Dean Rassier co-Chairs McGill 2016 Centraide Campaign

Professor Dilson Rassier, Dean of Education, has been elected to Co-Chair McGill University's Centraide (United Way) campaign. He will be joined by co-Chair Ollivier Dyens, Deputy Provost. 

Centraide supports over 360 Montreal-area organizations and projects that assist people with healthcare, childcare, youth mentoring, senior programs and much more. Some of these organizations are already linked to McGill, such as Santropol Roulant, Head & Hands, and Project Genesis. These agencies and organizations, however, do not have the resources for large fundraising campaigns and rely on the Centraide campaign each year for additional funding. Centraide spends less than 15% on central administration, meaning 85 cents of every dollar raised goes directly back to the community.

"Reinforcing McGill's commitment to those in our community who experience poverty and social exclusion is clearly aligned with the values of the Faculty of Education," said Professor Rassier. "For these reasons I am proud to represent McGill as co-Chair of the campaign."

Our society may be rich, but the gap between the haves and the have-nots is widening. Very poor neighbourhoods exist right beside very rich neighbourhoods, and pockets of poverty are appearing in affluent districts. Poverty is evolving, and its new faces are those of youth and families. Poverty affects every aspect of social life by contributing to family breakup, increased violence, health deterioration, child development problems, parental distress, substance abuse, etc.

The 2016 campaign was launched with the March of 1,000 Umbrellas on Thursday, September 29, 2016. The festivities included the parade, a performance by hip hop artist Koriass, food trucks, and the launch of the Generation C philanthropic initiative.