When Ahmed Khan walks into a Surrey high school, he's not there to lecture students or hand out life lessons. More often than not, he's lacing up his sneakers for a game of basketball, setting up boxing pads, or ordering pizza. It may seem simple, but for many of the young people he works with, those few hours after school can be the difference between finding a sense of belonging and falling through the cracks.
At just 24, Khan has already built a career around supporting youth who need it most. As part of Surrey Schools' Integrated Child and Youth team, he works with students navigating trauma, mental health challenges, family instability, addictions, and involvement with the justice system. But it was what happened after the school bell rang that ultimately inspired him to create the Safe Spot Foundation.
Khan's own story begins in Punjab, Pakistan, before his family immigrated to Canada when he was seven years old. Like many newcomers, the transition wasn't easy. His father, an orthopedic surgeon back home, found himself working security in Canada. Growing up in Surrey's Newton neighborhood, Khan witnessed the realities of gang violence firsthand. He watched childhood friends become involved in crime, saw others end up in prison, and realized how easily life could have taken a different path. "I was around it," he says matter-of-factly. "I played basketball with them, played soccer with them. Some ended up in jail. It could've gone either way."
His original dream was simple: become a police officer. He enrolled at the Justice Institute of British Columbia and began pursuing a career towards policing when a conversation with one of his former high school counsellors changed everything. Knowing Khan's journey, his counsellor suggested he apply to the Surrey Schools' Safe Schools department. He did, and at just 20 years old, became the youngest person ever hired into the department.
While working as a Safe School Liaison, Khan launched an after-school boys' group for students considered at risk. The program quickly became a safe haven for students who simply needed someone to listen: “Sometimes young people don't need someone to solve all their problems; they just need someone who consistently shows up for them."
Two years later, district funding for the program came to an end. Rather than letting it disappear, Khan decided to continue it himself. He reached out to friends to pitch in for Gatorade, protein bars, and pizza. Schools opened their gyms, and Khan volunteered his evenings. To continue running the program safely and responsibly, he taught himself how to register a nonprofit. That decision became the Safe Spot Foundation.
Today, the foundation runs two streams - free weekly after-school programs, where students spend two hours playing sports, hearing from guest speakers, sharing a meal, and building relationships with mentors who genuinely care. The second is a series of community initiatives that include sports tournaments, homeless outreach initiatives, and more, that extend that sense of belonging beyond school walls.
Khan lights up when he shares the story of one student he has known since Grade 8. Struggling with attendance and mental health, the teenager never believed graduation was within reach. Through Safe Spot, he found consistency, confidence, and purpose. This year, he'll walk across the graduation stage and now serves as a mentor to younger students entering this same program. For Khan, that's the true measure of success.
His vision is ambitious: to expand Safe Spot across British Columbia, reaching communities facing many of the same challenges as Surrey. But he believes lasting change doesn't begin with larger organizations, it begins at home. "I think parents are under so much pressure today," he reflects. "But more than anything, kids need time. They need someone to show up for them."
Sometimes, showing up looks like playing or watching a game of basketball, a slice of pizza, or simply staying back after everyone else has gone home to have one more conversation. For Ahmed Khan, that's exactly where lasting change begins.
