Juliana Maria Manalo
Juliana Maria Manalo is BBA Student doing a joint major in Communications and Media, as well as a minor in Sustainable Development at Simon Fraser University and is the Founder & CEO of the Vancouver Kindness Movement. With over four years of community leadership experience, she is passionate about youth empowerment, social impact, and building more compassionate cities. Juliana works across media, advocacy, and community organizing to create initiatives that centre kindness, sustainability, and equity.
Plant It Forward: Roots of Kindness
The Vancouver Kindness Movement (VKM) is a youth-led nonprofit organization that has engaged over 500+ youth and community members through workshops, clean-ups, sandwich drives, and kindness campaigns across Metro Vancouver. Over the past 5 years, VKM has facilitated 30+ community initiatives, mobilized dozens of volunteers annually, and reached thousands through digital storytelling, fostering measurable youth leadership and local impact.
https://www.vancouverkindnessmovement.org/About this Project
Communities Served
My project will involve and/or impact the following communities:
United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
When it comes to community impact projects, the UN has created 17 Sustainable Development Goals. These are the Sustainable Development Goals associated with my project.
How the project works
Plant It Forward delivers three youth workshops between May–August 2026 across Metro Vancouver. Youth will create plantable seed cards featuring Indigenous co-designed artwork, reflect on kindness through guided activities, and plant native wildflower seeds. A pilot session will refine the curriculum before full rollout, supported by local community and Indigenous partners.
Project Impact
Plant It Forward will engage with over 120+ youth through three hands-on workshops, distributing over 150+ plantable seed cards embedded with native wildflowers. The project strengthens youth connection, cultural respect, and environmental stewardship while building four community partnerships. Participants leave with tangible tools to practice kindness and contribute to local pollinator regeneration.
Project Mission
Plant It Forward’s mission is to empower youth to connect kindness with environmental stewardship and Indigenous collaboration. Through three hands-on seed card workshops, the project fosters creativity, cultural respect, and pollinator regeneration. Its goal is to build four community partnerships and provide tangible, youth-led opportunities for meaningful social and ecological impact.
Project Team
Youth-led team supported by VKM volunteers and Indigenous collaborators.
- Juliana Maria Manalo (Project Lead)
- Ronit Venkatachellum (Finance Lead)
- Armaan Thandhi (Co-Sustainability Lead)
- Riley Williams (Co-Sustainability Lead)
- Christel Mazzek (Marketing Lead)
- Izaak Yip (Coordinator)
- VKM Team and Ambassadors
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