Bringing together youth-led organizations in Peel Region through Regional Youth Roundtable
MISSISSAUGA, ON – ACCESS is pleased to be supporting the Regional Youth Roundtable, a grassroots initiative bringing together youth-led organizations, alleviating pressures facing minority groups, sharing experiences and advice, and collectively taking action on issues in the community. The Regional Youth Roundtable (RYR) is funded by the Ontario Trillium Foundation's Youth Opportunities Fund with the Organizational Mentorship of ACCESS.
Formally launched in Fall 2014, the the group hopes to offer support towards all youth-led organizations in Peel Region, helping them grow and reach their full potential thanks to collaboration, events and community consultations.
ACCESS is providing the RYR team with organizational development and ongoing mentorship, supporting the young leaders in creating change in their community.
Daniel Francavilla, who founded ACCESS in 2006 as a high school student, is pleased to be supporting the initiative:
"Connecting the Peel non-profit community has always been a goal for ACCESS, where we have promoted collaboration over competition. ACCESS is proud to support the Regional Youth Roundtable in uniting the region's many youth-led organizations. It is an honour to be working with such dedicated, talented youth, working towards key issues affecting youth in the community."
The RYR Team was thrilled to have hosted a successful launch event at Mississauga City Hall's C Cafe on September 20, where over 30 executive members of youth-led organizations across Peel Region came together to celebrate the launch of RYR.
Emilia Nowicki, Communications Officer of RYR was very moved by the turnout:
Seeing so many passionate members from different organizations come together and find their common interest in simply wanting to help others and make a change in the world was so inspiring. It made our team believe that the Roundtable is on the right path towards improving our community, and that this is only the beginning.
Trevor Sookraj, a high-school student from Mississauga, is the Founder and Executive Director of the Regional Youth Roundtable and is excited to see his concept coming to life:
It started as an idea and now it's a reality. The support over the past few months has been incredible. The dynamics of having so many organizations in the same room was incredible for the launch, and we can only expect more from our Roundtable meetings with a solid focus.
The Regional Youth Roundtable team has begun work on planning and executing their goals for the 2014-2015 year. The team hopes to create strong relationships among their member organizations, helping to increase their members' awareness and outreach. The RYR hopes to serve as a platform for the sharing of best practices and useful resources, networking, and representing leadership initiatives and activities in Peel Region.
The organization will also help to raise awareness about several issues concerning youth through different media campaigns, consultations, and events. Groups such as LGBTQ+ youth, disabled youth, and newcomer youth have been identified by RYR and the Youth Opportunities Fund as a focus. Member organizations will meet once a month with the Roundtable Team to discuss goals, aspirations, and future plans, based on their collaborative efforts.
The Regional Youth Roundtable is providing youth of Peel Region with a brand-new perspective on how to make a difference in the community, through working together. The RYR hopes to prove that although the region's many initiatives are valuable individually, they can grow to become significantly stronger and drive greater change by collaborating and inspiring one another.
For more about the program, visit YouthRoundtable.ca, and connect on Twitter and Facebook.
Media Inquires Emilia Nowicki | Communications Officer, Regional Youth Roundtable | peelcomm@youthroundtable.ca Daniel Francavilla | Founder and Executive Director, ACCESS | daniel@accesscharity.ca
The Journey Continues: Reflecting on 2013
ACCESS reflects and looks ahead in annual message
One year in the life of a youth-run, non-profit organization quickly passes – yet is jam-packed with progress, challenges, changes and goals. The calendar year of 2013 – the final year of our 2-year Ontario Trillium Foundation funding – included much planning and change as we continued to deliver fresh programming and active community involvement.
The last few years, I have written a year-end message in a format similar to this. For 2013 I would like to note that, while this is a list and description of major activity, there are countless contributions, presentations, events, acts of kindness, student stories, connections, meetings, role changes, partnerships and more that would leave this page crowded and in-cohesive. We are proud and thankful of the dedication of our team, partners, funders, volunteers and of program participants who have been present at various points throughout the year. The journey continues, as ACCESS and its team evolves and grows.
I would like to thank you for taking the time to read on, even briefly, to recap ACCESS' busy year.
In January, we kicked off 2013 by opening registration for our Youth Making a Difference Conference, hosting an Innovation Challenge, working with our Team Empower students, and fundraising at York University. We will take you through everything as briefly as possible, below.
Take-Off for Team Empower Team Empower, our pilot Youth Ambassador program, emerged in the 2012-2013 school year, geared toward high school students who want to become leaders and have the passion to go out and inspire positive change – starting in their own high schools. Ambassadors from across the Peel Region – representing schools from both Peel District School Board and Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board – attended regular sessions with guest speakers, organized their own events, and hosted ACCESS workshops within their schools.
Continued Activity from ACCESS U Campus Clubs Our active chapter at Wilfrid Laurier University, ACCESS U – Laurier, hosted the Laurier Innovation Challenge with LiTC. Focused on social entrepreneurship, the case challenge focused on Education and creating a stronger system for students, offering young leaders a chance to to collaborate around an important topic. A summary of the event is at accessu.ca/futureofeducation. Also in 2013, new ACCESS U Campus Clubs have launched at both the University of Waterloo and McMaster University.
