Coutts Woman

The other side of the tracks

Julie Toskan-Casale is a woman on a mission. And she's not one to let anything stand in her way. She says, "I think I really like challenges. I tend to go a bit against the grain, to support the underdog." And that's precisely what she's doing with the Youth and Philanthropy Initiative, (YPI), at the Toskan Casale Foundation in Canada. But to understand her drive and what's brought her to this place you have to wind back a few years.

“It’s really amazing. You have schools where kids from more affluent backgrounds learn about charities they never knew existed. The kids are connected to the community.”

Julie had no formal training other than finishing high school. Yet in 1985, with her brother Frank, his partner Frank Angelo, and her husband Victor Casale, Julie up MAC Cosmetics Ltd. The four of them really gelled, the chemistry was right and MAC became one of the cosmetic industries biggest success stories. She says, “I was fortunate enough to have really good role models in my brother and husband. It’s a good combination.”

 It was during this period that Julie's philanthropic side kicked in. The company set up the MAC AIDS Foundation which Julie oversaw. She said, "It was a lack of knowing where we wanted to make change. We wanted to give back to the community and felt that AIDS was an issue we could really tackle." Helping people live with HIV and AIDS, the foundation has so far raised $64 million (US).

 By 1998 MAC had become a $400 million international company and they sold the business to Estee Lauder. With MAC behind her, and time and resources available, Julie asked herself, "What am I going to do that’s going to be as rewarding?" She'd enjoyed MAC, had worked with thousands of staff, and says,” After MAC it was really tough, a really difficult transition." But recognising the charitable work she'd been involved in at MAC was one of the most rewarding elements of her job, she decided to see where else she could focus those talents. She says, "I started on a different path then. I'd left the world of MAC but was taking those same values, same vision, and using that to work with people."

Julie decided she wanted to develop her philanthropic interests in a way that really engaged with people and communities. In 1999 she took The Philanthropy Workshop, then based at the Rockefeller Foundation in New York, which has since moved to the Institute of Philanthropy in London. She became its first Canadian graduate. She says, “The workshop helped me think more strategically, to look at the skills I had and then try to match them up to an issue I wanted to tackle. We job shadowed executives at various charities and an international trip took us to Argentina where we looked at the needs of various underprivileged communities in Buenos Aires and Patagonia.”  

Changing direction was also a life-changing experience for Julie. She says, “So many causes pull at the heart strings. I didn’t want to sit in my office in Toronto signing cheques to organisations I knew nothing about.” What took the place of MAC was YPI, which connects with children aged 14 to 16 years on a level they wouldn’t normally experience.

 Julie explains, “We work with high school children, and schools, on a community-based philanthropy programme.” Schools are given $5,000 when they participate and as Julie says, “The entire grade has to take it and it becomes part of the curriculum.” The ‘it’ she’s talking about is introducing the children to charitable causes and then having them actively participate with the charity. For instance she relates the story of three girls, who last year, were doing research as a group at a homeless shelter. She says, “During a site visit they stood there debating who should go in first. They even contemplated leaving and pretending they’d been. However, they worked up the courage, did their research, met with a number of people, and have been volunteers there ever since.” This is local grassroots social service which benefits both sides.  Julie says, “It’s really amazing. You have schools where kids from more affluent backgrounds learn about charities they never knew existed. The kids are connected to the community. They have to make a site visit, have to meet the director, and that gets them really involved.”

 Julie’s enthusiasm for the programme is endless. She’s delighted with the response and since its inception in 2002, 12,000 children in Canada have become involved. She says, “I love being hands on and am lucky to be working with youth. It helps these kids develop a greater level of compassion. The world is becoming so much smaller and I think this programme helps.”

 Never one to stand still, Julie says, “I’d like to look at developing our programmes, expand in to the US. A lot of work can be done in the corporate world to help them to become more responsible. We can do something very similar to what we’re doing with youth and get them engaged.” But before she tackles that new frontier she’s bringing her programme to London. 

YPI will be run in London by a partnership between the Toskan Casale Foundation and the Institute of Philanthropy. They are actively looking for financial supporters and are in the process of recruiting at least 10 schools across the spectrum of boys, girls, state and private education. The programme will be adapted to suit the British curriculum, fitting into students work around citizenship. Starting in London and surrounding areas this autumn, the plan is to go nationwide and bring on board 40 schools next year and a further 100 in 2009. And with missionary zeal Julie will coming to London and meeting with teachers before the programme swings into force.

When she sees “kids who felt they couldn’t make a difference change”, she knows she’s doing what matters most. She believes, “Doing what you do when it’s truly your values is so important. I would strongly suggest settling for less income if it makes you happy.” She says, “Eighty percent of the charities we engage with, the kids have never heard of. It’s the opportunity for change that keeps me going. It never stops for me and I’d never want it to.”       

For more information on the YPI contact james@instituteofphilanthropy.org.uk