Carl Clergé
Senior Analyst, Multi Unit Underwriting, CMHC
Business Administration, Class of 2016
2021 Premier’s Awards nominee
In the midst of the George Floyd protests in the summer of 2020, Carl Clergé decided he wanted to donate money to a bursary to help Black students at his alma matter, Algonquin College. Upon realizing none existed, he set about to create one.
The new bursary was one of the fastest to become endowed at the College, reaching a goal of $15,000 in four months. He has high hopes for the bursary and the recipient. “I hope people are not shy to apply. I want people to be open to it,” said Clergé. “I hope the person who needs it the most will get it and I would like to grow it as much as I can.”
In August 2020, the Empowering Black Student Bursary was born. According to the information on the bursary webpage, “some Black Canadians may not be in a position to assist their children in paying for post-secondary education. As a result, Black youth may choose to enter the workforce while others continue to work while they are in school, which can be an added stressor.”
“My goal for this bursary is to help those who want to pursue an education but may not have the means to do so entirely,” said Clergé. “Even if the amount is small, it will go a long way. I hope you will join me in supporting Black students pursuing an education in business by donating to the Empowering Black Students Bursary.”
Clergé is proud of his efforts. “I’ve been in a fortunate situation and I’m happy I [set up the bursary]. I wish I had done it sooner. For me, it’s to keep the momentum going and motivate others who have a big platform.”
He is humble when accepting praise. “Algonquin College put me in touch with the right people who were impressed and wanted to donate. I bounced ideas off friends and they helped me a lot. My employer set up a matching program and my former professor had created a bursary and transferred his funds into mine. All I had to do was share a link and share a story. Sharing it was something that made it better and I’m very happy and fortunate to have some great people around me.”
Those great people include his mother, who he credits as inspiration for his recent philanthropic and community efforts. “My mom moved here from Haiti and [the bursary] is something she could have benefitted from. That pushed me harder. I was trying to do something in the community thinking of her. The bursary is for someone like her who can go to school, or have their rent paid and focus on their goals. She sacrificed everything so that I could do anything that I wanted. My mom gave me all these opportunities.”
He is happy he chose to attend Algonquin College. “It was a good choice. The teachers take the time and were always open. They brought people from the industry in to speak to the class and we were able to pick their brain. The program guided me in the right direction.
“Because classes are so small, if you ask questions and pay attention, teachers remember you. They speak to you outside of class. They take time out of their day and make it easy to reach out.”
Clergé recently worked as a Risk Analyst at Export Development Canada and has begun work with the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation as a Senior Analyst-Multi Unit Underwriting. He keeps in touch with professors from Algonquin and has been asked to be a guest speaker in the very classes he once attended as a student. To date, he has turned them down, thinking he does not have enough life experience to speak to students, but he may take up their offers in the future.