Students develop social good projects at 6th Youth Making a Difference Conference

On November 13, ACCESS hosted its 6th Youth Making a Difference Conference. The event provided a unique opportunity for high school students in the Peel Region, consistent with all components of "Educate, Empower, Inspire".

The Fall 2013 Youth Making a Difference Conference was re-designed to be fast-paced, exciting, and highly participatory, where students learned and practiced skills needed for social action.

The event featured activities, stories and instructions to help students start socially-focused projects, and was hosted by the ACCESS team at the Brampton Community Door. Students worked in smaller groups and produced tangible results.

Students were exposed to and gained experience in Organizational Development (lead by Student Leadership Development Coordinator David Ip Yam), Organizational Branding (lead by Designer Daniel Francavilla), Concept Development and Brainstorming (lead by Designer and Engineer Damon Pfaff), and Press Release and Social Media Planning (lead by Non-Profit Consultant Shaneeza Nazseer). These facilitators were on-hand to guide students through their projects.

The conference was beneficial to youth with a variety of interests and passions. Students interested in social justice, local and global activism, social entrepreneurship, and in starting their own projects found valuable resources at YMAD6. The conference incorporated creativity, design, business, strategy, and community service.

A goal was for students to experience a sense of community and collaboration in a fast-paced environment, while working towards a positive outcome.

"It was an amazing conference. My students came back pumped and inspired," was the feedback received by an educator who has attended several ACCESS events with students. "Thanks for your continued leadership and direction."

Students taking action beyond the conference

Student concepts were evaluated and winning projects have been selected from John Cabot Secondary School in Mississauga and St. Edmund Campion Secondary School in Brampton. These groups will be working with ACCESS and their schools to have their projects developed and turned into action this year.

"There is a huge benefit for students to both brainstorm and develop projects as a team and then have the ability and support to execute them," said Daniel Francavilla, ACCESS Executive Director.

"We are committed to helping these students create social change in their community, using their own skills and interests."

ACCESS will be sharing the details and stories of the student projects in the coming months.

For more photos from the conference, visit this gallery on the ACCESS Facebook Page.

ACCESS to host 5th Youth Making a Difference Conference: Community Challenge

ACCESS is proud to announce its fifth annual Youth Making a Difference Conference to be held at the University of Toronto – Mississauga Campus on February 20, 2013. ACCESS is challenging the community to come together for social change – starting at the grassroots level – through local youth. Registration for schools is now open at ymad.ca/register.

The conference aims to highlight interdisciplinary skills through a case competition assessing current local and global issues, while fostering key relationships through a variety of mediums – including networking opportunities, inspiring speeches, and Community Challenges. The Community Challenge topics range in topics from Human Rights to Aboriginal issues.

ACCESS is a youth-run, non-profit organization providing education opportunities to youth in developing countries, while raising awareness and inspiring youth locally to become leaders. Though the Community Challenge, ACCESS strives to inspire youth to work towards change in their communities through a realization of their individual strengths.

“The Youth Making a Difference Conference doesn’t tell youth what to think; it asks youth how they want to confront issues affecting their local and global community. The collaborative nature of finding resolutions to the Community Challenges mimics the real world as a democratic collaborative space. The conference underlines important for youth to feel empowered in decision making in the future of their communities.”

– Damon Pfaff, Youth Making a Difference Coordinator

This daylong conference invites 200 high school students from across the Region of Peel to participate – individually, with their schools, and within in teams – to evaluate concerns and come up with real-world solutions that make a difference.

We invite community organizations to get involved through becoming a Community Change Agent: ymad.ca/ChangeAgent

Register now online at ymad.ca/register.

View or Download the full School Registration Package below.

Media Inquiries: Aminah Haghighi, Communications & Outreach Director | mina@accesscharity.ca Sponsorship Inquiries: Mark Llanes, Director of Finance | mark@accesscharity.ca Programming Inquiries: Damon Pfaff, Youth Making a Difference Coordinator | damon@accesscharity.ca

About ACCESS: Allowing Children a Chance at Education, Inc. ACCESS is a youth-run, non-profit organization that facilitates education and empathetic leadership development through initiatives that engage, inspire, and motivate youth to drive positive change, locally and globally. ACCESS envisions the empowerment of generations of leaders through education in order to inspire meaningful development in their own communities.

Youth Making a Difference Workshop for high school students opens registration

BRAMPTON - The second annual Youth Making a Difference Workshop, hosted by the local youth-run non-profit ACCESS Charity, is being held on March 24, 2010 in Brampton, Ontario. Registration is due March 5.

The purpose of the event is to educate, empower, raise awareness and work in solidarity for change with the youth in Peel Region and beyond. Inspiring guest speakers, community service opportunities, engaging activities and exciting performances await local high school students.

This year's workshop theme is Passion to Action, based on youth putting their passions into action; becoming active and involved in issues that are important to them. One of the goals is to encourage and enable youth to engage with community-based organizations to explore opportunities to transform their interests into action through local volunteerism.

