Behind the Business

Empowering Tomorrow’s Entrepreneurs with Karen Gallant

• Greater Kitchener Waterloo Chamber of Commerce • Season 3 • Episode 13

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Karen Gallant is the President and CEO of Junior Achievement JA South Western Ontario  on, one of Canada’s most impactful youth organizations helping students develop financial literacy, entrepreneurial thinking, and work-readiness skills.

Under her leadership, JA has expanded across the region, embraced digital learning, and continues to inspire young people to take ownership of their futures.

We’ll talk about the importance of financial literacy, inspiring the next generation of innovators, and how businesses can play a hands-on role in developing future talent.

Let’s go Behind the Business with Karen Gallant.

Get a look Behind the Business in Waterloo Region with Ian McLean, President & CEO of the Greater Kitchener Waterloo Chamber of Commerce.

Ian McLean:

Welcome to another episode of Behind the Business, presented by Gore Mutual. I'm your host, Ian McLean, President and CEO of the Greater Kitchen Waterdoo Chamber of Commerce. This podcast is recorded on the traditional territory of the neutral Anishinabe and Haudenosaunee peoples. Each week I sit down for candid conversations where we go beyond the boardroom and behind the business to uncover the real stories of Waterdoo Region's business community. Our guest today is Karen Glant, President and CEO of Junior Achievement Southwestern Ontario. Karen leads one of Canada's most impactful youth organizations, helping students develop financial literacy, entrepreneurial thinking, and work readiness skills. Under her leadership, JA has expanded across the region, adapted to digital delivery, and continues to empower young people to take ownership of their futures. We'll talk about the importance of financial literacy, inspiring the next generation of innovators, and how businesses can play a hands-on role in developing future talent. Join me as we go behind the business with Karen Gurland. Well, we're excited to have you here, Karen. Thank you for taking time of your busy schedule.

Karen Gallant:

Well, thanks very much for inviting me to join you.

Ian McLean:

So as we always do, I want to start with your story for those that don't know you. We've known each other for a long time. I won't say how long because I would date both of us. But it's spanned your time at Communitech and in business and and what you're doing now. So to give give the a flavor of your career roles that's led you to your current role with uh with Junior Achievement Southwestern Ontario.

Karen Gallant:

Yeah, so it has been a long time that we've known each other. And uh, you know, I'm very fortunate. Early in my career, I learned that I wanted to work for an organization that gave back to community in some way. And you know, I started at a post-secondary institution, was there for quite a long time, joined Communitech, like you said, and then uh the opportunity came up to lead JA Waterloo Region. And it just seemed like a great culmination of my education background, which was business and human resources, and all of my experiences both through the university and then at Communitech. So it just was a great culmination for me and uh been in enjoying this role for now almost 11 years.

Ian McLean:

Now you're making us both what was what is it about the junior achievement mission? Like is it in and maybe describe what junior achievement does, uh, or we'll come to that. But what is it about the the the mission that junior achievement has that that resonated or or or got you excited about the role?

Karen Gallant:

So JA's mission is really to inspire and prepare young people for success. And and you know, if listeners don't know what that is, it really is talking about how can young people be successful in their future, no matter what that holds. And we all know that people have different paths, people will take different routes, but everybody needs certain skills for success. And when I first got introduced to JA, my kids were sort of in that grade seven, grade eight teenage year where they're starting to figure things out and still struggling to figure things out. And you know, as a as a parent, what you want to help them learn, things that will help them be successful in their lives. So, yes, career exploration, understanding what they want to do in their future and how to get there. But then also some of those other skills that are so important: financial literacy, uh, thinking about owning their own business, perhaps, contributing back to society, and and just being a really great community citizen and leader in that way, no matter what that looks like, because people pursue different paths.

Ian McLean:

I'm always and I think we had maybe at the Entrepreneur Hall of Fame, and we had a couple of your past graduates, and the things that that some of these young people who are now in business uh are doing is amazing. Um but I I even when they're doing the training and trying to develop their own in groups or in or sm you know individual or small groups, starting a business, they learn a lot about business planning and you know the hurdles that you're gonna face. I mean, uh it it it it JA has had an impact on young people, not just here in Waterloo Region, but wherever JA has programs. Talk about the impact on on those those, you know, some of the successes where you or you've seen. You've got champions now in JA that came through the program itself.

