DONOR Julie Toskan-Casale
TITLE President, the Toskan- Casale Foundation
GIFT $176 million raised through AIDS Fund
For Julie Toskan-Casale, giving back is a family matter.Not simply because the Toronto entrepreneur and philanthropist heads up the Toskan- Casale Foundation — a family-run fund that supports grassroots organizations through direct grants — but also because she’s seen firsthand how vital bonds are fostered through community building.
That penchant for connecting people began as early as Toskan- Casale’s high school days when she met her future husband Victor Casale. But little did she know that Casale would go on to become a chemist, proving the ideal business partner for Julie’s brother Frank, the founder of globally renowned M.A.C Cosmetics.
After years of heading up the company’s successful AIDS Fund (which has raised nearly $176 million to date via its Viva Glam program),Toskan-Casale turned her attention to overseeing the family foundation in 2001, establishing the Youth and Philanthropy Initiative (YPI), an innovative program that encourages Grade 9 and 10 students to advocate on behalf of local charitable causes.
Now in its eighth school year,YPI is currently taught in more than 200 schools across Canada, as well as more than 100 schools in the United States, England and Scotland combined, with more than $4 million in grants disbursed to community-based charities.
YPI’s unique program sees students working in teams to research and visit their chosen organization before making a presentation on why their cause should be awarded a $5,000 grant from the foundation.
But while Toskan-Casale finds her own eyes being opened to the impact her foundation’s grants can have on charitable organizations across Canada and beyond, she stresses that it’s helping kids to see how they can help make a difference in their community that’s the real impetus behind YPI.
“I think if people have the opportunity to create a difference, if they know enough to see that change is required or improvements are necessary, then we have the responsibility to do something about it,”Toskan-Casale declares,“and not necessarily with lots of money, but there are many ways that people can have a significant impact.”