Education/training
Building a better futureWhen you look at Neil Hetherington’s, it’s no surprise that he won a Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 award this year. SHARON ASCHAIEK |
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 [ 2006-11-01 ] |
Left to Right: Councillor Pam McConnell, Mag Ruffman, the Rocha/Orlotti family, Toronto Mayor David Miller, and Neil Hetherington, Habitat for Humanity CEO break ground on 10 afffordable homes, sponsored by the Rotary Clubs of Toronto, located at Rotary Drive, 38 St. Lawrence
The award is granted to those under 40 who’ve demonstrated significant leadership, vision, innovation and a commitment to community involvement. The 33-year-old CEO of the Toronto chapter of Habitat for Humanity, an international non-profit that builds affordable housing for those in need, has shown all of these qualities and more.
In the seven years he’s been leading the non-profit, he’s transformed it into a powerhouse organization that’s gone from building one to two houses per year to more than 50 this year. Last year, the chapter logged 20,000 volunteer shifts and worked with 160 small to large corporate volunteer teams — a North American record.
He typically works 70 to 80 hours a week, but the way he sees it, he doesn’t have a job. “I don’t have a job at all. I would do this without being paid,” Hetherington says. “If you enjoy eating chocolate and you had to do that all week, you’d be alright with that. I have the coolest job in the world.”
It took a bit of time for Hetherington to find what he considers his calling in life. In 1995, while finishing a political science degree at the University of Western Ontario, he saw a commercial for the charity. He was so inspired that the day after he graduated, he boarded a plane and travelled to Hungary, Poland and Uganda to participate in homebuilding projects with the organization.
He returned home with what he calls “habitatitus,” and enrolled in Seneca College’s one-year post-graduate Building Construction certificate, which taught him the fundamentals of overseeing building projects and conducting home inspections.
The combination of practical information, hands-on, encouraging teachers and a small, supportive classroom environment made the experience useful and enjoyable.
“Everything was geared toward real world practical application. I learned a lot about the construction industry and about how buildings get put together.”
During his program, Hetherington completed a field placement at leading GTA condo and home developer Tridel Corporation, and upon graduating, was hired by the company as a project manager. During his four years at the company, he continued to volunteer at Habitat for Humanity in fundraising and by working at local construction sites.
His feeling of habitatitus was growing, however, and so was his awareness of the third-world living conditions of some Toronto families. Just shy of 26 years old, and with no experience in leading a charity, he applied to lead the chapter.
“When they called me and told me I’d got it, I thought they’d made a mistake. But they knew I was passionate and committed to its mission. It was the best decision I’d ever made.”
Seven years later, the incredible momentum the chapter (www.torontohabitat. on.ca) is enjoying and the growing number of families it is helping is due in large part to Hetherington’s enthusiasm and can-do attitude. With the help of his 29 staff, he’s forged several strategic partnerships with business leaders and politicians, and greatly raised the chapter’s public profile via popular fundraisers events, to achieve its key objectives of securing funding, building materials, land and volunteers.
Working with partner families to help them achieve home ownership — they invest 500 hours of their time into building their house and pay for it via a low-cost, long-term, no-interest mortgage — is by far the most rewarding part of his job.
“When I’m standing with them at the doorstep of their newly built home, it’s very emotional — you’re seeing a pivotal moment in these people’s lives,” he says. “We’re able to pinpoint the exact time that a family has broken the cycle of poverty.”
Hetherington has big plans for the chapter — he’s working towards increasing the amount of homes it builds per year to 100 by 2010, and is focusing on generating further volunteer involvement from the business community to help make that happen.
He says that the knowledge and skills he learned at Seneca College have been critical to his current success.
“If it weren’t for Seneca, I wouldn’t be where I am today. In one jam-packed year with an incredible, caring professor, I learned a lot about the industry. It really opened my eyes and pointed to the path that eventually took me to Habitat.”
Would you ever work for a social or charitable enterprise in the third sector?