Karen Gallant:

Yeah. You know, we have so many people. I talked to different people and they're really, oh, I did JA when I was in school, right? And we find these alumna everywhere, and they are down different career paths all the time. But I'm gonna give you an example, Ian, of one of our uh student teams that went through our company program last year. Um, it's our high school uh entrepreneurship program. It's done after school, 18 weeks, under the guidance of volunteer mentors. And what happens is these teams of students, they have to actually start, operate, and liquidate a small business over the course of those 18 weeks. So this team of students who'd never participated in JA before, they came up with this idea. And they started down a path with this idea and how they were gonna, you know, sell it, market it, all those things. And they started to realize that what they had originally come up with was not going to get them to s the success that they were looking for. So they had to pivot and they had to rethink their entire product that they were gonna sell, their whole business plan. They ended up winning our company of the year competition at JA Southwestern Ontario, and then they went on to the national competition where they were named Social Enterprise of the Year. So, like the skills that these kids learn, these young people learn through the JA programs are so transferable. No matter what the future holds for them, uh, but certainly if they're thinking about starting their own business, they get that risk-free uh opportunity or environment that they can learn, they can figure out what they need to do to be successful in the future.

Ian McLean:

And doesn't that sound like my members that are starting businesses and discovering that what they first thought wasn't where they go and pivot, adapt, uh, or or end entirely and go in a different direction? And that's very much what you would have seen in Communitech too, with startups and entrepreneurs saying, well, we tried that something different. And that's it is a skill with as fast-paced uh change, uh, not only in business, but uh but but just in in the world in general. Listen, Global Entrepreneurship Week is taking place the 17th to the 23rd. One of the reasons we want to have you in here. Um, how do you see junior achievement inspiring the next generation of innovators and business builders? And and what are the initiatives as part of Global Entrepreneurship Week that you're excited about this year?

Karen Gallant:

Yeah, so I mean, company program is a great example of what JA does to help you know inspire that next generation of innovators and business builders, business leaders. Uh but one of the things that I'm really excited about this year is uh an adaptation of our company program that fits better within the high school environment, so in class, um, where there's much less time for teachers to be able to run our full company program. Uh, we're adapting that. It's called Pitcher Vision. So it basically is, you know, what's the ideation, and then you move up to a pitch competition. Um, and we're also doing that for elementary school students. So that's something that's new for us and is really exciting because we know if we can inspire young people to think about entrepreneurship early, then they start to think about that as a potential career. They start to build their uh education, their volunteer work, their uh other work experience to support that as an end goal. So we're really excited about that new offer.

Ian McLean:

And in changing world, I mean, we know all the trade tariffs and all the other things. One of the things we know is we're gonna have to have more businesses doing different things, jobs for the future are changing, and so being able to kind of get that, instill that trying something, trying that entrepreneurial uh um, you know, venture is is gonna be important with every passing day. Um and during during um global entrepreneurship, we which ties into that to what you what you just talked about, there's a big focus on resilience and learning from failure. And and we've you touched on that already with with the example, but um what are some of the lessons in general? So that that group actually had to deal with it. They had, geez, we're gonna fail if we do if we do this. So they pivoted. But how do you pass along to students about the realities of entrepreneurship, the risks, the challenges, the rewards, the how to do it when you're when you're pitching that at the outset? Because failure is a big part of business success. We all kind of go, well, boy, that didn't work. But you don't then just throw up your hands and say, I guess I'm not gonna do it, is how do you learn from it, how do you adapt, pivot, all those sorts of things. So, how does Global Entrepreneurship Week um provide that that those lessons of resilience and and and learning from failure um are instilled in these kids?

Karen Gallant:

Yeah, you know, I think one of the biggest ways that we're able to do that is by having volunteers engaged in our programming, whether that's in school, whether that's after school, and they share their their stories and their experience with young people and they let them know that it's okay to fail. I think society has such, and young people in particular, have such high standards and they are so afraid of making mistakes, and you know, that that's going to be the end of the world, be the end of their career, be, you know, really prohibit them from uh doing what they want to do. And it's not. They're the biggest lessons that we can learn as long as we take some time to reflect on that and figure out what went wrong and what are we gonna do differently next time. So our volunteers are a huge part of helping young people develop that skill of resilience and reflection uh and learning that failure is okay.

