Unveiling Youth Potential

Unveiling Youth Potential is a training and empowerment program aimed at realizing the leadership potential of youth. It is the most recent program to be launched by Bridges Social Development(“Bridges”), a Calgary-based registered charity that has historically taken Canadian volunteers abroad to train community and professional leaders in Middle Eastern countries. However, with the current unrest in these countries, Bridges has recently changed its focus to Canadian youth, all the while maintaining its mandate to build human capacity, and help people create positive change for their communities.

The Unveiling Youth Potential program is focused on youth between the ages of 15 and 29 as youth offer the greatest hope for global change. They transcend societal, cultural, governmental and institutional barriers to enliven the wisdom of their communities. And, youth are open to connecting with peers from around the world for support, shared learning and greater impact.

The format of the Unveiling Youth Potential program typically consists of two weekend workshops – a commitment of four days in total. Concepts included in this training are:

• Wisdom Stories (who am I and why do I want to lead change?): each youth participant will investigate who they really are, what their passions, dreams and motivations are. At the close of the workshop, each participant will have an opportunity to video record their Wisdom Story;
• Community Mapping (where do I want to lead change?): each youth participant will take a close look at their community, and map out the assets, liabilities, people, resources, etc. that are available to work with or to overcome;
• Change Leadership (how can I lead change in a way that’s both sensitive and effective?): youth participants will learn how to create positive change in a way that is gentle, sensitive to the people and the environment of the community in which they want to create change; and
• Social Entrepreneurship (what can I do to lead change?): the driving force of this program is that youth participants will be empowered to actually lead change. Each participant will leave with a completed social entrepreneurial business proposal. They can take this proposal to a potential mentor or investor, or show it to others in their circle of influence, to make their dream for change become a reality.

For more information about the Unveiling Youth Potential program, or to inquire about how your group can get involved, visit the program website at www.unveilingyouthpotential.com or email Jennifer at jennifer@canadabridges.com.