Adinkra Leadership Project

Program Type: leadership, young-adults, youth-teens

Adrinka Leadership Project is a one-time leadership program and grant offered to youth ages 16-29 years old. Youth are encouraged to develop a micro-project in their community that focuses on building their employability skills, making a positive impact in their community, and sustaining positive communal changes. This six-week project consists of mentorship workshops, one-to-one coaching, and a start-up fund to initiate your project.

Through the leadership project, Ifarada’s team will provide mentorship, coaching, and support to Black, Indigenous, and racialized youth ages 15-29 to develop new skill sets, practice leadership skills, and gain valuable experience through the development and execution of youth-led community projects.

The project’s specific objectives are to provide:

Group learning experiences: a large portion of the Project will include group learning experiences where cohorts of youth will explore the service themes, develop project ideas, and learn various skills to support project execution. Learning experiences will be led by an experienced Facilitator and will be offered using a flexible in-person/virtual classroom experience complemented by group outings;
One-on-one coaching/mentorship: Throughout the Project, participants will be supported by a Project Coach/Mentor who will provide individualized support to socialize ideas, further explore issues that are important to the youth, provide resources to support individual projects (for exploration and/or execution) and connect to networks/organizations that can provide project support. Mentors will be representative of the program’s youth which will include Black, Indigenous and other racialized youth, LGBTQ2S+ youth and youth living with disabilities;
Participant supports to encourage engagement and project success: Through one-on-one sessions, youth will work with the Project Coach/Mentor to identify needed supports for the Project’s success. This could include support to address individual barriers to project execution and/or support to obtain specialized equipment and/or resources;
Project execution: Once the youth identifies a project and builds the project plan and budget they will continue to receive one-on-one support from the Project Coach/Mentor to execute their Project. Group learning experiences will also be offered during this time to support continued learning in the areas of engagement, budget management, evaluation and other skills as they put their learning into practice; and
Evaluation: Through group learning experiences, youth will be supported to develop an evaluation plan for their identified Project to share their learnings and the Project’s success.

The Adinkra Youth Leadership Program is funded by Canada Service Corps.