Ian McLean:

So I want to talk about the partnerships because part of JA, I mean, is you're you're uh much like a chamber, you're a big program with very small staff. You do it a lot with I wouldn't say Bailey Wire Duct tape, but you do it, you know what I mean? You do it with minimum on a shoestring. But you do a lot of it is with volunteers and volunteer mentors. Um, the education system plays a role in this. How do you collaborate with business and educators and volunteers to bring that JA mission to life? And I guess part of that question is how, if someone's watching this saying, hey, that sounds like an interesting program, how do I get involved? How do you engage and get people support that vision that you're that the JA ethos has? How do you help them get involved?

Karen Gallant:

I mean, businesses, educators and volunteers, they are absolutely, you know, two-thirds of our three-prong stool for success. And we're very fortunate to have great corporate partners, uh, our education partners, and then volunteers in the community as well. So we work with uh our education partners, of course, they're the ones who invite us to come into classrooms. Our materials are aligned with the curriculum so that teachers can know when they bring a JA program into the classroom, they are still achieving the learning objectives and outcomes that they are supposed to be achieving through the ministry guidelines. So that's the first thing. We really work with the educators to tailor what we offer to meet their needs and ensure what we're delivering is of value to the teachers and the students. And then businesses provide partnerships in a couple of different ways. We're always looking to add new corporate partners to our suite in our portfolio. They can provide volunteers for us, which is a really important uh way that we partner with them. And then they can also provide funding support for us. We are a registered charity, we don't receive any government funding, and so partnerships with businesses help us to achieve our mission in the two different ways. Uh, the volunteer engagement, which is also really great for them because you know they can help their young people develop, their young employees get up in front of a class of students, they practice their presentation skills, all of that kind of thing. But it also helps them become an employer of choice, right? Their own uh employer brand uh as people are looking for jobs and so on.

Ian McLean:

And build a pipeline of schedule new employees.

Karen Gallant:

Exactly.

Ian McLean:

The Behind the Business Podcast is made possible through the support of our title sponsor, Gore Mutual. Proudly Canadian, Gore Mutual has stayed true to one purpose for more than 185 years: insurance that does good. It's the reason they exist. They believe that when we focus on being good, doing good, and spreading good, we all thrive together. We're grateful for their continued commitment to our local communities and the positive impact they make every day. For more information, visit goremutual.ca. And we we've talked about this. I mean, the chamber and and other organizations are all saying, hey, we're gonna be a million people, are we ready? Uh one of the things as we approach a million people is developing that the future talent. Um and it's we that's becoming more important than ever. Like, what are the jobs for the future? Some of them don't exist right now, so we're back to resilience and adaption and all those sorts of things. Um you talked a little bit about local businesses, but um what are specifically some of the things that the meaningful ways that local businesses can get involved? Like if if when you say well they could they could mentor, what types of people would, you know, is it specific, is it the CEO or do you need some people in finance or in marketing? Um, you know, because because everyone would say, well, I don't I don't want to get in front of a class, but you know what? One of my staff would be really great at doing that. And then and so how do you nurture that that business relationship and get the skills that you need? Because you need a lot of different parts to do because the program's very involved. Like it covers everything from well, finance, HR, you know, uh, you know, sales, uh, branding, marketing, the whole you're everyone in your program are learning bits or parts of all of those things. So, you know, if a business is watching this saying, you know, money's one thing, that that's all we we never turn that down in the not-for-profit sector. But uh, you know, how do you determine uh or should a business be looking and saying, um, hey, I want to get involved, you're gonna find a way to get them involved.

Karen Gallant:

Yeah, absolutely. So, you know, we have a whole variety of different uh volunteer engagement opportunities for people who are interested. So, you know, company program, you're right, we need people from across all different areas of the business, and it's a a fairly hefty commitment. 18 weeks, three hours a week, right? So it's like I equate it to coaching a team of some sort, some sort. But we have other uh volunteer opportunities which not only range from the um sort of full day in-class activities, but we also have now these virtual, we call them world of choices or career hunt um programs, which are really about career exploration. And they're done online. It's about 20 minutes, and we need people from all different roles, all different industries to come and just basically share what their work experience is like, what their job is like, how did they get there, what's a day like in the life of the CEO of the chamber, or the life of someone who is um, you know, in a caregiving profession. All across the the um spectrum of industries, we're looking for cr uh individuals to get involved in that. And um, you know, love to talk to people who think that that might be a great place for them to start. They can give that 20 minutes, half an hour or so, uh, and just give it a test running.

