Mission "CMSF is committed to the greatest of Canada’s natural resources: our youth. We work to identify and support talented students who show promise of leadership and a strong commitment to service in the community. We fund these citizens to study on Canadian campuses, to the benefit of their future, and ours."

 How CMSF will use proceeds from Equity Through Education
 About CMSF
 Who Does CMSF Support?
 Awards
 Results
 About Program Recipients – 2010 BMO Capital Markets Loran scholars
 About Program Recipients – 2009 BMO Capital Markets Loran Scholars
 About Program Recipients – 2008 BMO Capital Markets Loran Scholars
 About Program Recipients – 2007 BMO Capital Markets Loran Scholars
 About Program Recipients – 2006 BMO Capital Markets Loran Scholars
 About Program Recipients – 2005 BMO Capital Markets Loran Scholars

How CMSF will use proceeds from Equity Through Education

The proceeds from Equity Through Education™ are used to fund Loran Awards – four years of undergraduate studies and a comprehensive enrichment program – for women. See below for profiles of the BMO Capital Markets Loran Scholars.

About CMSF

Founded in 1988, CMSF is an independent and privately funded organization that grants the largest undergraduate awards to the country’s most promising young leaders.

• 30 Loran Scholars are selected out of approximately 4,000 applications nationwide.
• The selection process is the most intense and personalized scholarship evaluation in Canada with approximately 300 volunteer assessors and interviewers.
• 23 partner universities in Canada waive tuition costs for Loran Scholars.
• CMSF’s greatest contribution to the scholars is the commitment to go beyond the cheque to ensure that identified potential is fully realized. A unique summer program, mentorship program and finally an alumni organization challenge and stimulate every scholar in a way that goes “one-step-beyond” the ordinary.

Who Does CMSF Support?

Our young scholars are individuals who combine strong leadership potential, entrepreneurial energy and a commitment to service in the community.

Loran Awards

Each year, CMSF awards:

• 30 Loran Awards worth up to $75,000 each for four years of undergraduate university studies in Canada (totaling $2.25 million)
• 42 Loran Finalist Awards worth $3,000 each (totaling $132,000)
• 40 Loran Provincial Awards worth $2,000 each (totaling $80,000)

Loran Scholar Results

• 93% of Loran scholars successfully complete their undergraduate studies while meeting our high standards for academic performance and continued service to the community.
• 80 % of Loran alumni are contributing to the medical, business, political, legal, scientific cultural and public service sectors in Canada. The remaining alumni are active in Europe, the US, Japan and South America.
• Eleven Loran scholars have become Rhodes Scholars

About Program Recipients – 2010 BMO Capital Markets Loran scholars

Jennifer Koide (Victoria, BC)

Jennifer was the co-leader of a Cops for Cancer fundraiser to support cancer research and a free summer camp for pediatric cancer patients on Vancouver Island. A volleyball and soccer player, she also takes art classes outside of school. Jennifer serves as treasurer of the student council and also worked on a Day of Silence at her school to promote tolerance of sexual diversity. Jennifer will begin her studies in commerce at UBC in Fall 2010.

Lindsey Li (Saskatoon, SK)

Through her work with a local environmental organization advocating public transit use, Lindsey has campaigned for the introduction of a universal discounted bus pass for high school students in Saskatoon. She is also working on a project to support homeless people and has volunteered and fundraised for a children’s helpline. As the head of a gay-straight alliance group, Lindsey also promotes human rights at her school. Lindsey will begin her studies in globalization & international development at University of Ottawa.

Sarah Lone (Montréal, QC)

Sarah is an avid cross-country skier who has twice completed the Canadian Ski Marathon, skiing 160km in two days. She travelled to Malawi for a study trip, where she volunteered at a school for the blind. Sarah also organized a fundraising bike-a-thon to supply bicycles and bicycle-ambulances to HIV/AIDS support groups in rural Malawian communities. Sarah will be studying geography at UBC.

