Youth Converge near Bancroft to Build a Social Infrastructure

Recently, more than 80 people shared a few days together to ‘celebrate, explore, amplify and accelerate’ youth work in Ontario.Youth leaders, youth-centric organizations and funders of youth work such as United Way Toronto, Laidlaw Foundation, Trillium Foundation and McConnell Foundation, met at Cedar Ridge Camp in McArthur Mills near Bancroft.

Everyone brought their perspectives about what youth work in Ontario could look like if a more collective approach was taken.

The gathering was the follow-up to a session convened by the OTF, Laidlaw Foundation, and Tides Canada Initiatives in the spring of ‘09. There, thought-leaders from across the province first began exploring how they could collectively work together to build – and then sustain – a youth social infrastructure. Participants explored knowledge-sharing, learning journeys and policy as possible routes to building this infrastructure. A core team, composed of new and existing members, will meet this summer to transition and plan next steps.

Read what local youth organizers Abe Drennan and Kent Rutledge, part of Youth In Action, the group that handled all the local event logistics, had to say about the gathering.

Learn more about youth social infrastructure:

Foundations & Pipelines Report

Building Ontario’s Youth Social Infrastructure to Transform and Sustain Youth Engagement and Organizing