This paper was written by Ilona Dougherty the Co-creator and Managing Director of the Youth & Innovation Project at the University of Waterloo.

Ilona is an Ashoka Fellow and a regular commentator in the Canadian media who supports business, civil society and government understand how to tap into the unique abilities of young people. Her diverse experiences include having been an official Canadian delegate to a United Nations conference at 17 years old, working with young people in communities above the Arctic Circle and at the age of 23 co-founding Apathy is Boring, a Canadian non-partisan social enterprise that educates youth about democracy and encourages them to vote.

She has extensive leadership and governance experience, having co-founded several organizations as well as having been appointed to numerous boards of directors and advisory councils. She was raised by socially engaged parents in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan and Whitehorse, Yukon and currently live in Waterloo, Ontario.