Marcelo König Sarkis knows that small actions can have big impact

A professional engineer and accomplished patent agent with his own firm in Toronto and Peterborough, Ont., Marcelo König Sarkis has been giving back to the TMU community for decades. He was a director of the Alumni Association and a former alumni representative on the university’s Senate. He also established a scholarship for international students in FEAS.

The first person in his family to go beyond high school, Marcelo’s own humble beginnings as a child of immigrants and an immigrant himself has helped to inform his thoughtful choices in giving back to his alma mater. “I think it’s important that new Canadians feel that they’re welcomed and … that there are opportunities to help them in their post-secondary education,” he said. “My parents were not wealthy by any means so I can understand what it takes to be successful in academics, and you want to hopefully be able to set the financial requirements aside so you can focus on academics, so that to me was definitely an important factor.”

In Peterborough, Marcelo was a board member of the New Canadians Centre and runs the non-profit Blue Wave Taekwondo club. A longtime certified master of this martial art — including competing at the 2023 Seongnam World Taekwondo Hanmadang Championship in South Korea — Marcelo saw a need to create community for recent newcomers. 

“We offer free lessons and a free uniform. And it’s a way as far as I’m concerned to integrate newcomers,” he said. To date, displaced youth from countries such as Syria, Ukraine and Iran have found a safe space and built new friendships.

Small actions can have a big impact, as Marcelo notes. “Giving back and volunteering is important because you just don’t know what sort of impact you’re going to have on someone, with just a little bit of help.”

Just a little bit of help can make a difference. Consider giving today.