Praveen Varkey

Praveen Varkey, a Registered Social Worker, Community Builder, Educator, Human Rights Activist and Social Entrepreneur identified the need for benevolent initiatives for society, and being a follower of the Conservative ideologies, he understood the need for similar thinking for social and community upliftment.
With more than 16 years of experience in social work and Community development, he has a deep understanding of the importance of diversity in society and community needs in the political realm. Visionary thinking for society, an open and supportive mindset to develop communities and a firm believer in social equality and unbiased governance.
==Family Life==
Praveen Varkey, along with his parents, spouse and three children leads a cherishing and settled life in Mississauga, Ontario. His wife is also a renowned Social Worker and is currently working at William Osler Health System, Brampton. His family, including his father, holds a very noble vision and is a great supporter of community development, social upliftment, and Conservative ideologies.
==Early Life - India==
Of Indian origin, Praveen Varkey was inspired and motivated towards the social work profession by his father. While staying in India, he was involved in a plethora of Social service activities. Nonetheless, we can witness its glance from his academic qualifications. He is a master’s degree holder in Social Work (MSW) from a renowned Indian University.
Additionally, Praveen has always been inclined towards teaching and mentorship. Pursuing this dream, he qualified for the University Grants Commission National Eligibility Test (UGC-NET) for Lectureship in Social Work. UGC-NET is not only a pinnacle national-level test for teaching curriculum, but also a coveted one.
From the perspective of Social Work Practice, he contributed to society by working with the following organizations and for people living with HIV/AIDS and vulnerable children.
•	2010-2011: Karnataka Health Promotion Trust
•	2009-2010 Sneha Charitable Trust 
•	2006-2008: Karnataka Network for People Living with HIV/AIDS
==Early Life - Canada==
He moved to Canada from India in October 2011 with his spouse and one-year-old son. Like many newcomers, Praveen Varkey started as a factory worker in Canada. He faced many difficulties and struggled his way through many hurdles after arriving in Canada.
Amidst all hardships, he completed and earned his MSW-equivalent credential from the Canadian Association of Social Workers (CASW). This enabled him to obtain a license from the Ontario College of Social Work and Social Service Workers (OCSWSSW) and become a Registered Social Worker in Ontario Province. He started practicing social work in Ontario in 2012
It was his ability to adapt to changes, extraordinary networking skills, quick learning capabilities and extensive volunteering experience in Social Work and Community Building that helped him to bag the opportunity of the Social Work profession in Ontario Province within six months of being in Canada.
==Social Work in Canada==
Praveen Varkey started his professional career in Social Work in Canada in April 2012 and got associated with many organizations of repute as follows:
•	June 2017 - till date: Complex Medicine at Peel Memorial Hospital, Brampton as a Social Worker
•	September 2015 - July 2021: Ontario Health (Earlier Mississauga Halton LHIN/CCAC) as Care Coordinator
•	April 2012 - September 2016: Cooksville Care Centre, Mississauga as a Social Worker
During his career, he worked as part of a multidisciplinary team in Hospital, Long-term care home, inpatient rehab and Ontario Health Home and Community support services. He served Seniors, New immigrants, Refugees, Rehabilitation Clients, Palliative patients, Medically Complex patients, Motor Vehicle Accident victims, MS, ALS, stroke survivors, Domestic violence, and elder abuse victims.
Working with various reputed organizations, stakeholders and people imbibed in him with expertise in system navigation, service coordination, complex case management and crisis intervention. Possession of such experience and expertise enabled him to help his clients overcome systemic barriers and improve their overall quality of life.
Furthermore, he extended his scope of the Social Work profession and lent his consultancy, completely free of cost, to many organizations and community members largely.
==Community Service Works in Canada==
Being in India and even after reaching Canada, Praveen Varkey was very strongly connected to diverse communities. His interest in Social Work, Sports, Celebration of Culture and Community development has created multiple avenues for him to associate
•	Member Brampton Spikers Volleyball Club
•	Lifetime Member, Team Canadian Lions
•	Lifetime Member, Mississauga Kerala Association
•	Lifetime Member, Toronto Malayali Samajam
•	Member Ontario Association of Social Workers (OASW)
Additionally, his deep engagement in community tasks enabled him to achieve Collaboration and partnership with some of the pinnacle organizations in Canada like:
•	Consulate General of India Toronto 
•	Federation of Sierra Leonean Community Canada 
•	Catholic Cross-cultural services 
•	Canadian Blood Services 
•	The Law Office of Chris Lamannil 
•	In Touch Counseling Service 
•	Easy Speak Speech & Language Pathology Clinic 
•	Stay in Place Senior Care 
•	Healthy Minds Counseling Service 
•	Goodera International 
•	Golden Key International McMaster Chapter 
•	Society for Entrepreneurship Integrated Development 
•	Inter-Cultural dialogue & exchange-India
==Educator==
By extending his support to the diverse communities, Praveen Varkey felt that he may not be enough to cater to the needs of the community members. He planned to educate students and to support his vision and build a task force to address community needs. To fulfill this objective, he started educating social work aspirants, Social Service workers and Community service Work students of the following institutions as an Honorary Preceptor:
•	Sheridan College, Brampton 
•	Centennial College, Scarborough 
•	Computek College, Scarborough
•	Canadian All Care College, Scarborough
Media Engagement
Alongside, Mr. Praveen Varkey holds Media Engagement as a Secretary of C-News Live, Canada that helps him the entire Canada view the community news and happenings with the ushering response. This gives him great support in community building as well.