What: Youth Making a Difference Workshop (Passion to Action)
When: Wednesday, March 24, 2010 from 9:00 am - 2:00 pm
Where: Century Gardens Recreation Centre (340 Vodden St E)
Who: Secondary School Students from Peel Region, non-profits

Register by Friday, March 5, 2010
Online: www.youthmakingadifference.ca
$10 per student (includes lunch and event materials)

• Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board Registration
  
• Peel District School Board and Organization Registration
  
• Youth Volunteer Registration Form

Event Schedule, participating organizations, and a promotional video are also available on the event website. A printable poster (11" x 17") can be downloaded here.

Last year's workshop, held in Brampton in May 2009, was an initiative of ACCESS Charity and Continental Rescue Africa, both local youth-run organizations. This year, the event is hosted by ACCESS and is funded in part by the Youth in Action Grant (United Way & Region of Peel) and is supported by the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board, Institute for Youth Citizenship, Brampton Mayor's Youth Team, and Rapport Youth & Family Services.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KSfI-buLWE]

ACCESS: Allowing Children a Chance at Education, Inc. 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. For more information and resources, please visit www.accesscharity.ca.

Media Inquiries:
Daniel Francavilla, President | daniel@accesscharity.ca
Kody Robinson, PR Coordinator | kody@accesscharity.ca

- 30 -

Grant for Workshop: Peel Region and United Way invest in the region's youngest leaders

Peel Region and United Way invest in the region's youngest leaders

ACCESS is one of eleven projects led and organized by youth in Peel that are receiving a Youth in Action grant. The grants are jointly funded by United Way and the Region of Peel.

ACCESS will be applying the funds to the Youth Making a Difference Workshop, being held in March 2010.

“Youth leadership and activism is beginning to explode within Peel Region,” said Vanessa Mui, Co-Chair of the Youth in Action Review Panel and Executive Member of United Way’s Young Leaders Council. “They are passionate and ready to act on issues that deeply concern them and impact their community. We are excited to be working with them and harnessing their contagious energy.”

This spring's Youth Making a Difference Workshop will provide excellent opportunities for youth leadership and engagement. Along with volunteer opportunities and interactive seminars, last year's workshop included special guests Brampton Mayor Susan Fennell and MP Dr. Ruby Dhalla.

The event has been designed to compliment curriculum and topics discussed in local schools. Students gain new insight into this classroom knowledge and can be further empowered to make a difference. Youth can be inspired to make the change they wish to see in the world and involve others through raising awareness.

"Through working with young people today, we help build strong leaders of tomorrow," says United Way Volunteer and Youth Engagement Associate, Nicole Dupuis.

Details on the workshop will be available in the coming weeks.

For further details on the Youth in Action grant, visit the United Way of Peel Region's website here.

Youth Making a Difference Workshop to inspire local youth activism

Attention students, educators, organziations and activists of all ages!

With the popular inspirational words “you must be the change you wish to see in the world” from Mahatma Gandhi, ACCESS: Allowing Children a Chance at Education has joined forces with Continental Rescue Africa to present an exciting event - the Youth Making a Difference Workshop.

With similar visions of global education and youth empowerment, CRA and ACCESS will be hosting the Youth Making a Difference Workshop on Friday, May 29, 2009 at Century Gardens Recreation Centre in Brampton, Ontario.

The day features inspiring guest speakers and a variety of local non-profit organizations (including Student Reach, Volunteering Peel & Volunteer MBC, Youth Exchange, Youth Can Move the World, Mississauga Youth Games, Change the Future Foundation, Mississauga Mayor's Youth Team, Brampton Mayor's Youth Team, Project YouthTube, ACCESS: Allowing Children a Chance at Education, Continental Rescue Africa and more).

Register Online today or learn more at www.accesscharity.ca/workshop.

The goals of the workshop are to educate, empower, and raise awareness among youth.

• Educating: Equip them with more than the passion they need to work in social justice but also with the knowledge of HOW they can join us all in creating change. Provide them with the many options available to them to volunteer and to help them in starting their own organization
• Raising Awareness: organizations which engage in development work and social justice issues such as; poverty, famine, illiteracy, gender-based violence, gender-based issues, youth activism, job creation etc. will be given the platform to raise awareness about the critical nature of these issues and how we are implicated.
• Empowering: The specific scope of this workshop will be defined by the organizations which choose to work with us to empower the youth of today about how they can make change and be apart of change in their communities.
  

This workshop has been designed carefully to compliment curriculum and topics discussed in Ontario Schools. Students will gain new insight into the knowledge they have acquired in the classroom, and will further be empowered to make a difference. Students will be inspired to make the change they wish to see in the world and empower others through raising awareness.

Registration for the Youth Making a Difference Workshop is open online at accesscharity.ca/workshop. Registration closes soon so please do so as soon as possible!

• Please invite others to the workshop through its Facebook Event page!
  
• Register Online or learn more at www.accesscharity.ca/workshop.
• Email info@accesscharity.ca with any inquiries.