Sam Laprade, Creative Arts & Design Award
Host, The Sam Laprade Show and An Hour to Give, Fundraising Strategist and Coach
Public Relations, Class of 1991
Everyone has a story about what they did on the day nobody knew what to do. What Sam Laprade did put her on the radio every day for the next 58 days straight, 90 days in total, telling the community’s uplifting stories in the midst of a dark and confusing time. It was March 13, 2020, and the lockdowns and border closures rolling across the world had reached Ottawa.
“It was very much telling really, really difficult stories and trying to bring some hope and some positivity during a time there was very little of it,” says Laprade, a widely recognized name in Ottawa’s charity community, who has since 2018 hosted “An Hour to Give” on CityNews 101.1 in Ottawa and CityNews 95.7 in Halifax.
Just over a year after she wrapped her 90 days of storytelling, she was back, hosting “The Sam Laprade Show” every weekday from noon to 2 p.m. Laprade introduced a new kind of voice to daily radio. She continues to host the show “An Hour to Give,” which provides an outlet for local charities and not-for-profits to tell the stories and amazing work they do to change and save lives.
“On my daily show, I talk about things from a mom’s perspective, from a woman’s perspective,” says Laprade, who has a teenage daughter. “I put a big focus on mental health and domestic violence. And our listenership in terms of women has increased. I get great emails from women all the time saying they never listened to talk radio before.”
Laprade credits her Algonquin College public relations program’s work placement for helping jumpstart a career that led to a successful fundraising career, the radio programs and a column focused on philanthropy published in the Ottawa Business Journal. CBC Television, where she did the placement, continued to employ her after graduation.
“Algonquin gave me a safe place to learn, and a place to uncover my passions, try, risk, fail and learn again,” she says. “It opened doors to careers I didn’t even know existed.”
In the years that followed graduation, Laprade dove head-first into the world of fundraising and raised millions of dollars for organizations such as the Ottawa Hospital Foundation, the Ottawa Humane Society, the Ottawa Mission Foundation, and the Boys and Girls Club of Ottawa.
As part of her effort to give back to the College, Laprade has decided to leave a legacy gift, which will help future students attain the education they need to start their careers. She encourages others to consider doing so as well to offer a powerful way to inspire future generations of students.
Laprade says she is one of many Algonquin College graduates who help make up Ottawa: “Our city wouldn’t be the city it is without Algonquin College. Graduates can be found at every turn, from first responders to journalists to professionals in technology and trades.”
A woman who loves to stay busy, Laprade is a fundraising strategist for her own company and marketing director at Gryphon Fundraising, among other things. She has tailored her services exclusively for not-for-profits offering them access to tools such as analytics to help inform their decisions and actions in ways that improve community connections and impact.
In the last few years, Laprade has taken on more keynote engagements around the world, offering raw honesty and a sense of humour no matter the topic. One of the highest compliments she’s received is from a person who tweeted after one of her sessions: “She made me laugh, she made me cry, she made me think differently.”
Infusing humour and passion into everything she does, one might not be surprised to find out that in her (little) spare time, Laprade also performs as a stand-up comedian. She says she has the time of her life and gets to poke fun at herself in a way that takes lemons and makes lemonade.
All of these experiences were laid in a foundation that began as a student at Algonquin College for Laprade: “The (public relations) program opens so many doors and the foundation of skills you acquire can then be applied in diverse ways. It assists me in my radio show, in my business, in my stand-up, in my every endeavour, even politics. The possibilities are as endless as you want to make them!”