Ian McLean:

Well, you can sign me up for that. I I I would love to and I used to do career um go into career classes that my brother taught when he was teaching. And I would go in once or twice a year to his career class and and do very much that. Um and you know, that's a great way to kind of for people to kind of say, how did you end up as a president CEO when you were a beer salesman and then you were a city, you know, like it's seeing how things evolve. So sign me up, and anyone that's watching, uh uh, you know, we'll we'll get you the information on how you can get involved too. Water region, you keep you know you've stayed here, you've worked here uh in a variety of roles, um, is a special place. Uh you know, the the we we we're very lucky to live here. We've got entrepreneurship in a variety of sectors and that you know, farm building and the and that that uh community that supports one another. Um is it those types of things that make this such a great place for JA to operate? Because you do operate like when we say Southwestern Ontario, you're in London and you're in Kitchener and you have a big swath of the province. Is there something special about Waterloo Region that that really you know makes this a um um uh a successful part of the programming that JA does?

Karen Gallant:

Absolutely. And I think you hit the nail on the head with a couple of your comments there, that barn building, that sense of community and giving back, and just how people are willing to sit down and have a coffee with someone and just say, here's my experience, here's my advice if you're you know sort of uh experiencing a challenge or what have you. And I think that's different than many of the communities that we operate in. Um we have a lot of support, and JA here in Waterloo Region has uh operated for more than 50 years. Um, long-standing history of engagement with, you know, all of the big uh businesses that used to be here Seagram, Comdev, ATS. And then uh, you know, that really helped to give us a strong foothold in Waterloo Region, so we're able to continue to be here, to operate here, and build here. So we still deliver about a third of our programs uh here in Waterloo Region.

Ian McLean:

Okay. Um I want to pivot just a little bit. I mean, part of part of what Jay does, financial literacy is one of those important things, and it doesn't get taught enough in in classes. Uh, and I I think it's it it it just should be be more prevalent for young people. Um with you know, so financial literacy of understanding your costs, what your income is, you know, how changing jobs, purchase, you know, big purchases, all of those sorts of things. Um, and and then we also have students that are getting educated and as they get older and get through high school, student debt. Like all of these things are important as you as you plot out your both your career and your and your sort of living your life. What trends are you seeing with young people in terms of how they manage money today? And is JA helping, you know, in the programming you're doing, adapting to develop programs or or change programs to meet those evolving needs uh in that financial literacy area?

Karen Gallant:

Absolutely. So date myself again. When I was growing up, Ian, probably the same as you. When I wanted to buy something, I had to take out a wallet and I would have to pull out the cash. Uh, we all know that that's not the case now, right? So much of money management is done online using digital tools. And so things like banking apps and online banking and digital wallets, like they never existed when I was growing up. Uh, and so we see a huge change in that uh with young people. And I think in some ways that makes it a lot harder for them to get the concepts of money management and budgeting, because they just need to, you know, tap something or and it gets paid for. So um JA is continually evolving our programs to meet the changing needs of students. And so things that we're doing now would include a lot of a lot more of the online digital uh programs. We call them quick inspirations, and they're very short, interactive modules that are done online, as I mentioned, that are focused on around uh focused on specific topic areas. So, you know, we have one in elementary, like for the elementary grades that's curious about currency. It's a couple of um modules, video videos that either teachers can show in their classrooms or students can do on their own under the guidance of you know a caring uh um uh parent or or um guardian. Yep. Um we do things like um we have a keep your balance app, which is actually a balance uh budget balancing tool that you can input different things. If you want to go live out in PEI when you're older, you can put in some information about that, learn what it will cost to live in PEI or go to school in PEI. We have um uh a program uh online again about um post-secondary and planning for post-secondary.

Ian McLean:

Cost and cost and what you need to do.

Karen Gallant:

Exactly, exactly. So really short, very focused um online programs that students can do when they need them, basically. Uh and so we also have programming and integrated a lot of uh this content in our program related to fraud and protecting yourself against fraud, because with all of this movement to digital banking and so on, people have to be aware of that.

