Jilly Menikefs

Jilly discovered her love for learning and leading at Havergal, where she immersed herself in science, math, technology, engineering (STEM) and social sciences courses and volunteered for various leadership positions. The recipient of the Queen’s University Chancellor Scholarship—where she is pursuing a degree in engineering—she hopes to find ways to share her love of STEM and inspire girls into the field. “I’m lucky that Havergal has excellent facilities and encouraging teachers, but I know it’s not the same for everyone,” she says. Her interest in giving back started when she was nine years old and she volunteered for her neighbourhood’s Karma Club, in which members would reach out to local people in need with random acts of kindness. “One major concept that I have accepted is that—in any community—you can find people at different stages of their lives who have varying motivations and worries. And within any community, you find vulnerability; its manifestation is what varies.” Jilly has seen first-hand how small gestures of kindness can inspire others to do the same and it has helped her become a benevolent leader with a passion for lifelong learning.