Sam Laprade

From the day Sam Laprade was handed Algonquin College’s public relations program brochure, her career path began to be paved without her even realizing it.

Now, a widely recognized name in Ottawa’s charity community (and beyond), Sam credits the program’s work placement for helping jumpstart her career. A placement many would envy, she started in a role at CBC Television where she continued to be employed even after graduation.

“Algonquin gave me a safe place to learn, and a place to uncover my passions, try, risk, fail, and learn again,” said Sam. “It opened doors to careers I didn’t even know existed.”

In the years that followed, she 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.
One thing was certain, her ultimate goal was to be in a career that allowed her to tell stories and in February 2018 she was offered the opportunity to do just that.

As the host of “An Hour to Give” on 1310 NEWS in Ottawa and NEWS 95.7 in Halifax, Sam provides an outlet for local charities and not-for-profits to tell the stories and amazing work they do to change and save lives locally. She noted that sometimes guests don’t even realize the impact their stories can have on others – it might just be the story that motivates someone or keeps them alive.

The COVID-19 pandemic also brought extra responsibilities with hosting duties on daily radio show on local stories, from heartwarming to heartbreaking, where Sam would tease out personal tales from the community and the local business scene to break up the monotony of international headlines about infection rates.

“Our city wouldn’t be the city it is without Algonquin College,” Sam said. “Graduates can be found at every turn; from first responders to journalists, to professionals in technology and trades.”

As part of her effort to give back to the College, Sam 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.

A woman who loves to stay busy, Sam 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 improves community connections and impact. As if she wasn’t busy enough, she also recently started writing a monthly column for the Ottawa Business Journal called “Philanthropy in Ottawa.”

Additionally, in the last few years Sam has taken on more keynote engagements around the world, offering raw honesty and a sense of humour no matter the topic. Although the pandemic has cancelled or postponed most of her engagements in 2020, one of the highest compliments she’s recently 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, Sam 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 which began as a student at Algonquin College for Sam: “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!”