Ian McLean:

Okay, we're almost we're getting to the uh to the end. Um we and I always ask the rapid-fire questions, but before we get there, it what excites you most about the future of junior achievement? You've been there 11 years, you're doing different things, you've really grown in in this part of the certainly I've seen in this part of the world growing the programs and the things you're doing. Um but what excites you most about the future of J Southwestern Ontario? Is it the new new initiatives or programs and the horizon that you're developing on top of what you've already talked about?

Karen Gallant:

Yeah, some of that, and some of that is just reaching more students. You know, we have such a large area. Um we have about 390,000 students within the Southwestern Ontario marketplace. We only reach about 30,000 of them every year. So I what excites me is the opportunity to do more and to really have that impact on the individual um youth success, their community success, our community success, Ontario's success, Canada's success. I think we have a huge role to play in that, and that really excites me. Um yeah.

Ian McLean:

That's great. Um and it's great to hear the story of JA and your your leadership journey, but it this is also about the leadership of of the people in the community that that drive um um our community forward. So I always ask this same set of questions, I call them the rapid fire questions, and it's there's no right or wrong answer, but I it's always instructive of how leaders kind of view uh some of these questions and and response. So if I was to ask you what we you could go back and tell your younger self something, what would it be?

Karen Gallant:

Don't be so hard on yourself.

Ian McLean:

That's that's that's and and I think it fits into the fail and learn from failure. Exactly. Um who or what has inspired you most in your career journey?

Karen Gallant:

Uh growing up, it was my mom. She was a single mom, and so she was certainly my role model. Recently, I've had the good fortune to work with um some JA colleagues who are incredibly inspirational, and unfortunately, we lost one of them uh recently. But uh she was a bright light and a positive energy, and she continues to inspire me.

Ian McLean:

Um if you weren't, and uh I at the risk because you've done several things in your career, but if you weren't in your current career now uh at JA, what do you think you'd be doing instead?

Karen Gallant:

That's a tough one because I I love what I do, and I really think that my career path has set me up for this. So I don't know that I would do anything different.

Ian McLean:

Well, that's I I'm kind of in the same thing. I I you know it's it's I'm loving what I do and and helping help in business. So I uh that's always a tough one. Some people have an answer to that, others is like, no, I I really don't want to imagine not doing this. Um what are you reading a book or a podcast? What is it, what is it that you do to kind of either recharge or get you thinking or um you know refresh?

Karen Gallant:

Uh so I have two books on the go at the moment: Dare to Lead by Brene Brown. Uh that's the sort of professional development book I have on the go. And then I'm a big Louise Penny fan, and she just put out her new book, The Black Wolf. So I have that one on the go as well.

Ian McLean:

I give you full credit. Two books at one time. It takes me a full year and one vacation of a week to get through two books.

Karen Gallant:

So I didn't say I was far into either of them, but uh they're they're cracked open.

Ian McLean:

Uh what's your favorite local business or your go-to here in Waterloo Region?

Karen Gallant:

Oh, that's a tough one. There's so many great businesses. You can really put me on the spot there. Um, I would have to say right now, I'm loving Vincenzos. Yeah. And it's like a consistent place that uh my husband and I go. And um, yeah, I'd say Vincenzo's.

Ian McLean:

It is a it is a great spot in Uptown Waterloo. Um so just as we wrap up, for for any of the someone that's watching or listening to the podcast, what's the best way for them to connect with you and learn more about JA and to get involved? How do they get in touch with you?

Karen Gallant:

Probably the best way is through our website, Jaswo.org. And then you can go to the staff page and I'm there and my email's right there.

Ian McLean:

Listen, uh thanks so much for spending time with us. And and uh we're glad to to as we go into to uh Global Entrepreneurship Week to have you on and uh continue the great work that you're doing. And you know, it's great to have community leaders that make a difference in our community and appreciate you. Uh, as I always say to people that come on, time is probably our most valuable commodity, so thank you for spending some with some time with us.

Karen Gallant:

Well, thanks. It's been great. Really appreciate it.

Ian McLean:

Thank you for joining us for another episode of Behind the Business, proudly presented by Gore Mutual, insurance that does good. New episodes drop every Thursday, so be sure to tune in next week. You can also visit greater kwchamber.com to catch up on past episodes anytime. We'll see you next time as we continue to go behind the business.

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Ian McLean

Host
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Karen Gallant

Guest