Making Space for Youth Leaders Project

This three-year project fosters both opportunities and resources with, and for, youth with disabilities to co-create meaningful leadership opportunities at Eviance, in all aspects of its work.  Through Eviance’s community-based and engaged network-of-network approach, the Youth Fellows have had the opportunity to choose activities that aligned with their learning goals. Fellows were introduced to, and encouraged to “try on” Eviance’s unique intersectional, human rights and reflexive approach. This Project is a partnership with the Niagara Centre for Independent Living and the University of Toronto and is funded by the Government of Canada Employment and Social Development (ESDC): Social Development Project Partnership Program – Disability Component (SDPP-D).

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There are two streams for this project, the Youth Leadership Fellows (YLF) - Stream One, and Youth Leadership Climate Action Fellows (YLCAF) – Stream Two.  Both YLF and YLCAF Streams engaged in a core curriculum that included: training in  intersectionality, human rights, reflexivity; certification in TriCouncil Ethics (TCPS2) and Disability Rights Promotion International (DRPI); engaging in educational webinars including, but not limited, to the history of cross-disability movement, human rights, and  the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) training and associated Civil Society monitoring process; and, creating professional development plans. Stream One YLF chose to complete a youth-led project emerging from their area of interest; whereas Stream Two YLCAFs completed a robust curriculum on climate justice and are working to co-create a collective youth-led project on climate action.