RISE Presents: The Exeko Scholarship
#growingwithrise
There is a blossoming love story between Exeko and RISE Kombucha. Based in Montreal, Exeko helps marginalized people through creativity, art, and philosophy. All of Exeko’s projects centre around one simple idea:
“Everyone is equally intelligent.”
These are more than just words. Exeko’s work happens on the streets and within the communities who need it most. In Montreal, this often means working with First Nations communities by improving accessibility to things like healthcare and education.
RISE started supporting Exeko with their Mobile Intellectual Mediation Caravan: a library on wheels that feeds the minds of Montrealers each week alongside a bottle of RISE Kombucha. This partnership was so exciting that we couldn’t just stop there. So in the fall of 2015, we worked with Exeko to launch a scholarship aimed at fighting social, cultural and intellectual exclusion in Montreal. This grant will be available to students of all disciplines and seeks to engage young Montrealers facing different social and financial barriers.
We spoke to Maïlis Burgaud, Exeko’s communications manager, to learn a little more about the organization and how the RISE scholarship will work.
1) If you could describe the grant to fight social, cultural and intellectual exclusion in one sentence, what would it be?
Students get to imagine an innovative project that combines art and philosophy to promote social progress by involving their community, and we help them make it happen.
2) Exeko is already so active in the community. What does this new grant offer?
Our goal is to amplify the social progress that we’ve set in motion. The grant is a great opportunity bring new innovative projects to life that will positively impact Montreal communities.
We hope to promote projects that will bring different communities together. These projects should be accessible and easy to replicate. Our objective is to generate even more inclusive and creative solutions for all communities, with an emphasis on marginalized groups.
3) How will you choose the winning project?
Every project idea will be submitted to a jury, who will evaluate it with certain principles in mind. The jury will look at the close connection between students and their disciplines, as well as the student’s proposed collaboration and co-creation with community organisations and project participants. The project will need to be ethically compatible with Exeko’s principles. We’re looking for ideas that will challenge social norms – ideas that will inspire all Montrealers, but also the world of academia.
4) What would your project idea be?
I would take over St. Catherine Street from St. Laurent to Place Émilie Gamelin for a month. During this time, I would invite everyone occupying this space – passersby, people without homes, students, businesspeople in suits – to sit down with a different person every day and write down the Montreal Charter of Rights and Responsibilities on the pavement, while reflecting on it together.
5) This grant’s goal is to encourage improbable human connections. During your time with Exeko, which encounter has stuck with you the most?
Extraordinary encounters happen every day at Exeko, be they between program participants, volunteers, partners, or collaborators. I like to compare the experience of meeting people through Exeko to being in an interactive map of humanity. I often feel like I’m wandering through a gigantic, dense museum, exploring endlessly, my curiosity and thirst for knowledge never satiated. In every corner, I discover someone who teaches me something and who is willing to share with me. In each person, I find a unique masterpiece, along with undeniable potential and value.
6) On a final note, do you have a simple piece of advice for those wanting to help reduce social exclusion in their neighbourhood?
Let go of your prejudices and take the time to think about the kind of society you’d like to build. Everything is possible!
Are you also falling in love with Exeko? Follow them on social media and take action: donate! By donating to Exeko you participate to building a more inclusive society for all citizens.