Maude Léonard

Committed to supporting community and individual development

As a teenager, Maude Léonard was already captivated by everything relating to human beings and the environment, a fact manifest in the time she devoted to visiting senior citizens at retirement homes and helping distribute recycling bins in her neighbourhood. Today, at the age of 29, the community psychologist currently completing a doctoral thesis at UQAM asserts that she is still possessed by this same fascination and seizes every opportunity to get involved locally and help channel the strengths of both individuals and the community.

It is easy to illustrate Maude’s social and human interests as her involvement speaks for itself. Among other things, she works at the Maison Marguerite, a shelter for women in difficulty, assisting women who know how to grasp the means to change their situation. “For me, these women are models of courage and perseverance,” she confides, adding that she has also developed a program for children aged 0 to 5 who have been exposed to marital violence that is to be implemented at the La Dauphinelle shelter.

However, it is above all to Suicide Action Montréal (SAM) that Maude devotes the major part of her time. Involved with the organization since 2003, she even chose to focus her doctoral thesis on the assessment of a group intervention program for teenagers in mourning following the suicide of a loved one.

“Maude stands out for her depth of thought, her overflowing enthusiasm for developing new initiatives and her rallying spirit that impels all team members under her wing to stand by her excellent judgement,” asserts SAM coordinator Philippe Angers.

And then there are Maude’s ecological convictions that are at the root of many of her actions, actions that are for the most part carried out through the Troc-tes-Trucs organization she founded with a school friend in 2005. With the mission of promoting and encouraging sustainable development and responsible consumption thanks to activities involving the exchange of consumer goods, the organization has already hosted 14 trading sessions. “The population’s adherence to the concept goes beyond our expectations and, with our support, other citizens have been able to organize similar Troc-tes-Trucs activities in their community. The project is in a way a personal source of pride and also proves that it is possible to do a great deal with little means,” the doctoral student recounts.

One thing has led to another and this project has enabled Maude to establish ties with numerous other organizations, including Forum jeunesse de l’Île de Montréal (FJÎM) where she has been a member for the past two years. “My involvement has enabled me to develop the kind of political vision needed to understand different social issues.”

“Maude is an invaluable asset for FJÎM because of her extensive experience in social entrepreneurship, a strength only equalled by her expertise in the field of social intervention. She brings a sensitive and honest perspective, which is in line with the realities of young people and of society,” says FJÎM president Laurence St-Denis.

Maude Léonard plans to establish a community psychology consultation cooperative and is the type of person who is not afraid to break with conventional ways of doing things in order to succeed. “I like to begin with a somewhat offbeat idea to create tangible, coherent and highly effective projects, projects that stimulate my interests and meet the needs of the community.”

Maude Léonard