BC Business
Ng mentors students and youth to realize their visions.
Life Story: Franco Ng guesses that he might’ve been a teacher in a past life—but he hates marking things, so in this life it simply wasn’t an option.
“My core of who I am has always been about youth leadership,” he insists. “I find immense joy mentoring students and youth to achieve their dreams.”
He briefly played around with the idea of pursuing law and HR, then scrapped that plan when he realized how long it would take for him to reach a decision-making position within those professions. As someone who was always making decisions as a student leader, that wait wasn’t going to work for him.
In 2018, as a commerce student at UBC, Ng launched nonprofit YouthTalkNation to bridge the gap between ambitious youth and the government with fun and engaging case competitions. And although that venture came to a close with the onset of COVID, Ng’s current business clearly pulls on the same thread.
“Porte Global is an international educational consultancy,” he says of the Vancouver-based organization. It supports parents and their children with academic planning and career prep through mentorship and guidance, and also hosts trips and youth leadership camps like one focused on “real estate familiarization” with Vancouver-based developer ASPAC Developments.
With international corporate partners and six staff on board, Porte currently supports 19 clients across Canada, Hong Kong, China and Singapore.
Bottom Line: Porte Global’s “special sauce,” according to managing director Ng, is helping students build community projects based on their passions. “This revolves around building their own charity or nonprofit, and then, through genuine community impact, have them stand out when they need to apply for universities [or internships],” he explains. Ng adds that, since the organization’s inception in 2021, Porte’s student projects have raised more than $300,000 for local charities.