Monique Jilesen Is Supporting Women and Children Through United Way

It all started with a workplace giving campaign.

The year was 1999 and Monique Jilesen was an?articling student at a top Toronto law firm, which?was running a giving campaign for United Way. Monique knew right away that she wanted to contribute.

“First and foremost, I wanted to give back to the community in which I live,” she says. “I also have?confidence in the work that United Way does, the?research that they’ve done, and the support that they give to their community partners. I know that the money that I’m donating goes to the people who need it the most.”

Monique is particularly passionate about giving to women and children in the GTA who are experiencing poverty. She has a personal connection to this cause—the daughter of a single mother who’s now a mother herself, she understands the intense demands of motherhood, and can imagine how much harder it would be without adequate resources and support.

“I was lucky as a child because my mother had her family’s support. Because my grandparents were there for us, I was surrounded by all of the material things I needed,” she says. “And as an adult, I had all the support you can imagine raising my children. I know it would have been so much harder if I didn’t have that help. So, that’s why I see this as an area of deep need.”

Over the past 23 years, Monique has unwaveringly and increasingly supported United Way, steadily focusing more and more of her giving (and time) on programs serving women and children.

“To think that there are children who don’t have what they need to survive and thrive in this country is really unacceptable,” she says.

That’s why her financial support has been directed?to United Way’s Women United group since 2015. She has long been a major donor, but during the pandemic, she saw how women and children were facing disproportionate harm and was inspired to increase her annual giving, something she has sustained this year, too. In addition to joining the Major Individual Giving Cabinet for the coming year, Monique has also held senior volunteer roles, co-hosted Women United events and even made time last fall to shop for and assemble 24 “gorgeously girly” school backpacks with her two teenage daughters.

And, she’s also championed United Way at her firm, both through events, which she has participated in and organized, as well as in conversations with colleagues where she?emphasizes how effective and easy it is to support?United Way.

“Everyone I know wants to share and support others. It really is just a question of where a person’s individual priorities or interests lie,” she says. “So while I can be shy, I do speak with my colleagues about why I give to United Way. A long time ago, someone told me that they saw United Way as a ‘giving concierge’ for what’s most important in the community and I like to think of it that way, too. So, I try to pass that idea on.”