Jay Valiquette is a veteran educator, strategist, and community builder with over 30 years of experience dedicated to the development of children and young adults. He is the founder of the Valiquette Foundation, an organisation he built from the ground up into one of Montréal’s most impactful youth initiatives.

For over a decade, Jay has built and scaled a comprehensive ecosystem of programmes integrating academics, life skills, emotional intelligence, leadership development, and financial literacy. His work spans academic initiatives, camps, youth success programming, employment pathways, and large-scale community outreach – collectively supporting thousands of children and families.

Through the Foundation, Jay has supported over 1,500 students academically and contributed to the development of more than 9,000 campers. The organisation has also engaged over 300 volunteers and raised more than $250,000 in support of youth-focused programming.

Earlier in his career, Jay worked extensively with both private and public schools, coaching and mentoring youth across diverse educational and community environments – experience that continues to inform the Foundation’s practical, disciplined, and results-driven approach.

He received the “Decade of Extraordinary Community Service and Educational Leadership” award from the Montreal Community Cares Foundation.

Jay’s work is defined by a highly personalised and outcomes-driven methodology focused on building confidence, discipline, and long-term success trajectories for youth who often lack access to such opportunities. His strength lies not only in his ability to teach, but in his capacity to build systems, mobilise people, and create environments in which young individuals can consistently perform and thrive.

His leadership combines vision, execution, and resilience, positioning the Foundation as a serious and enduring force in shaping the next generation of youth.

Her children are the greatest achievement of her life. Originally from New York, Sheri began her professional life in advertising, working on product launches and media negotiations in a dynamic industry with millions of dollars in revenue. Her decision to leave Madison Avenue was not a difficult one since the greatest and most demanding opportunity of her life awaited her: raising children.

She began her career in the nonprofit field as co-founder of the Trevor Williams Kids Foundation. She then co-founded a non-profit 21st century sustainability learning space called Genvironment. Sheri also serves on the advisory board of Clickto, an education technology startup born out of the need to solve problems related to remote learning. Creating social value, placing young people — our future agents of change — at the center of conversations on social issues and giving scope to everything she does are close to her heart.