Desiree McGraw

It has now been 31 years since I attended Concordia’s School of Community and Public Affairs pursuing my bachelor’s in economics. I sit here writing this in Quebec’s National Assembly as the Member representing Notre-Dame-de-Grâce and, as I look back, I realize what a deep impact the SCPA has had not only on my career, but on the values I hold dearest.

When I co-founded Climate Reality Canada, Al Gore’s Climate Leadership Corps in Canada, I ensured that our leadership training emphasized the triple bottom line of sustainable development: social, economic and environmental justice, a model I learned at the SCPA.

Beyond my work in public affairs, notably as a senior policy advisor to the Prime Minister of Canada & Director of Policy for the federal Minister of International, it was the values of diversity, inclusion and setting up our youth for success that me led to take on the role President and Executive of the Jeanne Sauvé Foundation, where I sought to connect, convene, empower and engage a new generation of public leaders in Canada and around the world to address global challenges. This applies equally when I moved to British Columbia to serve as the President and Head of Pearson College, Canada’s most deliberately diverse post-secondary institution.

But where I’d like to place the most emphasis is on my decision to run for public office in 2022. While it’s true that I’ve had opportunities to run before, this most recent Quebec election was when I ran in the riding of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, the place I call home. The SCPA taught me that one of the biggest differences that a person can make is in the community in which they live, and I’ve tried to live by those lessons in fighting for more social and affordable housing, better access to public health and education, expanding green space and bringing us closer together as a community. I’ll always be grateful for my time at the SCPA – my professors, advisors and fellow students, all played a major role in steering me down this path of public service.