When bold ideas are backed by bold action, possibility becomes impact.
A philanthropic gift. A research partnership. An investment in students, spaces or ideas with the potential to make a difference.
The impact of philanthropy is revealed in what comes next: students finding their path, communities growing stronger and discoveries reaching beyond campus to improve lives around the world.
On National Philanthropy Day, we thank the donors and partners whose generosity and collaboration help move bold ideas forward. The stories below highlight just a few of the people, programs and discoveries that continue to benefit from support that began years ago and are still creating opportunities today.
When Aaron Thompson was deciding whether university was the right path for him, he was looking for a place where he could succeed. Through the Qualico Bridge to Success Program, he found academic support, mentorship and a community that helped him navigate the transition to university.
“It’s not one moment where you get to connect with the community,” Thompson says. “The entire time you’re there, you’re building community, you’re finding people that you trust, can confide in and can work together toward a common goal.”
Qualico invested $1 million to establish the program, supporting pre-orientation activities, academic support, advising, peer mentoring and opportunities for students to connect with one another. Since 2016, the program has supported more than 550 First Nations, Inuit and Métis students as they begin their studies at UM.
For years, music students were developing their craft without a performance venue that matched the scale of their training or ambition. Donor support helped change that. The late Marcel Desautels [BA (LatPh)/55, LLB/59, LLM/65, LLD (Hon)/99] made a $20 million gift to the Faculty of Music in 2008, with $10 million designated specifically for a new concert hall. Gail Asper [BA/81, LLB/84, LLD/2008] and Michael Nesbitt [BA/57, BComm/56, LLD/15] later each gave $2.5 million to help make the project possible, giving students a professional-calibre venue in which to learn and perform.
When music student Ivan Chernenko first stepped onto the stage of the new Desautels Concert Hall, he described the experience as "a bit magical." The hall provides more than a place to play music. It offers the opportunity to perform for larger audiences, work in a professional environment and gain the confidence that comes from preparing for a career in the arts.
"Performing in the concert hall gave me the chance to experience what it’s like to play big shows for a big audience in a big venue," Chernenko says. "You have to act like a professional. You have to play like a professional."
The impact of support extends far beyond Manitoba's borders. Since 2014, support from the Gates Foundation has enabled UM researchers and their partners to work alongside health leaders in Uttar Pradesh, India, strengthening maternal and newborn health systems serving more than 220 million people.
"If you walk into any labour room in Uttar Pradesh, you need to know that the required drugs and equipment are available to provide emergency obstetric care to mothers as needed," says Dr. Marissa Becker [MD/99], executive director of UM’s Institute for Global Public Health and a professor in the College of Community and Global Health.
The work focuses on improving the systems behind care, from staffing and health data to essential supplies and equipment. Today, the partnership is helping prevent an estimated 39,000 neonatal deaths each year. For Dr. Becker, the success of the project comes down to collaboration and trust, built by listening to communities and supporting locally identified goals.
In high school, Ria Sagert knew she wanted to work on environmental issues. What she had to figure out was how. At UM, she found civil engineering, where her interest in the environment could move into design and real-world problem solving.
A transformational gift from Gerry Price [BSc(ME)/70, MSc/72, PhD/76 (Lehigh), LLD(Hon)/17] and his wife Barb is creating opportunities for students like Sagert to learn, grow and prepare for meaningful careers. Their $20-million investment increased the capacity of UM's engineering programs and has already created space for more than 450 additional students.
“I think it’s really important to retain Manitoba talent,” Sagert says. “There are a lot of young people here who are capable and interested in engineering. It’s important they have the opportunity to pursue engineering but also discover what they want within engineering.”
By preparing more skilled, career-ready engineers, that impact reaches far beyond individual students, strengthening Manitoba for generations to come.
Before coming to law school, Jessica Canard was a full-time visual artist. Anishinaabe from Sagkeeng First Nation, she spent years creating murals, facilitating workshops and using art to strengthen communities. When she decided to pursue law, she wanted to bring those experiences with her and help create greater representation within the profession.
Through the L. Kerry Vickar Business Law Clinic, that goal began to take shape. Supported by Kerry Vickar's [LLB/80, LLD/25] longtime investment in business law education, the clinic gives students the opportunity to provide free legal services to entrepreneurs, artists, nonprofits and community organizations across Manitoba while gaining hands-on experience themselves.
"I wanted some actual experience instead of just learning theory and doing exams," Canard says.
Through her work with clients, she discovered something equally important: confidence in her own abilities.
"You're actually helping people. They come to you because they can't afford legal services. I can now see myself practising law and that I'm actually capable of doing it."
Since opening to clients in 2021, clinic students have contributed more than 23,000 hours of pro bono legal service, helping Manitobans access support while preparing the next generation of lawyers to enter the profession ready to serve their communities.
Some gifts shape the everyday experiences of thousands of students. A decade after a $10 million commitment from the Richardson Foundation, the impact can be seen in more than 100 renewed classrooms, laboratories and learning spaces across UM.
The investment responded to a university-wide need: ensuring the spaces where students learn could keep pace with the education and training happening inside them.
Alum Simisola Ajayi [BSc/20, MSc/23] remembers the Buller lab before and after its renovation. When she was a biochemistry student at UM, the old lab did the job. But the renovated space brought more equipment, better lighting and updated safety features.
"The renovations weren’t just cosmetic. It definitely made the lab a better learning environment,” she says.
The changes motivated her to do well and showed her what investment in students could make possible.
Together, these stories demonstrate something powerful: philanthropy is not measured only at the moment a gift is made. Its impact unfolds over years and sometimes decades, through students who discover their potential, researchers who tackle global challenges, and communities that are strengthened in ways both large and small.
What does a future fuelled by generosity look like? It’s in the faces of new graduates with big ideas, in bold research solutions for Manitoba and the world, and in community initiatives coming to life in collaborative ways. Here, a legacy of philanthropy is shaping the leaders, innovators and change-makers of tomorrow. Learn how you can get involved.
A celebration of oral health accomplishments took place at the annual Alumni of Distinction Awards Evening.
See what your former classmates are up to, tell us about your post-grad accomplishments, and share your favourite UM memories.
Dr. Gerald Niznick and his Class of 1966 classmates had a sneak peek of the inside of the new Dr. Gerald and Reesa Niznick Centre.
With support from Kerry and Simone Vickar, UM law students gain practical experience while serving Manitobans
