Young Leaders Build Skills to Build a Better Toronto Region

TORONTO, Nov. 18, 2019 /CNW/ - Trust is shifting away from traditional institutions and leaders, and skills essential for the future are getting an overhaul. But preparing our region's diverse young leaders to take on a new leadership mantle needs to happen in lockstep. 

That's why over 150 rising leaders from across the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) participated in a high intensity leadership workout on Saturday at ELNstudio: Better Leader Bootcamp. Hosted by the CivicAction Leadership Foundation, ELNstudio was a tailored leadership development experience that provided attendees with hands-on training sessions to build skills considered essential for a 21^st century leader.

Recent studies show that levels of trust are increasingly shifting away from traditional leaders. Edelman's 2019 Global Trust Barometer reported that 76% of people look to CEOs to take the lead on change rather than awaiting government intervention and 71% believe it's critically important for CEOs to respond to challenging times.

And with this shift in trust also comes a shift in skills required for the future. According to CivicAction's Now Hiring report, skills like communication, empathy, and collaboration are widely sought after by employers and are expected to be more in-demand in the future.  

"Trust is becoming a rare commodity and people are increasingly looking leaders outside of traditional political realms," said Sevaun Palvetzian, CEO of CivicAction. "That's why it's essential we help emerging leaders in every sector focus on developing a personal leadership toolkit to rebuild trust and create the conditions for multi-sector collective action."

ELNstudio featured a keynote from two-time Olympic gold-medalist Rosie MacLennan, who spoke about the barriers she faced and the lessons she learned while training for the Olympics. Other speakers included Orlando Bowen, former CFL player and Executive Director of One Voice; Kofi Hope, Rhodes Scholar and Senior Policy Advisor, Wellesley Institute; and Zabeen Hirji, Chair of CivicAction and Executive Advisor, Future of Work at Deloitte.

Expert-led workshops focused on a range of themes including:

• Engaging the media and using social media to mobilize action;
• Building self-awareness, strengthening empathy and building resiliency;
• Indigenous reconciliation; and.
• Collaboration across differences and engaging with diverse communities.

"Our emerging leaders today will inherit the challenges of tomorrow. Preparing them to build bridges and break down silos is central to the future good of our region," said Mrinalini Menon, 2018-2019 ELN Co-Chair; Director, Strategic Partnerships & Academic Relations, RBC.

Our thanks to Cision for sponsoring this announcement

About CivicAction: For over a decade, CivicAction has brought together senior executives and rising leaders from all sectors to tackle some of the Greater Toronto Region's toughest challenges. 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 further elevate and catalyze our region's leadership potential. With a focus on advancing education, 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.

About The Emerging Leaders Network (ELN): Created in 2006, the ELN is a diverse network of more than 200 emerging civic leaders and represents a wide range of ethno-cultural backgrounds, communities, and sectors throughout the GTHA. In addition to monthly events focused on networking and skill-building, the ELN hosts an annual conference for rising leaders to explore and develop action-oriented solutions to the some of the region's most pressing civic issues. For more information visit leadership.civicaction.ca/eln.

SOURCE CivicAction Leadership Foundation

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