YWCA Toronto launches the YWCA Building Sustainable Futures (BSF) Compendium and Toolkit

Phase Three of the YWCA BSF Project sought to improve the career advancement and essential skills knowledge of systemically marginalized women and gender diverse people across Canada

TORONTO, Dec. 21, 2023 /CNW/ - Today, YWCA Toronto launched two publications from Phase Three of the national research initiative, the YWCA Building Sustainable Futures (BSF) Compendium and Toolkit. This unveiling wrapped up a five-year project, designed for women and gender diverse people, with a focus on Indigenous, immigrant, mature, and youth populations, who face unique challenges to engaging in the labour market and building sustainable futures. Funded by the Adult Learning, Literacy and Essential Skills Program (ALLESP), Government of Canada, Phase Three (2019-2023) involved ten YWCA Collaborator Associations, 850 program participants, and over 700 employers and community partners across Canada.

In November, we held a virtual event hosted by YWCA Toronto's Essential Skills for Employment Program (ESE) team to launch both Compendium and Toolkit. We presented some of the challenges that our Collaborative experienced, including the roll-out of a national initiative during the COVID-19 pandemic. We also shared highlights from the diverse employment and training programs offered by YWCA Collaborator Associations and a sampling of key outcomes that emerged from this exciting research initiative.

When Phase One of this Essential Skills for Employment project began at YWCA Toronto, it produced our first Essential Skills for Employment Compendium in 2010. In Phase Two (2014-2019), we broadened our research to a national level, involving nine Collaborator Associations. We also branded our initiative as the YWCA Building Sustainable Futures project and published our 2019 Compendium and Toolkit. Throughout these three phases, we have supported program participants who are in career transition or facing barriers to entering and advancing in the labour market. All our programs offer diverse and customized opportunities for participants to identify their strengths, share challenges, and build and enhance their life and workplace skills.

Phase Three's Compendium is a detailed summary of the learning, reflections, and recommendations from Phase Three of the Building Sustainable Futures Project. Accompanying the Compendium is the Toolkit, which contains Lesson Plans designed and delivered by practitioners from all ten Collaborator Associations, along with practitioner tips and resources developed and tested through the project. Both documents, along with an abridged version of the summary of the Compendium and Toolkit in French, are available at no cost on our website.

Learn more about the YWCA BSF Project here. For further details, please contact us at [email protected].

NOTE: Interviews opportunities can be arranged. Please contact Kim Quashie.

RELATED LINKS: www.ywcatoronto.org and www.ywatoronto.org/ese

SOURCE YWCA Toronto

MEDIA CONTACT: Kim Quashie, Manager of Communications and Marketing, YWCA Toronto, M. 416.660.9483 | [email protected]