For immediate release
This year Vision Youth is partnering up with Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work,
University of Toronto and Institute for
Change Leaders, Toronto Metropolitan University to offer our 6-month
accelerator program, Social Innovation Academy (SIA), that helps
connect youth with cutting-edge thinking and hands-on experience that cultivate
their interest and engagement in finding solutions to local community
issues.
This opportunity not only leads to
skill enhancement, and confidence building as they navigate towards adulthood,
but also helps them realize their leadership potential as they solve community
challenges. We will support them with a variety of mentorship, coaching, skills
development, networking, and resources.
As a celebration to start the Social Innovation
Academy 2022, we have organized a special forum –
“Inspire to Lead”. We have invited the successful social
enterprises in Toronto to tell our audiences on why and how they started their
social enterprises to help others. On our panel this year, we have the
Co-founder of Project 5K – Vincent Chan, Co-Founder of Urban Minds – Ryan Lo, Dot Dot Fire - Content developer and Partnership development –
Sabrina Au, Executive Director and In-house legal counsel
of the Legacy of Hope – Teresa Edwards. Corporate Consultant and Leadership
Development Specialist – Philip Lai will be the moderator.
The “Inspire and Lead” forum is open
to the public. Please register at the following Eventbrite link to
register for the open forum -
Date : Oct 29 2022
Time : 10 am to 12 noon
Venue: Room 548, Factor-Inwentash Faculty of
Social Work, University of Toronto, 246 Bloor St W, Toronto, ON M5S 1V4
Media are welcome to cover our forum. Please
email eric.li@visionyouth.ca to confirm your attendance.
We still have a few spots for the SIA 2022 .
Please visit www.visionyouth.ca for registration and to view last year’s
demo day and projects. Please direct email inquiry to hello@visionyouth.ca or call 416-800-4040
Program Overview
Who: Teens 15 – 19 years old in the Greater Toronto Area
When: October 2022 through March 2023
Where: Room 548, Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, University of
Toronto, 246 Bloor St W, Toronto, ON M5S 1V4
What: Students participate in workshops designed to teach the skills
necessary to launch social impact projects, awareness campaigns, and non-profit
organizations. These 6 online workshops, taught by industry and non-profit
experts, teach the students skills such as social entrepreneurship, event
planning, budgeting, research and development, networking, and more.
At the end of the program, each participant
along with their team will present a proposal of their solution for their
chosen local community issue. One team will become the recipient of the $1,000
Vision Youth Social Innovation Academy grant, which will help them fund the
pilot of their solution.
About Last Year’s Cohort
Last years inaugural academy had over 30 graduates. Six teams of
youths completed their online training and pitched their project idea to the
panel of judges on demo day with hope to get resources to scale and implement
their project. Each team presented their issues and
pilot program proposal. The initiatives included:
· Reconciliation with First Nation
· Education with a focus on
analytical and critical thinking skills
· Youth Homelessness
· Youth Mental Health
Project Bawaajigan is a good example. A
group from the last year’s cohort worked with Indigenous groups, created the
project aims to help educate and create a community around advocating for
Indigenous Rights. They also Promotes Indigenous initiatives, movements
and businesses on Social media. The group choose one topic every week to
education and generate discussion on social media.
About Vision Youth
Founded in 2001 and 100% operated by volunteers,
the Vision Youth Leadership Program cultivates and empowers emerging young
leaders to create solutions to challenges facing their communities. We believe
youth are a driving force in creating positive changes in the world and so we
challenge them to rise above and ignite the spark within that
would inspire them to take responsibility for their communities. Our
impact to date:
· Over 1,200 Vision Youth
Program Graduates
· Over 200 Community
Service Projects Completed
· Over 33,000 Community
Service Hours Performed
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Media Contact
Eric Li, Vision Youth
Tel. (416) 473-9844
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