Network Builder and Social Entrepreneur
Praveen Varkey, being a voice for Humanity and community upliftment, is not only confined to the geographical limits of Canada. He has an active presence on social media with more than 100,000 followers in his network. He has presented his opinions and doctrines in his network not only on social, community or political fronts of Canada, but has also addressed global issues. As a veteran speaker, he recently organized a webinar on Economic Immigration after the announcement of the increase in the intake of immigrants in Canada to cope up with labour shortages.
Human Right Activist
Praveen Varkey has made international contributions in various initiatives related to Human Rights. Recently, he raised support for Bill C-281 from his network with the intention of registering maximum votes in support of the bill. Bill C-281 is of global concern and Canada is now again paving its path to becoming a Human Rights leader and the nation is now in need of persons like Praveen to make this mission successful.
Journey of Ontario Heroes
A visionary, an eminent speaker, an influential networker, a resource person, an expert in Crisis intervention, effective counsellor; the combination of all these qualities gave him the identity of a social and community icon. His social entrepreneurship journey started in 2020 when he founded Ontario Heroes Health and Social Services (OHHSS).
Ontario Heroes Health and Social Services (OHHSS) is a federally registered non-profit organization providing Health, Legal, Social Services, Professional Mentorship, housing, and employment linkages to the Canadian community on a volunteer basis. The services of the organization aim to benefit Canadian citizens, permanent residents, new immigrants, refugees, visitors, seniors, domestic and international students, and various communities.
Within a span of 36 months, OHHSS has made some remarkable accomplishments under the flagship of Praveen Varkey as its CEO.
•	It holds more than 250 selfless professional volunteers and represents 17 nationalities 
•	Volunteers are from 30 diverse professional and ethnic backgrounds across Canada
•	The team handles services in 17 different languages
•	Has provided over 18500 hours of professional consultation and service coordination to the diverse community members across Canada
•	Established a 24/7 helpline for international students and their parents 
•	All services are completely free without any type of charge or fee.
•	Hosted mega event for the public “Heroes fest 2022” to embrace humanity, Volunteerism and celebrate culture and diversity. 800 members participated in the event
•	Partnered with RBC and announced Ontario Heroes National Volunteer Awards 2022 to recognize the Volunteers who selflessly served the community during Heroes Fest 2022.
•	Hosted Healthcare Excellence Award 2023 in Partnership with Asianet News
All the services provided by OHHSS are completely volunteer-driven to embrace the value of volunteerism, humanity, diversity, equity and inclusiveness. In a short span Ontario Heroes complimented Canada's existing Health, Legal and Social Service system by supplementing 18000 hours of professional Consultation under the flagship of Praveen Varkey. His vision was aligned based on Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) of Canada.
National Expansion: 
The organization has thrived and expanded its reach by establishing chapters in Alberta and Nova Scotia, demonstrating its commitment to serving communities across Canada, North America, and India.
Political Involvement in Canada
When Praveen Varkey landed in Canada in 2011, the political grounds being led by Mr. Stephen Harper, the then Prime Minister of Canada. He was very much attracted towards the Conservative ideologies and Economic Immigration policy. He became an ardent follower of Mr. Harper and started to grasp the Conservative thinking-process.
Although he was following the Conservative Party ideologies and was passively being part of its campaign. In 2019, he started to make active contributions in its activities. His contribution was marked when in 2019, the kick-off meeting for the campaign of Mr. Tom Varghese was hosted in his house. Previously, he was also an active participant in the provincial election campaign for Mr. Deepak Anand in 2018 from the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.
He has a strong faith that it is proper leadership under the umbrella of Conservative Party of Canada that can guide the Canadian society and the communities living hereby to a stage of economical and political liberalization. This belief greatly supported by his ability to build and grow communities through the art of social and communal contributions ushers a great essence of leadership qualities within Praveen.
Nonetheless, these visions and special potentials of Praveen are greatly at par with the Conservative principles in the process of social and community growth. Being part of leadership teams operating in global initiatives, it is worth mentioning that Praveen holds the merits to participate in the national growth process of Canada.
Praveen Varkey's impressive career and dedication to social work and community development have significantly impacted the lives of countless individuals and communities. His work with Ontario Heroes and his commitment to volunteer-driven services reflects his unwavering commitment to enhancing the global community.
Website: https://praveenvarkey.com/
Category:Social workers
Category:Community building
Category:Educators
Category:Human rights activists
Category:Social entrepreneurs