Darren Tseng

Title: Leadership Facilitator / Motivational Speaker
Interesting Fact: Darren went to art school for more than five years, but still can’t colour inside the lines.

A natural leader, Darren Tseng has devoted much of his life to social involvement and helping others. He joined the Leaders Today team in 2008 after years of working with our partner organization, Free The Children—first as a youth participating in campaigns and fundraisers, then as an integral member of the coordinating team for the first annual Me to We Awards and National Me to We Day.

Darren is the former president of United Youth Taking Action (UYTA), a youth-group dedicated to local volunteerism and social causes. During his time at the helm, Darren led his fellow UYTA members in many fundraising endeavours, including On Ice For Life, a skate-a-thon fundraiser for non-violence that was profiled on CityTV and in local Toronto newspapers. He went on to work as a corporate relations associate for the Achieving Professional Excellence National Business Conference, which offers undergraduate students training in skills not commonly found in the classroom. He was also a stand-out participant in Leaders Today’s Volunteer Now! program at the Scarborough Academy for Technological, Environmental and Computer Education (SATEC). Through Volunteer Now!, Darren organized several successful fundraisers, including the 30-Hour Fast for poverty and hunger awareness, and Take a Stand For Peace, an event where he and his peers raised funds by going an entire school day without sitting. The events were wildly successful; raising $11,000 for Free The Children’s Brick by Brick schoolbuilding campaign. Then, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Darren did 1,150 push-ups to raise $11,150 worth of health supplies for victims of the disaster. Darren also found time to excel at his academic and athletic pursuits. He rose to become an all-star athlete at his school, winning the Athlete of the Year Award three times in four years. He also worked to organize several school-wide sports competitions, mentored younger athletes and successfully petitioned for the rebuilding of several basketball nets at his elementary school. Darren graduated from SATEC in 2006 as a revered valedictorian and community leader.

Darren loves to dance, especially break-dancing and popping and locking. Hanging on the wall of his room are three framed pictures of the school in Sierra Leone that he helped to construct through Free The Children—constant reminders of the global reach that even small acts of kindness can have.