About OnTalent
Our mission, leadership, and commitment to youth innovation across Ontario.
Our foundation
What drives us
Mission
To advance STEM, robotics, and leadership education for Canadian youth — turning curiosity into capability through hands-on projects, mentorship, and curriculum-connected learning, and opening real pathways into the fields that shape our future.
Vision
A Canada where every young person — whatever their background — can access meaningful STEM education, find the mentorship to grow real skills, and build the confidence to lead in the fields and ideas that shape our future.
Values
- Rigour through doing — students build, test, and present real work
- Equity of access — removing financial, geographic, and social barriers
- Mentorship culture — every learner is guided by peers, university mentors, and professionals
- Community-rooted — embedded in Ontario's university and innovation ecosystem
- Transparent impact — accountable to student outcomes, not just participation counts
- Volunteer-powered — led by people who give their time, so support reaches students, not overhead
Our approach
The 3CPLs learning framework
OnTalent programs are built on three integrated learning models — spanning career, community, and curriculum — that connect students to real work, real mentors, and real understanding.
Peer & Mentor Learning
University students, industry professionals, and near-peer mentors guide every learner — and students who progress become mentors themselves, sustaining a culture of knowledge and leadership.
Problem-Based Learning
Students tackle open-ended STEM challenges mapped to curriculum outcomes — building real depth of understanding through genuine problems, not just exercises.
Project-Based Learning
Every pathway culminates in student-led projects — robotics competitions, coding contests, science showcases — connecting learning directly to post-secondary study and professional pathways.
Our team
The people behind OnTalent
OnTalent is volunteer-led and runs on a lean model, so support is directed primarily toward student programs, materials, equipment, and studio operations. Our programs are guided by a volunteer executive lead, a Board of Directors, and a growing community of mentors — university students, professionals, and educators — who work directly with students.
Governance
Board of Directors
OnTalent is governed by dedicated leaders from education, industry, and community.
Jenn Dawe
Board member
Dibyendu Jana
Board member
Melanie Lytle
Board member
Michael Morrow
Board member
Jeff Shen
Board member
Derek Tangredi
Board member
Viola Xiao
Board member
Legal & registration
Transparency you can verify
Registration
Legal name: Ontario Centre for Talent Development
Operating as: OnTalent
Status: Registered nonprofit organization, Canada
OnTalent is a nonprofit, not a registered charity, so we're unable to issue charitable tax receipts for donations.
Location
OnTalent Lab | Western STEM Studio
Western University Discovery Park
999 Collip Circle
London, ON N6G 0J3, Canada
Contact
Email: info@ontalent.org
LinkedIn: ontalent-stemm
Financial transparency
Where your support goes
Because we're volunteer-led, your support isn't spent on salaries — it goes almost entirely to students, materials, and the studio. Here's how every dollar is put to work.
Instruction, kits, mentorship, student activities
Space, technology, tools
Filing, insurance, communications
Approximate allocation model — illustrative, based on current program planning.
Get in touch
Contact us
Questions about programs, partnerships, or volunteering? We'd love to hear from you.
- Program and registration questions
- Partnership and sponsorship inquiries
- Volunteer and mentor interest
- Media and press
Or email us directly at info@ontalent.org
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