NewsACCESS

Desire to Inspire: Youth Making a Difference Conference announced for fourth year

NewsACCESS

MISSISSAUGA – ACCESS is excited to announce the fourth annual Youth Making a Difference Conference to be held Thursday, April 26, 2012. The aim of Youth Making a Difference is to educate, empower and inspire local youth to make positive change in their community and beyond. Students are given the opportunity to discover their inner passions for social change and transform their ideas into positive action.

The theme of this year’s conference is Desire to Inspire. The event aims to be the catalyst that allows students to discover their passions, by providing the tools and inspiration to take their ideas and turn them into action plans. To assist youth in doing so, a key feature of the 2012 conference involves a session by Kanika Gupta of SoJo. SoJo is an online collection of tools and informational resources to inspire and empower youth to transform your ideas for social change into reality.

The conference promises to be an exciting day of inspiring workshops, performances and presentations. Students will engage in sessions on discovering their own leadership skills and will have the chance to network with a variety of community organizations.

Youth speakers at the conference include a keynote by Abid Virani, Co-Founder and CEO of I Have Hope who shares a message of youth empowerment and hope; Daniel Francavilla, Founder and President of ACCESS: Allowing Children a Chance at Education, a student-run organization that focuses on the importance of education and local youth activism; along with Aian Binlayo, DPCDSB Student Trustee and environmental advocate; and Akhina Mooken, Miss India Canada 2011. More details on the speakers is available here.

The YMAD conference will be held in Mississauga, Ontario at Blessed Trinity (2495 Credit Valley Road) between 9 am to 3 pm on April 26.

The conference is open to all high school students in the Region of Peel. Registration is now open online for students, who are asked to register as a group through an educator at their school here. A nominal fee of $5 per student includes a healthy lunch.

Local non-profit and community organizations are welcome to join ACCESS at YMAD to provide opportunities and information to the young activists in the making. Registration for organizations can be found at this link.

Funding for this year's conference is provided in part by a grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation.

Do you have the desire to inspire? Visit YouthMakingaDifference.ca.

About ACCESS: Allowing Children a Chance at Education, Inc. ACCESS is a youth-run organization aiming to provide needy children in the developing world with school uniforms and necessary school supplies, enabling them with the opportunity to obtain an education for a successful life. ACCESS also aims to educate North American youth about related world issues, and to inspire them to make a difference globally. More information about ACCESS is available here.

Conference Inquiries: ymad@accesscharity.ca Media Inquires: mina@accesscharity.ca