Community Challenge: Youth Making a Difference Conference, Spring 2013 On the World Day of Social Justice in February, we hosted our 5th Annual Youth Making a Difference Conference. Our largest YMAD to date, the event took place at University of Toronto Mississauga, and featured a huge variety of speakers and facilitators – from a social entrepreneur visiting from Ghana to an empowering keynote on from a creativity architect, community builder and designer. We hosted 5 distinct topics – Poverty Alleviation, Environmental Issues, Diversity and Inclusion, Aboriginal Issues, and Mental Health – with local experts on each. Some of our favourite feedback came from students on Twitter, which can be read here. The local news filmed a feature story, available below.
Speaking Up for Change in-person with Youth Workshops In April, we hosted our first-ever Speak Up for Change Workshop Series – free workshops for youth, with discussion centred on key social issues. The theme of this series revolved around Bullying and Inclusion – issues which had taken centre stage in the news, and in the minds of many young people (including those at our YMAD conference). We have made the free workshops available on YouTube. This series was an opportunity for our Media/Journalism Co-Op student from University of Guelph-Humber to be involved in the planning, promotion and coverage of a youth program (based around our own media platform, SpeakUpForChange.ca).
Working with ACCESS: Student Placements Throughout the Summer at ACCESS, we had the opportunity to welcome 2 High-School Co-Op students and one intern. The students gained experience in the Non-Profit Sector, a requirement of their Specialist High Skills Major.
Making Connections The summer and fall included networking and new connections for our future direction. We partnered with a group of youth innovators to host a first for Peel Region: A collaborative discussion on Youth Social Entrepreneurship, in the format of a GenImpact Social. Earlier in the year, we participated in Community Consultations with the United Way of Peel Region's Young Leaders Council, developed and facilitated a Diversity/Equity conference for a Brampton Family of Schools in the DPCDSB, and spoke at Be Good Be Social on using Social Media for Social Good, to name a few.
YMAD6: Youth Making a Difference Conference, Fall 2013 In November, we hosted our 6th Youth Making a Difference Conference, this time re-designed to be fast-paced and highly participatory, on a smaller scale. Students learned and practiced skills needed for social action. They created concepts in groups, of which we selected 3 projects (from 2 high-schools in Mississauga and Brampton) to work with ACCESS and their schools to have their projects developed and turned into action. A recap with videos is available on our YMAD website.
Collaboration to Continue: Speak Up for Change Workshops with STEP As a young grassroots group, the STEP team has been working with ACCESS to develop and strengthen their student-run organization, so we decided to work with STEP to develop and plan our next Speak Up for Change Workshop Series. The goal of these free workshops is to provide youth in the Peel Region with the opportunity to become aware of their potential to take action and collaborate. With one being hosted this month in December, a 3-part series is planned for February 2014.
Transitioning Our Location As our 2-year grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation comes to an end, so does our time at The Community Door, which has been our home-base in Brampton since the spring of 2012. While we have officially moved out of this office, ACCESS remains an active member of the Brampton and Mississauga communities, and works with many Peel-based organizations. In 2014, in addition to our work in Peel, we will have a home in Toronto — helping us to serve the GTA region as a whole.
A Really Big Thank-You. We experienced transitions and triumphs, and sincerely appreciate your support. For all of our announcements this past year, visit accesscharity.ca/2013 and our active Facebook Page and Twitter.
On behalf of the ACCESS team, best wishes to you for the upcoming year!
Daniel Francavilla, Founder + Executive Director ACCESS: Allowing Children a Chance at Education
Ontario Trillium Foundation grant helping youth to make a difference
MISSISSAUGA, ON – ACCESS: Allowing Children a Chance at Education, Inc. is delighted to announce that they have received funding from the Ontario Trillium Foundation in support of local youth development programs. The funding, to be granted over two years, will build the capacity of this youth-led organization to expand local programming, including the Speak Up for Change program and the spring Youth Making a Difference Conference, so that youth will become more socially aware and engaged in the Region of Peel. Funding will also support staffing and operational expenses to further organizational growth and program delivery.
"The Ontario Trillium Foundation is helping to empower young people to become problem solvers in their own communities, said Louroz Mercader, Board Chair. "This grant will maximize the impact of our efforts, encourage innovation and inspire life-long engagements through volunteerism."
ACCESS, which celebrated its fifth anniversary in March 2011, has a dedicated team of youth and advisors ready to take action and make a positive impact.
"Receiving significant financial support from the Ontario Trillium Foundation is a huge step forward for ACCESS, particularly as a youth-run organization," stated Daniel Francavilla, who founded the organization as a high school student in 2006. "I am very excited about implementing the incredible ideas and initiatives our team has been planning."
"I am pleased that this grant will provide ACCESS with funding for an office location, staffing and an opportunity to expand their youth programming," said Linda Jeffrey, MPP for Brampton-Springdale. "Their dedication to help local students become active community members as well as assisting students in the developing world is commendable."
ACCESS looks forward to expanding its programming as the organization continues to make positive change both locally and abroad.
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.
Media Inquires: info@accesscharity.ca | 647-893-7504 Partnership or Sponsorship: mark@accesscharity.ca