By Kate Bowers and Erika Westman

EWB is Canada’s largest member-driven development organization. The measure of what we can do with high caliber leaders like Lindsay Mitchell and Emily Zhang among our 40,000 members and 33 chapters is unparalleled.

When we asked what EWB meant to them, Lindsay and Emily both highlighted a desire to contribute to the world around them. Lindsay shared with us what makes her value EWB, “I’m most proud of the people. EWB attracts incredibly talented, passionate, self-critical, hard-working, and thoughtful leaders. They are the foundation for all that EWB does and, collectively, we are able to achieve more than what we can do as individuals.”

Lindsay, who now works for EWB’s national office as the Director of Professional Engagement, also spoke about her growth as a leader through her involvement with EWB. “My experience has given me an ability to see the bigger picture, to understand how to think about things and approach a problem, such that I can deal with the risks and minimize negative outcomes. It’s also made me more aware of how the world operates and how each individual is having an impact—whether positive or negative—every day, in every choice they make. I feel responsible for understanding how my life, my career, and my choices are leaving more positive than negative marks.”

Emily spoke to us about standing up in front of 500 of Canada’s most influential leaders to accept the honour from the Women’s Executive Network: “I conquered my fear of public speaking. I had to dig deep and draw on what I know. I spoke from the heart and believed that my authenticity and my knowledge was enough to impart the message I wanted to send. Namely that, instead of feeling overwhelmed by the staggering statistics around poverty and the huge change we want to create in the world, we should focus on the small steps each of us can take to make progress. I wanted to bring people’s attention back to the fact that we have the power to take simple and thoughtful actions that can amount to amazing positive impacts.”

To know that our members are recognized among some of the foremost leaders of the country is quite a distinction. And to know that each of EWB’s 33 chapters has upwards of 15 leaders like Lindsay and Emily signals the massive change that EWB is bringing to Canada and the world.