Sydney Piggott is an empowered leader

March 31, 2021

Sydney Piggott is among a growing number of young leaders who are taking a seat at the table.

Last January, she joined Elevate as the Director of Community Engagement.

Founded four years ago, the non-profit organization aims to unite global innovators to solve society’s greatest challenges.

The mandate resonates with Piggott.

“I am co-creating opportunities for career growth through skills training programs in a way that centres community voices,” she said. “I am excited to be part of a team exploring what that looks like and basically bringing under-represented communities closer to opportunity and supporting them along the way.”

Piggott joins Elevate after four years with YWCA Canada that is the country’s oldest and largest women’s multi-service organization. It’s also the biggest national provider of shelter to women.

Starting as a part-time translator in December 2016 after moving from Montreal to Toronto to begin graduate studies at the University of Toronto, she transitioned to Project Co-ordinator and Programs & Projects Manager over the next three years.

A few months after her 27th birthday in the summer of 2019, Piggott was appointed YWCA Canada Director of Programs & Projects.

She oversaw a full-time staff of three, all under the age of 30, and 10 volunteers.

“I really enjoyed my time with the YWCA and I learned so much,” she said. “I got so many opportunities to grow and expand.”

Born and raised in Montreal to immigrants from the United Kingdom and Jamaica, the bilingual Piggott completed her undergraduate degree in International Development Studies at McGill University in 2014 and a Master of Global Affairs four years later at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy where she co-founded the Intersectional Feminist Collective and was a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Scholar and a researcher for the Reach Project that’s an initiative focusing on the delivery of development interventions to the world’s most vulnerable groups.

The Vice-President of McGill’s Student Association Benefitting Education and Life in Africa took a two-year break from school before pursuing graduate studies.

The Munk School program combines training in analytical methods and practical management skills with an immersion in the latest thinking on global issues.

“That break really helped me think about what is it I am passionate about and where I can fit to make effective change,” said Piggott who worked part-time in a retail store while pursuing her undergraduate degree. “The reason I entered the Global Affairs Program is because I have always had an interest in international development and international co-operation. I thought about the role I have played in changing these systems globally that excludes certain people or cause inequities among certain groups. That was what really drove me to be part of the Master of Global Affairs program.

“The other thing that resonated with me is that I am a first generation Canadian coming from two very different backgrounds. I was always interested in what that meant more globally instead of just for me and my family. It was interesting to just connect with other people who have common interests and experiences. I think you don’t always get that in other programs.”

As a Queen Elizabeth Scholar, Piggott spent four months in Capetown, South Africa in the summer of 2017.

She delivered workshops to Grade 11 and 12 students and shared her story of being a mixed-race young woman in Canada.

As a Reach Alliance Research Fellow, Piggott also did research in Ethiopia on food security and gender.

In the summer of 2019, she was among 30 young leaders selected for the annual Mosaic Taiwan Fellowship Exchange Program that is an international diplomacy program for Canadian and American students and young professionals offered by Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

She was one of six Canadians who spent 10 days exploring the East Asia country through workshops, lectures, historic site visits and extensive cultural activities.

“Identified as young leaders in policy spaces, we were excited to go and learn more about the political systems there and the commonalities between our two governments’ policy priority areas,” said Piggott who has a Diploma of College Studies, Commerce from Dawson College and is a Btchcoin News contributor. “I also learnt a lot from the other young people who are all leaders and very passionate about shaping policies and change-making. It was just an incredible learning experience.”

Despite her remarkable accomplishments, Piggott struggles with ‘imposter syndrome’.

“I have grown into leadership roles quite quickly,” she pointed out. “When you look at my growth at YWCA, I went from being a translator to being a Director in such a short time. It’s hard to keep up with your own growth and you sometimes doubt yourself and your ability to do things. There’s also the perception that young people are not capable of leading major projects. I always tell young people they are amazing and they shouldn’t worry about things and they could do anything they want as well as anyone else. I am working on doing that to myself. But the more I reflect on my achievements and the people who have helped me along the journey, I believe I will overcome that self-doubt. What I really liked about the Master program was that it was focused on experiential and practical learning.”

Piggott is contemplating pursuing a PhD.

“I think I would be really interested in continuing to explore the intersections of gender with either financial inclusion or looking at the intersections of gender and climate change,” she said.

Sydney Piggott (Photo contributed)

Piggott is the granddaughter of Dr. Glyne Piggott who is an Emeritus Professor of Linguistics at McGill University. 

In 2010, the university marked the Barbadian-born retirement with a conference titled, ‘Phonology in the 21st Century: In Honour of Glyne Piggott’.

The celebrated scholar holds his granddaughter in high esteem.

“I refer to her as our public intellectual,” the former Canadian Linguistics Association executive member said. “She has in a very profound way a real grasp of the state of the world that belies her age. She also has a real depth of perception of ways in which we can do better.”

Completing an undergraduate degree in 1965 at the University of the West Indies in Jamaica where he met his wife, Sylvia, he started a Master’s before coming to Canada in 1967.

Piggott is incredibly proud to be his maternal granddaughter.

“My grandfather did his PhD at the University of Toronto and that was one of the reasons why I wanted to attend that institution,” said Piggott who has a younger sister. “He’s such a brilliant and caring person who has taught me so much. His support has meant so much to me and other family members. When McGill honoured him with that conference to mark his retirement, I was so emotional.”