With a mission to inform, empower, celebrate and advocate for British Columbia's current and aspiring business leaders, BCBusiness go behind the headlines and bring readers face to face with the key issues and people driving business in B.C.
Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/1501233
TOP: MAYOWILL PHOTOGRAPHY; BOTTOM: MARK ROZNOWSKI/TRIFECTA PRODUCTIONS 52 BCBUSINESS.CA JULY/AUGUST 2023 3 3 UNDER F R A N C O N G AGE: 28 Co-founder and managing director, Porte Global Consultancy Inc. LIFE STORY: Franco Ng guesses that he might've been a teacher in a past life—but he hates marking things, so in this life it simply wasn't an option. "My core of who I am has always been about youth leader- ship," he insists. "I find immense joy mentoring students and youth to achieve their dreams." He briefly played around with the idea of pursuing law and HR, then scrapped that plan when he realized how long it would take for him to reach a decision-making position within those professions. As someone who was always making decisions as a student leader, that wait wasn't going to work for him. In 2018, as a commerce student at UBC, Ng launched nonprofit YouthTalkNation to bridge the gap between ambitious youth and the government with fun and engaging case competitions. And although that venture came to a close with the onset of COVID, Ng's current business clearly pulls on the same thread. "Porte Global is an international educational consultancy," he says of the Vancouver-based nonprofit. The organization supports parents and their children with academic planning and career prep through mentorship and guidance, and also hosts trips and youth leadership camps like one focused on "real estate familiariza- tion" with Vancouver-based developer ASPAC Developments. With international corporate partners and six staff on board, Porte currently supports 19 clients across Canada, Hong Kong, China and Singapore. BOTTOM LINE : Porte Global's "special sauce," according to manag- ing director Ng, is helping students build community projects based on their passions. "This revolves around building their own charity or nonprofit, and then, through genuine community impact, have them stand out when they need to apply for universities [or internships]," he explains. Ng adds that, since the organization's inception in 2021, Porte's student projects have raised more than $300,000 for local charities. –R.R. D O M I N I C L A I AGE: 29 Senior director of develop- ment, marketing and opera- tions, Canadian International Dragon Boat Festival Society LIFE STORY: Dominic Lai, who grew up in Vancouver, remembers what paper money used to look like. "On the back of the $5 bill, it had a poem about hockey, about how someone ordered a Montreal Canadiens sweater and then when it came it was actually a Toronto Maple Leafs sweater." Lai points out how this speaks to the Canadian identity, and how overlooking the culture behind the things we interact with can reduce its value and potential. A lot of people, Lai contends, don't think about dragon boating beyond its role as a sport. But as the senior director of development, marketing and operations of Dragon Boat BC, Lai tries to enhance the organization's cul- tural awareness through recreational events and artistic programming as much as he tries to develop the sports side. He started as a volunteer with the organization in 2015 and settled into his current position around 2020. Alongside his involvement in the dragon boating community, he also worked in clothing retail, took a shot at law school and earned a master's in political science from UBC in 2016. After joining his high school dragon boat team at Eric Hamber Secondary, Lai ended up as its coach and general manager over multiple national and world championships. The roles that Lai has served in the field so far include a stint as program director and head coach for Dragon Boat Canada's under-16/18 national team at the 2017 world cham- pionships in France. He also raced with Team Canada at the 2018 World Cup in China. Now, Lai loves the "randomness" of his schedule at Dragon Boat BC: some days he's handling grants, part- nerships and sport programming, and other days he's marketing and putting stickers on boats. To add to that, he's also contemplating opening a cat café (even though he doesn't drink coffee). "Whatever comes next, comes next," he says. "I'm just along for the ride." BOTTOM LINE : Dragon Boat BC is a nonprofit organization founded in 1986. In addition to hosting sports and cultural programs, it operates the Dragon Zone Paddling Club in Vancouver and produces the Concord Pacific Dragon Boat Festival, the Steveston Dragon Boat Festival and 10 more events around the province. –R.R