteers report improved motivation at work
95%
volunteers report improved loyalty to their employer
90%
volunteers report improved professional satisfaction
Develop your talented employees
Thinking outside the box, being creative with limited resources, and adapting to new surroundings and cultures offers employees the chance to develop both personally and professionally. Volunteering through Leave for Change is an experience that supports global development while leaving a lasting impact on the individual, their community, and their workplace.
Leave for Change employee benefits
93%
volunteers report improved intercultural and global development skills
95%
volunteers report improved volunteers report improved analytical, adaptation and leadership skills
90%
volunteers report improved volunteers report improved innovation skills
Your employees become our greatest asset, our volunteers
Your employees have the skills, experience and knowledge to help create a better world for all young people. By sharing their skills in areas such as Marketing, Communication, Entrepreneurship, Business, ICT, HR and Education Leave for Change volunteers strengthen the capacity of our partner organizations to meet their overall objectives of offering economic and educational opportunities to empower young people in their community.
Leave for Change development impact
84%
partners report improved capacity in gender equality
65%
of people reached through our partners are under the age of 35
84%
partners report improved strategic relationships
Enhance your corporate social responsibility program and advance the Sustainable Development Goals
Many Canadian organizations, from across all sectors, are answering the call for greater corporate leadership in advancing the Sustainable Development Goals. There is a growing body of research that demonstrates how skills-based volunteering creates progress toward these essential goals. By sharing knowledge and skills between employees and like-minded partners in the world’s most fragile countries, Canadian employers demonstrate their commitment to positive, sustainable change. The benefits to partners, employees, and employers are both multifold and long-lasting.
WUSC’s Leave for Change volunteering opportunities make direct contributions to the following Sustainable Development Goals:
No poverty
Gender equality
Decent work and economic growth
Partnerships for the goals
Meet our volunteers
WUSC has successfully sent over 10,000 volunteers internationally since 1977.
Stephanie Neville
AbbVie
“The Leave for Change experience had a profound impact on me! I’d travelled to other countries before, but never had the opportunity to work in another country until Leave for Change. It was an extremely rewarding and fulfilling experience, something I will never forget.”
Deng Pan
Deloitte
“The Leave for Change Program allowed me to diversify my professional competencies by working across cultures and within new environments. The experience was personally fulfilling as well, allowing me to expand my worldview. Back in Canada, I find myself tapping into both these areas of growth at work and in my life.”
Victoria Bell
Canadian Medical Association
“After my Leave for Change experience, I came home energized, more committed to my job and with a better ability to work with different kinds of people.”
Hussien Zughaer
Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC)
“My journey with Leave for Change at WUSC in Jordan was truly transformative. As I engaged in empowering youth for a greener future through summer camps and sustainability workshops, the experience left an indelible mark on me, shaping my perspective in profound ways.”
Leave for Change partners
We are grateful to our partners for their continued work and dedication!
Ashbury College
Deloitte
North Island College
Thompson Rivers University
Nova Scotia Community College
Universities Canada
“You really know you are onto something when more than half of our participants ask when they can go on another assignment. Many of these staff members have used almost their entire year’s vacation on their first assignment but find that a small price to pay for this life changing opportunity.”
Larry Peat
Director, Administration & CFO Thompson Rivers University World Global Operations, Thompson Rivers University
Become a Leave for Change partner
Would you like to enhance your Corporate Social Responsibility goals, have an impact on global development, and develop your talented employees? Contact us for more information on becoming a Leave for Change partner.