BCBusiness
Stephanie Quon, founder and executive director of The Sprouts Initiative, is a winner in the Rising Stars category of the 2025 Women of the Year Awards
Given that she’s a first-year medical student training for a half-marathon, it’s hard to imagine where Stephanie Quon finds the time to also run her 300-person volunteer organization, The Sprouts Initiative.
Founded in 2017, The Sprouts Initiative initially tackled food waste in Metro Vancouver, where Quon and volunteers donated end-of-day leftovers from bakeries and stores to shelters. Over 15,000 donated meals later, the grassroots organization has grown not only in size, it has also expanded into collaborative projects with the Canadian Accessibility Network.
“We’re trying to work on community-based projects and create resources, especially for people with disabilities, both working in health care and accessing health care,” Quon says. These projects could be as simple as installing automatic doors and ramps, or creating braille signage or accessible washrooms with more space and automatic faucets.
“A lot of times, organizations have needs that they’ve identified,” Quon says, noting that these upgrades are sometimes put on the back burner. So, Quon reaches out directly to organizations like BC Centre for Ability, the Adaptive Sailing Association of BC or the Disabled Independent Gardeners Association to collaborate. “It’s nice that I can come in and just volunteer and help in a meaningful way,” she says. And it’s been easy to see the results of these projects, because they are changing physical infrastructure around Metro Vancouver.
It’s also handy that Quon has a degree in mechanical engineering, something she put to good use for creating projects like a sensory room at UBC for neurodiverse students. “I think back to myself when I started that project and I think, wow, I really just went for it,” she recalls. “I’d be kind of afraid to send out those emails and push so hard for these things that I don’t really know that much about,” she adds. “I feel proud of my past self for just being willing to try.”
As for her future self, Quon hopes to work on as many health-care accessibility projects as she can, expanding beyond Metro Vancouver and into systemic change via advocacy in the next few years. “Given that so many people in their lifetime would have some experience of a disability, whether that’s permanent or temporary, I think it’s just really meaningful to try to create a more equitable and inclusive space,” she says.
Discover our full list of 21 BCBusiness 2025 Women of the Year award winners here.