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!

Project Astraeus

Who pitched the project?

Josh Wu, Abbas Syed, Aabjosh Singh, and Anaahad Kaur

Supported by United College GreenHouse at the University of Waterloo

What problem are you addressing in Waterloo Region?

• Disadvantaged communities are abandoned in STEM
• Caging by the current education system
• Prevalence of Mental Health struggles

What are you going to do with the money?

Our funding will be split between the following categories:

• Non-profit registration
• Chapters
  • Project Astraeus will establish community and school chapters around the country
  • We will provide each of these chapters with a tailored starter kit with monetary funds in order to start these problems
• Conferences
  • At the end of each year, Project Astraeus will host an annual conference where chapters will display their projects
  • At the conference, chapters are able to win prizes based on how good their project is
  • Industrial experts and sponsorship companies will come 
• Outreach Materials
  • Using the funding received, we will design and engineer kits for outreach events at local schools or community centres
  • Providing opportunities to physically engage with design and development principles through intriguing lectures, stimulating challenges and self-directed kit projects

A message from Project Astraeus

We are incredibly grateful for the support of GreenHouse which is part of United College.     

Stay tuned for opportunities to be part of Project Astraeus - as participants, mentors and subject matter experts!

Follow Project Astraeus on Instagram

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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