Talitha Calder (Altona, MB)

Talitha is a first-year political science student at McGill University. She is a representative on her residence council, helped to organize an international case competition and sang in the McGill Choral Society. This summer, she is interning at the Landon Pearson Resource Centre. Her mentor is entrepreneur and corporate director Carolina Gallo Richer La Flèche.

Juliette Dupré (St. Brendan’s, NL)

A long-time member of the Royal Canadian Sea Cadets, last year Juliette rose to the position of gunnery divisional petty officer, which required her to train and look after 25 cadets. A first-year student in the arts & science program at McGill, she was an intern at the Montreal Life Stories Project and a volunteer for Universities Allied for Essential Medicines and Midnight Kitchen. This summer she is teaching English at a school in Salasaca, Ecuador. Her mentor is Peter Leuprecht, former dean of law at McGill.

Ellie Jin (North York, ON)

Ellie provided positive support for at-risk youth as a mentor with the Youth Assisting Youth program and by volunteering at the Eva’s Phoenix shelter. She was also an organizer for the Delisle Youth Gallery art exhibition and curator of the school arts council. A first-year psychology student at McGill, she is volunteering this summer at Kwacha Afrika, an NGO based in Mombasa, Kenya, that is focused on reducing the prevalence of HIV/AIDS. Her mentor is Marina Boulos, CEO of The Foundation of Greater Montreal.

Pinky Langat (Guelph, ON)

As co-chair of the Guelph Youth Council, Pinky was instrumental in establishing a Youth Centre in her community. As part of the Shad Valley program, she did an internship with Research in Motion and developed a resource website for former co-op students. She has also taken part in fundraising and campaigning for global issues as part of her school’s global outreach club. She intends to study neuroscience at McGill University.

Kaitlyn O’Shaughnessey (Belleville, ON)

Kaitlyn has been president of her school’s student council and chair of the global awareness committee. Her initiatives include playing a key role in Brick by Brick, a successful fundraising project to finance the construction of a school in China. She has participated in her church’s Stations of the Cross production as both an actor and a director. She intends to study development or peace and conflict studies at McGill University.

Katherine Pelletier (Montréal, QC)

Katherine is president of her college’s Project Third-World Solidarity team, for which she helped raise $4,600 to pay for the education of 300 people in Rwanda. She is also in charge of her Project AIDS committee, helping to support AIDS patients and educating others about the disease. Katherine is a youth representative on her local political party’s committee. She intends to study law at Université de Montréal.

Sara Hassani (Ottawa, ON)

A graduate of Brookfield High School in Ottawa, Sara’s passion is human rights in Iran. She co-founded YAFI (Youth Against Fundamentalism in Iran), an organization that works to raise awareness of the situation of young people in Iran. Sara is majoring in political science and pursuing a minor in Arabic language and culture.

After her first year of undergraduate studies, Sara appreciates the opportunities the Loran Award has created for her. “It has allowed me the freedom to continue my involvement in raising awareness about important issues at a grassroots level,” she says. “Receiving this scholarship has opened doors that I never thought possible. I’ve always strived for success in everything I do, but since becoming a Loran Scholar I find myself redefining my standards and aiming higher every time.” With that kind of attitude, cultural and linguistic barriers should be no obstacle to achieving her goals.

During the summer of 2008, Sara interned with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. She assisted staff of the International Centre for Municipal Development on a number of research and communications assignments.

Kira Page (Victoria, BC)

A native of B.C., Kira Page travelled far from home for her first year of university, having chosen to study in Montreal at McGill University. She has certainly wasted no time getting involved in her new community. On campus, she’s been active in student government and taken the initiative in trying to make the university more sustainable. Outside of school, she’s been developing a community theatre project to help women and girls across Canada, and organizing community poetry projects and Live AID benefits. “I have grown a lot through these projects,” says Kira, “and through the people that I’ve gotten to work with.”

