When Davina Boulineau volunteers her time running career development seminars for women in Toronto, she hopes her participants come away with critical negotiation skills to help them navigate re-entering the workforce.
But Boulineau, President, Private Client Advice and Vice President, Small Business Insurance Distribution at TD Insurance, also comes away from the experience with her own, tangible benefits.
“Negotiating is more than salary; it’s how you negotiate in your personal life, and in your professional life. I want the women I coach to know that they have the right to negotiate, to lead, to dream, and to build wealth. It’s not just for them. It also empowers me to be a better leader because I get to listen and learn from their experiences,” said Boulineau.
Boulineau leads the seminars through ACCES Employment, a non-profit organization that supports jobseekers from diverse backgrounds who face barriers to employment. Often, she will stay in touch with the participants through LinkedIn or coffee chats. Not long ago, one attendee reached out and told Boulineau that her workshop was life-changing, allowing her to help find herself and learn to trust in her abilities to do great things.
“She said she felt very strong and that she could stand up for herself, and that stayed with me because, as a woman, if you can believe this about yourself, there’s no limit to what you can do,” said Boulineau.
But as Boulineau explains, it’s not only the hard skills that participants learn through these volunteer organizations, but the soft ones.
“When it comes to skills, people always expect me to talk about leadership, and it’s true that’s important, but the number one tip I always tell women to work on is themselves and to be confident in their experience and abilities,” said Boulineau.
The tangible benefits of volunteering
The rate of volunteering in Canada has dropped at a time when Canadians need it the most. A recent report by Statistics Canada showed that the formal and informal volunteer rate in the country fell by 8% between 2018 and 2023, with the total number of hours Canadians volunteer tumbling by 18%.
Volunteering offers a win-win situation for both volunteers and those they help support says the Canadian Mental Health Association of Toronto, helping to improve a volunteer's health and well-being, create a community, develop hard and soft skills, as well as foster a sense of purpose.
Care and collaboration are key
In October, Women at TD, an employee resource group for women and allies, group-hosted an event for Women's History Month on the power of volunteerism, where attendees had the opportunity to network with representatives from several non-profit organizations, including Times Change, a Toronto-based non-profit women’s employment service that has been around for over 50 years.
The organization offers many digital literacy programs, career planning workshops for women looking for their next role, and one-on-one employment counselling for direct support with job search goals. There’s a career closet, for clients who need to access professional attire for interviews. They also have a computer lab so women can drop in and work on their resumes.
Click to zoom
Some of their clients are on ODSP (Ontario Disability Support Program) or work casually or part-time and are searching for better employment opportunities.
“The heart of our work is creating an environment where every woman can come through the door and feel welcomed and supported, whether they are preparing for employment or actively searching for their next role. Care and collaboration are key to all the services we offer,” said Taylor DeLaurentis, Employer Engagement & CAMP Program Coordinator at Times Change.
Like many other non-profits, including ACCES Employment, Times Change has enjoyed a long relationship with TD. Previously, the Bank helped ACCES implement a new database to track outcomes and successes of their workshop in order to measure its impact. The organization has supported 979 women in the 2024-2025 fiscal year, according to their annual impact report.
Since then, the relationship between the charity and the Bank has only deepened, with TD volunteers running financial literacy workshops for Times Change clients.
It’s all about connection
Often, Times Change will pair clients actively seeking feedback on their job search process with volunteers from TD through career panel events. The experience provides not only valuable support but helps build up confidence.
“It’s not just about sharing skills with one another, but it’s also about facilitating that connection. For many women who have faced career transition and personal challenges, meeting volunteers, particularly women who understand those experiences, can be really impactful. It creates a sense of community and reminds women they aren’t alone in this journey,” said DeLaurentis.
One of Times Change’s clients, Kathleen said she started working with a financial company preparing taxes after six months of unemployment. On her first day, she was asked to use programs found in Google Workspace, skills she learned through Times Change’s “Let’s Get Digital” program. She’s also returned to school, where one of her classes required the use of Canva, another program she learned in “Let’s Get Digital.”
“Every day I'm using something I learned in ‘Let’s Get Digital.’ I'm very thankful for it,” Kathleen said.
For many of the TD colleagues who volunteer, their experiences have had a huge impact on them, especially for Boulineau, who believes she wouldn’t have reached such heights in her career if it weren’t for the support of other women.
“Every pivotal moment in my life, in my career, has been shaped by a woman. First by my mother, who saw something in me that was different. Then by colleagues. I had a lot of mentors, including women, and one in particular saw something in me, leadership potential, that I had no idea was even there. She believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself,” she added.
It’s a gift she aspires to return to others through her volunteer work.
“Volunteering has become one of the most meaningful parts of my life here at TD. I’ve worked for many organizations before, and they rarely created the space for their employees to help their communities,” Boulineau said.