About the Youth Impact Project

The Youth Impact Project (YIP) is a collaboration between the Children and Youth Planning Table of Waterloo Region (CYPT) and Smart Waterloo Region Innovation Lab (SWRIL).

On June 8, over 100 youth from 15 local organisations pitched their ideas to a panel of nine youth. The Youth Decision-Making Panel (“The Dragons”) decided which projects would receive funding to make their idea a reality. The Youth Impact Project looks to fund youth who are addressing local challenges which are identified through the 2023 Youth Impact Survey results. The funded projects include a focus onsupporting youth mental and physical health, increasing feelings of belonging,and responding to climate change and food insecurity.

Youth will be working on their projects untilDecember. We're featuring each of the 12 projects!

Kairos

Who pitched the project?

Mihret and Semere

Supported by Camino Wellbeing + Mental Health

What problem are you addressing in Waterloo Region?

• Newcomer youth are led to believe that they only have few options after leaving high school. 
• Newcomer youth can also struggle financially as they are supporting loved ones and balance work and school. 
• Many immigrants can't afford to pay for transportation, they don't have money to participate in activities, and they are more likely to have more work than they could handle. 

What are you going to do with the money?

We joined the Youth Impact Project through Camino to come up with innovative ideas. Our group started proposing ideas that focused on newcomer youth as all of us had experiences being a newcomer. We continued building our idea to create Kairos! After weeks of planning, budgeting, and tough decisions we had a strong foundation of a breakthrough innovation. Our idea is to change the traditional concept of success in newcomer families, as many believe going to university is the only way to build stability in their life.

We hope to push a broader sense of trades as many do not realize how beneficial and adaptive the field is. On pitch day, our lovely members Mihret and Semere captivated the audience with our pitch that won us the funding. With the money we would like  to purchase materials, equipment for placements, snacks, bus tickets and more. This will allow us to connect newcomer youth to trades to be able to learn more about future opportunities. Thank you to Camino for their continuous support, and CYPT+SWIRL for helping us kick-start this innovation!

More about the Youth Impact Project

The Youth Impact Project is a collaboration between Smart Waterloo Region Innovation Lab (SWRIL) and the Children and Youth Planning Table of Waterloo Region (CYPT).

Learn more about the Youth Impact Project

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