Her interest in sustainable energy led her to take on an internship with the BC Sustainable Energy Association during the summer of 2008. This position has given Kira a chance to gain valuable first-hand experience of public policy in action. “The skills I learn now will allow me to have a much larger impact in the future,” she comments. “As well, I hope that my work with them will be able to make a significant impact on sustainable development in British Columbia.”

Anaïs Lacroix (Montréal, QC)

Anaïs is a first-year law student at McGill University. One of her passions is synchronized swimming. She is involved in this sport in several ways. Over and above the responsibilities of being head coach of a team, she’s in charge of discipline for her district, takes part in competitions, and promotes the sport to youth. The efforts of Anaïs and her team were recently rewarded at the Montreal Games: they received a pennant recognizing them for having the best overall performance in the city.

Anaïs spent three months in China during the summer of 2008. She devoted part of her time to volunteering with Cross-Cultural Solutions at an orphanage in Xian; the remainder of her trip was dedicated to an internship with Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada’s Hong Kong office.

“Thanks to the support of the Loran Award,” notes Anaïs, “I was able to take part in an internship which was not paid but which . . . was extremely relevant from the standpoint of my career . . . Being a Loran scholar represents a distinction in itself, and there’s no question that it opens doors.”

Zoë Barrett-Wood (Flesherton, ON)

Growing up in Flesherton, Ontario, a village of 700 people located just 50 kilometres southwest of Georgian Bay, Zoë has long been excited about developing her community. A budding entrepreneur and environmentalist, she is currently enrolled at the University of Guelph.

“The funds that BMO Capital Markets contributes to CMSF through its Equity Through Education campaign have had an enormous impact on my life. My scholarship funding has enabled me to dedicate myself to academics...The funds that the Loran Award allocates for summer projects have allowed me to pursue my passions of environmental problem-solving, outdoor education, writing, and languages. The connections I have made through CMSF, which I hope to strengthen and expand in the coming years, have already proven to be immensely valuable.”

Recently, Zoë was on an academic exchange in India. Classes on issues that India faces related to economics, religion, the environment, and the status of women were supplemented by field trips to NGOs, temples, and more. She then used her summer funding from CMSF to live and work in remote villages, volunteer on an organic farm, and take two weeks of intensive Hindi language training.

Zoë is the university relations coordinator for an event called The Guelph Lecture: On Being Canadian where she spoke at the event and worked with speakers Brian Stewart and Louise Frechette. Zoë also runs her own business, making and selling clothing, and plays intramural soccer.

Kathryn Lennon (Edmonton, AB)

Kathryn is in her second year at the University of Waterloo in Honours Environment and Resource Studies. In 2005, Kathryn attended United World College of India – an international boarding school designed to promote the values of cultural exchange, social responsibility and community development. Kathryn also spent three months two summers ago volunteering in Paraguay as an English teaching assistant.

During the summer of 2008, she is finding ways to combine her passion for social justice with her studies. The connections between the two were thrown into sharp relief this summer, when she did an internship with Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK)’s Health and Environment Department. With a remit to research the impact carbon taxation could have on Inuit peoples, Kathryn immersed herself in the culture, wrote policy briefs, letters, fact sheets, and articles, and visited the communities of Nain and Iqaluit. “It was challenging,” she notes, “to be thrown into the middle of a very busy world that I had no prior knowledge of, but this made my time with ITK all the more fascinating.”

“Had it not been for my BMO Capital Markets Loran Award,” she says, “the thought of working with an Inuit advocacy NGO would not have crossed my mind . . . Nor would I have considered myself capable of the projects I have taken on this summer. So, I can say that the value of the Loran Award is that it removes many of the limitations, both real and perceived, that may discourage me from pursuing my ambitions. My sincerest thanks to BMO Capital Markets for their Equity through Education initiative. It is a truly positive project.”

Éloïse Ouellet-Décoste (Outremont, QC)

Since enrolling in the McGill political science program in the fall of 2006, Éloïse has joined the McGill triathlon club and also plays intramural soccer. She is involved in the Sustainable McGill project and the social justice theatre troupe. She has lived in Brazil as part of an intercultural exchange program. Throughout her year there, Éloïse discovered Brazilian culture, learned Portuguese and met people from around the world.

