Our Purpose
To provide students and community members with meaningful, volunteer experience through engagement with small-medium sized volunteer-organizations for reciprocal benefit.
Our Approach
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Connect with local volunteer-based organizations to identify meaningful volunteer opportunities available
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Engage volunteers in meaningful action
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Celebrate and acknowledge our shared impact
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Connected with 2 organizations to support 10 different opportunities
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Engaged 104 volunteers in 500 hours of meaningful action
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Celebrated an impact of 1000 trees planted, 2 grants submitted, and 2 work-shops lead ... and counting!
Last updated May 6, 2025
Our Impact
Our Story
In the summer of 2024, we were a group of former sustainability students from McMaster University who became hooked on the benefits we experienced through interdisciplinary, community-based, and experiential learning. Although our courses had given us a taste of this, we still wanted more. That led us to explore volunteering as a way to stay engaged. But the opportunities available at the time weren’t giving us the kind of robust, meaningful experiences and impact we were looking for. So, we created the Hamilton Sustainability Action Project, HSAP for short.
With the help of our mentors and advisors, we were able to connect with two impactful non-profit organizations, Trees for Hamilton and Cycle Hamilton. We offered them support to engage and organize student volunteers for their upcoming events.
Within the first two months, we
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Supported three tree-planting events planting more than 250 trees with over 25 volunteers;
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Helped to host Cycle Hamilton’s Annual General Meeting;
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Identified, wrote, and submitted a grant application.
We also created some fire social media posts to help our organizational partners amplify their great work.
We've since broadened our partnerships and reach, and are excitedly growing our network. Whether you’re an aspiring volunteer, part of a volunteer-based organization, or an interested party, we want to hear from you!
Founding Board Member
Areeb Iqbal
Hi, I'm Areeb!
Sustainability is a huge passion of mine. It means more than just protecting the environment; sustainability is about creating systems that care for people, the planet, and future generations simultaneously. I'm dedicated to building more connected, resilient communities where individuals feel empowered to take action. Through HSAP, I've had the opportunity to work hands-on with initiatives which drive tangible steps toward healthier, more equitable urban spaces. Hamilton is home for me, and I believe that local action, especially when it's community-driven, can spark genuine change. I'm excited to continue learning and growing in this work.
Founding Board Member, Social Media
Ashley Low
Hi, I’m Ashley!
I’ve always been drawn to local sustainability work, especially the kind that brings people together to create meaningful change. As a Master of Public Health student at McMaster, I see sustainability as an essential part of building healthy, resilient communities. With HSAP, I love being involved in hands-on initiatives and using social media to highlight the impact we’re making. I’m grateful to be part of a team that makes environmental action feel welcoming, accessible, and fun.
Board Member
Kian Pourbakhtiari
Kian has a minor in sustainability and is an incoming candidate for the Global Health program at McMaster University. His passion for community impact and meaningful change landed him at HSAP. His academic background in Life Sciences, combined with hands-on experience in research and community engagement, allows him to approach sustainability issues from a different lens.
Board of Directors
Board Member
Fadi Matloub
Hello I'm Fadi!
I'm a recent graduate of the Honours Life Sciences program at McMaster University, where I also pursued an Interdisciplinary Minor in Sustainability. I'm passionate about environmental advocacy and community impact, and have been actively involved in sustainability initiatives since 2023. I am a co-founder of Trash to Treasure, a McMaster-wide furniture reuse program aimed at reducing waste and promoting a circular economy. Under my leadership, the initiative has grown to over 550 active users, helping divert usable items from landfills and fostering a culture of reuse and collaboration across the university.
Founding Board Member
Madison Mote
Hi, I’m Madison!
Since my childhood, community engagement and environmental stewardship have been very important to me. Those passions motivated me to pursue an Engineering degree at McMaster University because of its unique Engineering & Society degree which allows me to hone my technical expertise in Chemical Engineering while considering the environmental, political, and technical landscapes that my engineering work must integrate with. McMaster is where I met the lovely individuals that I get to call friends and colleagues here at HSAP. We come together with diverse perspectives and skillsets motivated by the same goal - to build community around sustainable initiatives. Through my studies, I have seen how important biophilic urban design is and how powerful a well connected community can be. As such, I am very proud of the leaps HSAP has taken to build community connections on the foundation of caring for our planet. Volunteering with HSAP has been an incredible way for me to feel more connected to the lively city I now call home!
HSAP Associate
Lea Tejeda
Hi, my name is Lea!
I've always enjoyed spending time in nature and being involved in volunteering and community-based work. I'm drawn to sustainability because it brings people together and creates space for care, responsibility, and growth. I try to approach this work with humility and a willingness to engage, believing that how we show up matters just as mush as what we do. Through HSAP, I contribute to initiatives that reflect these values in meaningful, community-focused ways.
HSAP Associate
Adrian de Jesus
Hello, I'm Adrian!
I'm an artist with an interest in sustainability and a passion for community impact and meaningful change. I am a soon-to-be graduate of the Environmental Science program at McMaster University, with an Minor in Sustainability. I believe there is so much to explore at the intersection of media arts (video, film, animation, etc.) and sustainability.
HSAP Advisor
Kate Whalen, PhD, PMP
Hello, I’m Kate.
I’m a lifelong learner who believes action and experience are the best forms of education. While completing my Master’s and PhD, I helped establish McMaster University’s first Office of Sustainability and later its first Academic Sustainability Program, bridging big-picture strategy with practical, people-centered change.
I bring over 16 years of experience developing high-performing individuals and leading cross-functional teams across the public, academic, and non-profit sectors.
As a leadership coach and consultant, I serve as HSAP’s key advisor, supporting the board of directors and community partners as they work toward shared goals. I bring my values of collaboration, creativity, and curiosity to this role, guided by the question: if it’s not fun, is it even sustainable?
Additional Founding Members
We’d like to thank Kiara Rahm, Ofure Itua, Behzad Janjua, and Randil Vithanage who were instrumental in launching HSAP.