Nurturing the Young Leaders of Tomorrow
For Youth Initiative (FYI) works to engage youth in community leadership roles where possible to develop transferable skills for the future. During the course of the pandemic, FYI has adapted it’s leadership programs to virtual and hybrid delivery methods.
Black Youth Leadership Program
FYI and the Institute for Change Leaders (ICL) partnered to deliver The Black Youth Leadership Program (BYLP). The program launched by delivering 3 two-day workshops to a total of 49 youth participants in York South Weston, an area that has faced barriers due to low education attainment and high levels of youth poverty as compared to the rest of Toronto. The program taught leadership skills, such as public speaking, communication, and confidence, that young people can apply widely as young changemakers.
Since it’s launch, BYLP has engaged over 200 Black Youth in leadership programming between the ages of 15-24. Twelve youth participants entered leadership roles as consultants, facilitators and event planners. By teaching Black youth how to be leaders, this program ensures that the voices of Black youth are heard, recognized and their stories and feelings are validated and youth are empowered to take actions to change their world.
Girls Night In
Girls Night In (GNI) is a grassroots organization with the mission to address barriers to youth mental health and well being while empowering youth through female mentorship. Their four main areas of focus are post-secondary readiness, mental health awareness, personal identity and civic engagement. GNI aims to provide a safe space for BIPOC women to share their stories, gain advice, build leadership skills and to further build a positive sense of identity. Youth participants will also earn bus tickets, gift cards, and volunteer hours for their weekly attendance and active participation.
Youth Empowering Parents (YEP)
One of FYI’s longest running and successful programs is Youth Empowering Parents (YEP). The program pairs seniors who speak English as a second language with volunteer youth who speak the same language, and then trains youth to deliver one-on-one tutoring to that adult in English and computer skills. The goal is to empower youth to become leaders within their own community and to provide adults with private tutoring education at no cost.
“I learned and developed great skills that I will never forget such as public speaking, how to get points across, how to start a campaign and all the steps to take be successful, and I learned to do so with a group.”
A notable accomplishment from two youth participants was the successful campaign to allow du-rags in school led by Luqman and Hiqman. Hear about their story here.
Elijah
BYLP Youth Facilitator
“My involvement with the Black Youth Leadership Program has been a refuge for me amidst the global pandemic. It has given me a feeling of belonging to a group of aspiring change-makers.In learning the fundamentals of connecting people through a story, we can not only recruit others but build meaningful bonds to eventually unite and make a difference.”