Éloïse interned this summer with the Institut du Nouveau Monde, where she helped to prepare one of Canada’s biggest youth events, École d’Été. This five-day summit—the biggest of its kind in Canada—will bring together a thousand people in Quebec.

The BMO Capital Markets award has allowed Éloise to explore numerous things since arriving at McGill, “Without my award, I would not be able to do all this”, says Éloise. “This is why BMO Capital Market’s support of CMSF is so important, because it allows Canadian students the opportunity to learn inside and outside the classroom, to reach their full potential and to continue to be young leaders within their community. Thank you for supporting my education and believing in my potential.”

Jamie Thomas-Pavanel (Pickering, ON)

In her second year at McGill University, Jamie studies arts and science. She is a member of the Black Students’ Network, which runs events for the McGill and wider Montréal Black community. She is also a member of the Caribbean Student Society and the Urban Groove dance team. She tutors students from grade 7 to grade 11 in math through Head & Heads. Jamie travelled this summer to Accra, Ghana, to intern with an NGO called WISE (Women’s Initiative for Self-Empowerment).

“Being a CMSF scholar has shown me that the safe way is not always the best way. Sometimes I have to take chances in order to discover who I am, and what I would like to become. The scholarship provides a family that is supportive and encouraging. It also makes scholars reach outside of the box (in our case our little university box) to see what else is out there in the community. It builds one's character and drive to succeed, not only individually but to succeed in helping others as well.”

Jessica Moe (Edmonton, AB)

Jessica is a graduate of McGill University, where she studied biomedical sciences and international development. She reads bedtime stories at the Montreal Children's Hospital and works with Santropol Roulant to deliver meals to individuals who suffer from a loss of autonomy. She is also an executive member of the McGill chapter of the World University Service of Canada, which provides a support network to refugee students studying on campus. Jessica coordinated a Bike for AIDS campaign last year to raise funds and awareness for bike ambulances in Malawi.

“Being a CMSF scholar has opened many opportunities for me in terms of my personal development and my ability to explore my own passions and potential. For instance, aided by CMSF summer funding, I was able to travel to Burkina Faso last summer, where I worked with a local NGO combating HIV/AIDS in a small community. And CMSF goes beyond financial support: one of the greatest benefits of being a CMSF scholar is becoming part of an amazing network of passionate individuals. Every day I feel humbled by my co-scholars, who are a constant source of support and inspiration to me.”

Jessica recently graduated from the international law and human rights programme of the University of Peace, a United Nations-sponsored university in Costa Rica.

Alexandra Rouillard (Rouyn-Noranda, QC)

A recent graduate of Université de Montréal, Alexandra studied biology, with a concentration in ecology, biodiversity and evolution. She was a coordinator of the student café, Café Bio, and a member of university’s UniVertCité committee. Along with other members of the committee, she helped organize Environment Week. She is also working to establish a organic food co-operative on campus that will be supported by community agriculture and organic food baskets.

“Being a CMSF scholar has allowed me to pursue university education on my own terms. It has also allowed me to show others in my region the importance of engaging in one’s community.”

Alexandra’s first summer internship brought her to the Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue, where she conducted research on forest ecology, thereby “confirming my passion” for the field, she says. A second internship proved even more rewarding, as she travelled north to study Arctic limnology—the study of inland waters—with the Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique. During the past year, Alexandra has been exploring Nordic life of a different kind: the student pubs and festivals of her university in Umeå, a Swedish city 400 kilometres south of the Arctic Circle, where she’s been doing an exchange. Her experience in a foreign country has been enlightening, she says: “This exchange year has really allowed me to broaden my horizons, not only in my field, but also in terms of the big debates concerning the society of today and tomorrow.”

Having discovered a growing enthusiasm for Nordic ecosystems during the pursuit of her undergrad degree, Alexandra will next year begin a master’s degree in paleolimnology, focusing on climate change in the remote Arctic.