Ashley Hilkewich

Title:Director of International Trips
Interesting Fact: Ashley learned the art of sheep herding from youth in the Andean mountains of Ecuador while volunteering at a Free The Children school.

Ashley is joining Leaders Today as the director of international trips. She is excited to provide youth the opportunity to volunteer overseas while building their leadership skills. A recent graduate of Mount Allison University, Ashley received an Honours degree in international relations. She spent her fourth year travelling in Ecuador and Cuba while studying community development, international politics and Spanish. She had the opportunity to live in the Andes and volunteer at a Free The Children school, a women's cooperative and an ecotourism project. 

Inspirational youth from around the world have taught Ashley that education is changing the world every day. She left the small town of Estevan, Saskatchewan, at the age of 16 to travel to South Africa and volunteer at an orphanage, and has since felt connected to the struggles of youth around the world. She's deeply committed to numerous organizations that support educational initiatives and has devoted many hours to sponsoring refugees to attend Canadian universities, helping them adjust to university classes and a new country. Ashley was active on her own campus as a member of many change-making organizations. These include Mount Allison's Leadership Development Program, the International AIDS Day Committee, International Women's Week Projects, Tsunami Relief Team, Rotaract Club and the No Sweat Initiative.

In her spare time, Ashley loves to check out the food and cultural festivals in Toronto, play beach volleyball, scuba dive (she once scuba dived 40m under water to explore a shipwreck off the south coast of Cuba!), salsa dance and spend time camping by the ocean.