CEO - Julie Spence
Julie Spence, Founder of Spelling Bee of Canada has always had a passion for education and uplifting the youth through literacy. As a child she fondly remembers Spelling Bees being a popular activity for children in Jamaica engaging and bringing communities together.
In the mid-80s, she founded Spelling Bee of Canada after hearing former provincial Minister of Education Sean Conway plead with parents to be more involved in their children’s education. She wanted to provide a fun learning activity for students that would provide them with transferable skills such as public speaking, confidence, literacy, and a love of learning.
Thus SBOC was born, and Launched in 1987 with 30 students. Since then Julie along with, parent’s teachers and caring community members have all helped to grow the organization, which to date has involved more than 70,000 youth from 33 chapters across Canada including a French Spelling Bee and Spelling Bees in Indigenous Communities. Julie has always prided herself on serving others, uplifting people along the way and never losing focus on bringing families and communities together.
Alongside the board of directors, volunteers, parents, guardians, care givers, teachers, Chapter Presidents, businesses and government agencies, and officials Julie has been able to bring people together with a common goal of better outcomes for youth in literacy and education. In her spare time, Julie likes to spend time with her family, enjoy her backyard and garden, play games, read, and volunteer at her church.