Community Leaders

C M Y K 2 COMMUNITY LEADERS WINNIPEG FREE PRESS - SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2019 C M Y K Above: Zayna Danielson says taking part in the Youth CEO program provided her with valuable experience on how to develop her leadership skills. The Manitoba chapter of the Better Business Bureau Foundation (bbb.org) offers the LIFT Ethics Certification Program. The multi-week program provides instruction to youth on the importance of integrity and ethics while teaching them about how those concepts can affect them both now and in the future. The aim is to help young people to understand the importance of concepts such as personal responsibility, character and values. As part of the program, participants are required to sign a LIFT commitment of conduct that encourages them to follow a standard of ethical conduct in school, at work and in their personal life. The Boys & Girls Clubs of Winnipeg (bgcwinnipeg.ca) is helping develop the leaders of tomorrow through its Leaders- in-Training (LIT) program. LIT gives teens an opportunity to participate in outdoor camps designed to help them develop into potential leaders. Participants take part in training throughout the year to develop "hard skills" such as kayaking, wall climbing and camping as well as "so skills" including patience, communicating with others and teamwork. LIT starts in the spring and continues up to camp time in July with participants building friendships and enjoying personal growth along the way. The Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce (winnipeg-chamber.com) and Volunteer Manitoba (volunteermanitoba.ca) have teamed up to offer Leadership Winnipeg. The 10-session leadership program is designed to provide individuals with experiences that will help them develop an understanding of themselves, their community and the role they can play within that community. Day-long sessions are held once a month in various community locations with each one focusing on a different theme and offering guest speakers and tours. The emphasis is on real life learning designed to enhance communication, collaboration and time management skills. United Way of Winnipeg's Learning Centre (unitedwaywinnipeg.ca) serves up a number of different programs designed to build leadership capacity for those involved in the non-profit and charitable sectors. Some of the centre's more recent offerings include workshops on how ensuring strategic plans don't collect dust, effective fundraising strategies and understanding what leadership means in the non-profit sector. The Winnipeg Foundation (wpgfdn. org) is helping to build the leaders of tomorrow through its Youth in Philanthropy (YiP) initiative. YiP was designed to introduce young people to the concepts of philanthropy and community development and give them hands-on experience working with local charitable organizations. YiP committees are formed by participating schools and organizations and must then determine how best to distribute the $5,000 they receive from the foundation to charities of their choosing. The Bioscience Association of Manitoba (biomb.ca) offers its highly acclaimed Leadership Development Program in conjunction with the University of Manitoba. Graduates of the 72-hour course receive a certificate in Applied Management. The program is designed for anyone who wants to move into a leadership role or improve on existing leadership skills and helps build skills such as emotional intelligence, team building, communication and workplace inclusivity. The Emerging Leaders Program is offered through Volunteer Manitoba (volunteermanitoba.ca) and is designed to help individuals working in the non- profit sector to develop or enhance their leadership skills. Participants receive a certificate upon successful completion of three courses: Learning From Within, Strategies for Building Partnerships and Networking and Storytelling – Presenting Your Case for Support. Leadership for Safety Excellence is a two-day course provided by the Construction Safety Association of Manitoba (constructionsafety.ca). It's open to both CSAM members and non- members. It focuses on four key areas of safety in the construction industry including the role of supervisors, inspections, investigations and training. The ultimate aim of the program is to build health and safety into everyday workplace planning. Toastmasters International (toastmasters. org) offers the Youth Leadership Program which consists of eight one- and two- hour sessions designed to enable people under the age of 18 to develop their communication and leadership skills through practical experience. Workshops are limited to 25 students and are structured to provide learning opportunities for small groups. ❚ Zayna Danielson, 18, took part in the program last summer and spent a week working at Payworks' offices on Waverley Street. She says the experience she gained has proven to be invaluable. "I thought the program was a great experience because you got to see all the different parts of a business and then how all the departments work together to make a business successful," says Danielson, a first- year University of Winnipeg business student who is hoping to major in accounting. "I think the biggest thing that helped me was going into it I was really shy. But since I was with 16 other youth who were my age I was able to kind of break out of my shell," she adds. "Working at the WASAC kids camp was also a great experience. It was me being a leader and working with children so you have to pay a lot more attention to what you are doing. I think that definitely helped improve my leadership skills." Chief emphasizes participating companies gain just as much from the program as the participants. "I think Steve Kroft, CEO of Conviron and one of our champions, said it best when he said this isn't just about our companies wanting to make a difference in our community, this is also about building better companies," he says. "From a business council standpoint we recognize this is the future workforce. If we want to build and have strong companies we have to make sure that we were doing what we can to create opportunities and develop and build on the great talents and skills this young demographic has. We have to make sure that they understand that there is no job they can't get when they think about it." Youth CEO has already doubled in size, from 18 participants its first year to nearly 40 this past summer, including many from northern Manitoba. The number of participating companies has also grown, from nine businesses when it was launched to 16 in 2018. Chief says the efforts of partner agencies WASAC and CARHD has been critical to the growth of the program and helping spread word about it in the local Indigenous community. The BCM is looking at ways that it can expand the program further, both in terms of numbers and scope, but not stray from the hands-on approach that is central to its mission. Chief says programs like Youth CEO will become even more important if the province is to continue to grow. The Conference Board of Canada has identified increasing Indigenous labour force participation as critical to future economic growth while Statistics Canada has indicated immigrants could make up 30 per cent of Manitoba's population by 2036. "We know that we're getting more diverse and we have to be able to do things to create better opportunities for young people to build relationships. We need to give them real, practical work experience… and expose them to all the amazing kinds of jobs that are out there," he says. ❚ "I think the biggest thing that helped me was going into it I was really shy. But since I was with 16 other youth who were my age I was able to kind of break out of my shell." - Zayna Danielson Learning about leadership It's no exaggeration to say Manitoba has been a leader in a variety of ways, from its penchant for giving to its history of producing chart-topping musical acts and some of the top athletes in the nation. So, where does that leadership come from? It might have something to do with the leadership we offer in terms of…well, leadership. A number of community-based non-profit groups offer a variety of leadership training courses. Here is a look at a few of them and what they have to offer. << Continued from front

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