McKenna Leadership Project Grants

Have you been thinking about a way to address a pressing problem but have not found the time or resources to develop it? Would you like to start an organization or effort that addresses an issue like food waste or rural poverty, do you have an idea for a project in the area of conservation and environment, or are you interested in bringing a chapter of an established organization or group to campus that works to address a social or environmental problem?

Leadership can be understood as the commitment to taking action when inertia or lack of conviction stops others from confronting a problem. If you have an idea for how to improve our community, if you have developed the bases of a project that is aimed at creating positive change, then the McKenna Centre for Leadership would like to help you develop and realize your ideas.

We know that all students at StFX have the capacity to affect positive change, and we would like to help you do so. To this end, we award each year McKenna Leadership Project Grants. Each grant supports a full-year project (for the fall and winter semester) with the amount of $4,500.

To apply, send us project proposal of circa 1,000 words in which you describe your project, the steps and activities that it will involve, and its intended outcomes. The proposal should include a detailed budget outlining how you will use the funds that the grant provides, and it will ideally include a timeline of proposed actions and steps to let us know what you are planning on doing over the course of the year. In your proposal, tell us how you plan on addressing an existing problem and how you aim to improve StFX or our wider community or how you intend to approach, for example, a larger social problem, environmental cause, and so on. Along with your proposal, send us a current resumé and two letters of recommendation from professors, employers, etc. who are able to speak to the quality of your idea and who are able to assess your ability to carry out the project you are proposing. Recommenders should have read your proposal and should comment on its feasibility in their letters. Submit your application by July 1 to lead@stfx.ca. Results will be announced close to August 1.

Below, you will see a growing archive of student leadership projects that we have proudly supported. Not only will you find here some wonderful work by students that have come up with ways to make a positive contribution to the Xaverian community and to society, but you can also find some inspiration here that may spark your own idea for a project. If so, be sure to let us know how we can help you transform it from idea to reality!