TORONTO, Aug. 21, 2020 /CNW/ - Nearly 250 youth from the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and Calgary are logging on to CivicAction's virtual YouthConnect, a program that prepares youth and youth workers for the future of work through free skills-building events and webinars that focus on job search tools, networking, and online learning. YouthConnect 2020 participants will also become part of more than 2,000 youth and youth workers across Canada who have received a subscription to LinkedIn Learning from CivicAction, giving them access to over 16,000 expert-led online content plus a curated curriculum on job search skills and financial literacy developed just for them.
YouthConnect is occurring as young people across Canada are being disproportionately hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. In July, Statistics Canada reported the unemployment rate stood at 27.5% for people aged 15 to 24. But even before the country went into lock-down, 800,000 young Canadians were not in education, employment or training.
"COVID-19 has upended an already tricky path to jobs and opportunities for young Canadians. But many are using this time to develop new skills, expand their professional networks and learn how to navigate an increasingly online world of work," said Tamara Balan, Interim CEO of CivicAction. "With a cross-sectoral group of partners, we've teamed up to make sure that youth are ready to land a great job as Canadian employers re-hire."
Since March, YouthConnect has carried out all programming online—a first in the program's history—to ensure young people can continue to build the tools and skills they need to find jobs and opportunities. An earlier YouthConnect event in June brought together over 350 young people to learn accessing courses on LinkedIn Learning as well as receive a financial literacy crash course on budgeting and saving money from RBC.
Today's YouthConnect will see participants get expert training and advice on how to build LinkedIn profiles that stand out and how to use the platform to search for jobs, all delivered by LinkedIn Canada volunteers. Youth will then learn about the ins and out of networking from the Canadian Mentoring Partnership before moving into speed networking activities with employees from RBC and Ernst & Young. Toronto Raptors host Mark Strong will serve as emcee of the virtual event and CivicAction Leadership Foundation Chair Tim Hockey will also give opening remarks.
"The world of work has been greatly disrupted by COVID-19 and young people are finding themselves caught in the middle," said Chris Brown, Director of Talent Solutions at LinkedIn Canada. "LinkedIn Canada is proud to support CivicAction and participate in YouthConnect so we can collectively pave a path towards opportunity for young people."
YouthConnect is delivered by the CivicAction Leadership Foundation in partnership with LinkedIn Canada, RBC, the City of Toronto, and NPower Canada, is funded by the Government of Canada under the Youth Employment and Skills Strategy, EY, and the Canadian Mentoring Partnership.
Our thanks to Cision for sponsoring this announcement.
About YouthConnect: YouthConnect prepares youth and youth workers for the future of work through free skills-building events and online learning. YouthConnect's unique "train the trainer" model has trained 750 front-line youth workers, with the capacity to reach approximately 32,000 youth. Since October 2019, YouthConnect has also provided free LinkedIn Learning Licenses to over 2,000 youth and youth workers across Canada. The program is delivered by the CivicAction Leadership Foundation in partnership with LinkedIn Canada, RBC, the City of Toronto, and NPower Canada, is funded by the Government of Canada under the Youth Employment and Skills Strategy, EY, and the Canadian Mentoring Partnership.
About CivicAction: Complex challenges need an all-hands-on deck approach, and collective impact is what CivicAction does best. A leading not-for-profit in Canada, we have nearly two decades of experience working to boost civic engagement and build better cities by creating and implementing effective solutions to the most pressing challenges in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area and beyond. To find out more, visit civicaction.ca or follow @CivicActionGTHA.
Building on a decade of high-impact and award-winning leadership programming, CivicAction launched the CivicAction Leadership Foundation to deliver world-class programs that inspire, educate and build inclusive civic leadership. The Foundation harnesses the power of diverse leaders and empowers and activates all voices to influence and shape our region. For more information visit leadership.civicaction.ca.
SOURCE CivicAction Leadership Foundation
Jeff Junke, Senior Manager, Communications and Marketing, CivicAction, [email protected], C: 647-471-9957
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