Meet Our Team
Meet the people behind Project Empathic who drive our mission forward.
Meet our executive team of 13 high school and university students who actively run Project Empathic’s program and oversee the organization’s growth, workshop development, community partnerships, and marketing strategy.
If you are a high school or university student, and you feel empowered by our mission to bridge the gap between elementary school students and unhoused people, we invite you to join our team to direct our elementary school workshops.
We would love to welcome you to the team!
Strategy and Leadership
Having founded Project Empathic in 2021, Janelle is an aspiring engineer who deeply believes in the destigmatization of homelessness; to her, Project Empathic is an engineering project—leveraging the kindness, empathy, and passion of youth to advocate for change and break the cycle of homelessness.
Aligning with her passion for STEM and social change, Janelle is studying software engineering at McGill and later plans to declare a minor in entrepreneurship. She aims to focus her engineering career on making a social impact. She also enjoys napping, cooking (burnt) food, and tinkering with Arduinos!
Janelle Tam (she/her)
Co-Executive Director, Co-Founder
It’s the little things, such as a smile or a card, that truly touch the heart. As the founder of Project Empathic, Kaitlyn seeks to create a world where little acts of kindness are widespread. She loves interacting with a community of empathetic individuals who seek to change the world, one card at a time.
While still in the midst of exploring her passions, for now, Kaitlyn hopes to pursue a career in the medical field where each day is spent creating an impact on the world and its individuals. In her spare time, she enjoys immersing herself in the whimsical dimensions of books and films, continuing her taekwondo training as a black belt, and carrying the team in online PC games!
Kaitlyn Liu (she/her)
Co-Executive Director, Co-Founder
Growing up around Vancouver's Downtown Eastside for his whole life, Jake has seen the many problems affecting unhoused people in his community. Combining his desire to humanize the dehumanized in our society with his organizational, logistical and financial knowledge, Jake works as the Director of Operations to plan Project Empathic's direction as an organization at a high level. Jake also manages the finances and works to solve problems throughout the organization when necessary.
Jake has experience creating organizations and managing outreach operations with John Oliver Secondary School's Investors Club, a club he founded in 2021 to teach financial literacy to students. He also is the President of his school's student council and leads several other clubs. Jake hopes to pursue a career in business in the future.
Jake Valinho (he/him)
Director of Operations