What Jasmine Brings to the Table
“I bring lawyer training to approaching issues raised in board meetings from a critical perspective. And of course, the governance committee has a natural link to law.
Many of the topics covered in my MBA apply to not-for-profits, including understanding operations, marketing, and engaging with people through social media.
I’ve done quite a lot of fundraising in various capacities. The most obvious was on the sponsorship team at Lean In Toronto chapter. A lot of companies were looking to partner with Lean In which gave me experience with the whole sponsorship lifecycle: sourcing leads, raising funds, and building sustainable relationships with sponsor companies. Another fundraising experience that stands out is a charity campaign I was involved with as an articling student called Give a Night, organized by articling students to raise money for the Stephen Lewis Foundation in their fights against HIV/AIDs in Africa.”
What will Success Look like?
“I am excited to be involved with Eli’s Place at this stage of its development. At this point, we are trying to bring Eli’s Place into fruition and there is naturally a lot that needs to happen. It is exciting to be involved in discussions envisioning what Eli’s Place is going to look like, and I think bringing fresh perspectives to those conversations is really important.
I am also especially mindful of how important fundraising is right now in Eli’s Place’s early stage of development. I have experience implementing a number of creative campaigns, and that’s where I believe I can add value. I think success in fundraising looks like being able to innovate on our current approach to campaigning.”
On the subject of mental health
“I’m really thrilled that today mental health is much more widely recognized as being just as important as physical health, due to increasing awareness. But I don’t think enough people have turned their mind to the idea of treatment and sustainability. Something that really stood out to me from my studies learning about clinical disorders is how medication on its own isn’t enough and often acts as a band aid solution, and how talk therapy is so important in combination to see long-term, sustainable results.”
“Where Recovery Grows”: What does it mean for Jasmine?
“When I hear Eli’s Place’s mission ‘where recovery grows,’ the word ‘grows’ resonates with me. I think of a plant and its strong, sturdy roots. Growth gets across the whole purpose of Eli’s Place. It’s a long-term solution rather than just a short-term quick fix, which I think is the issue with the current traditional clinical therapy approach in Canada, which does not actually rehabilitate clients back into society. The recovery component adds to the idea of rehabilitation, that Eli’s Place helps young people to actually thrive, not just survive. And the idea that Eli’s Place can help young people in such a sustainable way really motivates me.”
In Conclusion
It bodes well that Eli’s Place continues to attract Jasmine’s calibre of board members at this critical turning point in our development. We are delighted to welcome Jasmine onto our Board.
Eli’s Place will be a rural, residential treatment program for young adults with serious mental illness. To learn more about our mission and our proven-effective model click here.
