About GLOCAL Foundation of Canada
GLOCAL Foundation of Canada is a national not-for-profit organization that advances accessible and inclusive civic participation through youth leadership, community service and digital innovation. We are a federal not-for-profit corporation (#11500066), incorporated 5 July 2019, with a registered office in Ottawa.
Last reviewed 17 August 2026.
Our story
GLOCAL is founded and operated by a passionate and diverse team committed to promoting creative civic engagement with local participation and global understanding. Our team consists of young Canadians from various backgrounds, brought together by the vision of creating a more inclusive, accessible and engaging Canadian society.
Challenges we address
- Civic information accessibility — the "last mile" delivery of civic knowledge to citizens and residents.
- Information overload — a root cause of misinformation and disinformation.
- Insufficient civic information for the communities that need it most.
Our vision
We envision GLOCAL as an on-demand digital civic-information delivery platform that connects Canadians with legislators, governments, civil-society organizations, communities and other political stakeholders across Canada. We have described this ambition as the "Uber Eats" and talent incubator of civic engagement: a service that helps civic information reach the people and communities who need it.
How we work
GLOCAL's work is designed to be led by young Canadians from across the nation and the globe. We empower young Canadians to be civic-knowledge builders, service designers, engineers and couriers fulfilling the "last mile" delivery of civic information to their diverse communities.
GLOCAL stands for: Global vision. Local engagement. Open-mindedness. Creative solutions. Adaptive leadership. Lifelong learning. It is together that we can implement with innovation.
Defining "GLOCAL"
GLOCAL combines "global" and "local" — thinking and acting both globally and locally. In social and political contexts it emphasizes global awareness and local engagement in addressing public concerns such as climate change, poverty and inequality, with creative problem-solving that respects the unique needs of local communities while recognizing the global dimensions of these issues.
Our neighbourhoods and land acknowledgements
GLOCAL works with participants and communities across Canada. We recognize that this work takes place on the traditional territories of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples, and we retain this acknowledgement from the original GLOCAL site as part of our organizational commitments.
Testimonials
Reflections shared by members of the GLOCAL community.
Many ways to get involved
Attend an event, become a volunteer or a volunteer mentor, or apply for a microgrant to build your own creative civic-engagement project. We would love to have you on board.
Our board and staff
Board of Directors
Faye Ying — Founder & Executive Director, GLOCAL.
Dr. Laura Stephenson — Professor & Political Science Graduate Chair, Western University; Co-director of the Consortium on Electoral Democracy (C-Dem).
Dr. Fred Cutler — Associate Professor, University of British Columbia; Co-founder and CEO of ISIT Technology; Founder and CEO of Prograds.
Staff members
Faye Ying
Executive Director
Joseph Ong
Operations Manager
Dr. Eva Busza
Senior Advisor
Paula Perez
Compliance Manager
Vicky Huang
Project Manager, Data
Liliane Mu
Project Manager, Administration
Daniel Biel
Program Evaluation & Data Manager
Jia Yue He
Research Coordinator
Joe Shi
Participant Success Manager, Digital
Kyana Khodabakhshi
Compliance & Admin Officer
Aiysha Shankar
Youth Development Coordinator
Adshaya Bharathithas
Youth Development Coordinator
Learn more about the wider team on youcount.ca/about.
Where our volunteers dig in
Mental Health Research Project
Evaluating Canada's mental health infrastructure, identifying access barriers and proposing improvement strategies through volunteer research and policy recommendations.
Agriculture Research Project
Enhancing understanding of Canadian agriculture, comparing policies across regions and making the agricultural landscape more accessible.
Climate Change Research Project
Examining climate responses across provinces and territories, from emissions targets to renewable-energy transitions, toward global emission goals.
Homelessness Research Project
Exploring housing policies, debunking myths and proposing solutions to combat homelessness disparities across Canada.
LEGISTalk & Chamber Chatter
Empowering young Canadians in policy-making through bill analysis, policy briefs and direct engagement with legislators.
ASKBEAVER Project
Combating misinformation by crafting direct questions for politicians and turning verified answers into engaging civic infographics.
Partnerships & networks
We are honoured to be an official partner of the Consortium on Electoral Democracy (C-Dem), a consortium of academic, civil-society and government organizations working to strengthen the health of democracy in Canada.
Our work, on the record
Annual Report 2022English · PDF
Annual Report 2021English · PDF
Rapport annuel 2021Français · PDF
Annual Report 2020English · PDF
Rapport annuel 2020Français · PDF
Registered office: 204-78 George St, Ottawa, Ontario K1N 0A8. Founder registered with Corporations Canada as Xiaofei Ying; known as Faye Ying.