“Interning at Illuminate helped me row both as an individual and professional by giving me a platform to test my leadership skills, and most importantly by providing me with an invaluable network of connections at my disposal. Believe it or not, but the most important lesson I took from my experience at Illuminate was about people. They made me realize that big or small, successful or not, life is all about relationships. The ones we have with our friends, our family, and the ones we develop when we step up, take a risk, and step into the unknown.”
Illuminate Universe is an organization dedicated to advancing leadership education for high school and adult learners. Striving to be an internationally recognized model of educational excellence and innovation, Illuminate offers virtual and in-person experiences to help Canadians to be better prepared for and to thrive in the future of work. Illuminate empowers learners through experiential learning featuring an all-star educational team ranging from rising professionals to senior leaders in consulting, entrepreneurship, finance, technology, and more. Illuminate’s educational philosophy, principles and curriculums are advised by world-class business leaders. Illuminate teaches the things that matter, by people who have done it. With backing from our National Partners such as RBC, Deloitte, CPA Ontario, the Government of Canada and others, Illuminate Universe engages and empowers the next generation of business leaders with a proven track record since 2013.
Illuminate Universe started, by accident, when its founder Alina Huang was brainstorming and planning a high school leadership conference called “Illuminate Vancouver” in a local Vancouver library in 2013. The conference took place at UBC that summer and welcomed over 120 students. Since then, Illuminate Vancouver scaled into Illuminate Toronto, Illuminate Ottawa, and Illuminate
London. Conference attendance had also grown up to 300 students per city annually. In 2020, Illuminate Universe branched off with the birth of “Illuminate Leadership Academy” which became a ministry-certified private high school offering students grade 12 business
course credits through experiential learning. By 2021, Illuminate Universe had broken into the collegiate market thanks to its loyal alumni base accompanied by its career advisory podcast, “the Cast.” The organization started to provide leadership, career, and business consulting services to learners of all ages and better prepare them for their dream careers. Illuminate Universe has positively impacted over 5000+ Canadians and parts of the Illuminate Universe programs are supported by the Canadian Government.
Unique Features
Illuminate Universe offers services and experiences to students and young professionals. Illuminate helps learners build the skills to reach their goals and is passionate about helping them advance their education and career pathways. Together with its championing National Partners, the organization designs virtual experiences around the 9 essential skills proposed by the Canadian government so that learners can better improve their abilities and succeed in the workplace. Illuminate has also held flagship National Leadership and Career Conferences across Canada since 2013. Illuminate Universe is known for its prestigious career advisory practices, helping learners discover:
- What they are good at and what they enjoy doing;
- Career paths that are available for them based on their interests and strengths;
- Upskilling education programs that are best suited for them; and
- How to land their dream job, or become their own CEO/entrepreneurial boss.
Illuminate Universe has a sister brand called Illuminate Leadership Academy. It is a privatized high school offering Grade 12 credit that specialized in leadership, innovation, and entrepreneurship. The school does not distribute assignments and exams. Instead, students get to experience navigating the professional world through gamification with titles such as analysts, consultants, and managers. The Academy lecturers are from Fortune 100 companies and internationally-recognized institutions such as Harvard University, Oxford
University, CPAO, Deloitte, RBC, Google, and more to inspire students and craft a premier educational experience.
Illuminate Universe’s Mission
Illuminate Universe is a progressive and innovative organization that places a heavy emphasis on fostering a spirit of lifelong learning, mentoring, and coaching. Illuminate Universe nurtures an inclusive, supportive, and genuinely kind environment and consistently seeks new ways to innovate and drive value to learners, employers, and students, offering a wide range of leadership and management consulting services. Illuminate makes sure all learners will receive personalized career coaching to learn in a supportive and hands-on environment that can’t be easily found in the classroom.
Illuminate aims to be an internationally recognized model of educational excellence and innovation, fostering leaders who are critical thinkers, inclusive, and who are passionate about making social impacts in their communities. With this goal, Illuminate aims to inspire, educate and upskill an additional 3000 learners by 2023, contributing to everyone’s dreams of having a bright future.
Innovation and Value
Illuminate’s strong and inclusive community is a reflection of Illuminate’s unique educational approach featuring national conferences, the Leadership Academy, virtual and hybrid programs, the CAST podcast, and career assessment tools. Illuminate’s conferences stand at the core of everything that the organization does. After all, Illuminate started as a small local high school conference. Participants get to hear directly C-Suite executives through inspirational keynotes, learn from industry professionals through engaging workshops, and develop leadership skills through an innovation challenge solving real-world problems.
The New Way to Learn
Illuminate goes beyond the traditional classroom and helps students gain skills, experiences, and knowledge through hands-on learning, virtual experiences, and engaging conferences. The Illuminate Leadership Academy offers a world-class private school experience with an elite network and resources for all students without financial barriers. Students gain high school credit through hosting their leadership conferences for their community, creating their own businesses or non-profit organizations, and other unique capstone projects. Students network with Fortune 500 companies and understand the true meaning of business leadership. Illuminate incubates, nurtures, and develops the next generation of business leaders, entrepreneurs, and CEOs.
