Member Jennifer
MemberForum Replies Created
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Join YouthREX and LGBT YouthLine for Asking About Gender: Confronting Assumptions and Challenging Transphobia, an opportunity to interrogate and challenge how we understand gender and how we engage with gender in our youth work.
This webinar is happening on Thursday, April 21st, from 1PM to 2:30PM ET.
Together, we will:
- confront the ‘problem’ with gender;
- expand our definitions and understandings of gender;
- interrogate assumptions inherent to the gender binary; and
- determine how we can challenge transphobia in our practice.
We will also explore Asking About Gender: A Toolkit for Youth Workers, developed by YouthREX and LGBT YouthLine. This resource will support you to apply these learnings to your work, specifically in the development of gender menus that will accurately capture information about your program participants – and reflect to youth that your programming is inclusive of diverse gender identities.
We look forward to learning with you!
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Hi Sebastián! Lovely to connect with you. 🙂
Be sure to connect with members in our Community of Practice on Evaluation in Youth Work, too.
And sign up for YouthREX’s newsletter to find out about free opportunities to connect, learn, and share with folks from across the youth sector in Ontario!
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The way that we ask about gender is important. This week, we released two NEW resources developed in partnership with LGBT YouthLine:
@KhadijahKanji , @katarina and I also took to REX Blog to share six considerations for youth work when asking about gender. Check it out!
How do you confront some of the assumptions about gender that we unpack in the toolkit? How do you strive for equity (and accuracy!)? We want to hear from you!
And don’t miss our upcoming webinar, Asking About Gender: Confronting Assumptions and Challenging Transphobia, on Thursday, April 21st, from 1PM to 2:30PM ET.
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How do you centre equity and inclusion in the design of your demographic questions?
YouthREX is developing a series of toolkits to support you in confronting your biases and assumptions, and in designing inclusive demographic questions that capture accurate information about the young people with whom you work.
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I believe to pro-actively create pathways to inclusion within the youth sector there must be a concerted effort to engage with a diversity of races, experiences, and perspectives, in the developmental process of programs. Designing pathways to inclusion requires inclusion in the program development process.
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If anyone is looking for additional ideas on how to center Black youth wellbeing I recommend taking a look at the “The Potential for Youth Programs to Promote African American Youth’s Development of Ethnic and Racial Identity” research summary available on the YouthREX Knowledge Hub https://youthrex.com/research-summary/the-potential-for-youth-programs-to-promote-african-american-youths-development-of-ethnic-and-racial-identity/
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Hi all!
My name is Sebastián. I’m a recent OCAD U graduate, and I’m a co-founder/coordinator/evaluator in Colectivo Satelital, a small collective of Venezuelan artists based in Toronto. We only have a few years’ experience, but we’ve put out a few meaningful opportunities and projects aimed mostly at youth and emerging artists with the help of a few granting bodies and organizations like Lakeshore Arts.
Evaluation is a relatively new interest for me. I’ve loved research and analysis-based practices for a long time, though. Generally speaking, they are areas I read about, and skills I try to hone whenever I get a chance. As a student at OCAD, I had the opportunity to work as a Peer Tutor at the Writing and Learning Centre for 3 years, and being so critically engaged with text and with others made it a dream job. Continuing to support youth through Colectivo Satelital has felt the same way, but I’ve also taken on the responsibility of collecting and evaluating data for internal or grant reporting purposes.
I love it, but It’s been nearly impossible for me to find even volunteering opportunities in this field. I know no evaluators, analysts or researchers, and any old professors or colleagues seemed to, as some have told me, have stumbled upon their positions after many years of doing other things.
Additional formal education seems like a logical step in the right direction, but I’m not in a financial position to commit to that. I’m already building something of a resume, but the bulk of my experience comes from opportunities that Colectivo Satelital members and I made for ourselves. I imagine that might seem untrustworthy to some employers.
So I’m reaching out for advice, since I’m out of ideas (not out of patience, gladly).
How did you overcome professional barriers, or approach working in this field when you had little experience?
If you were in a position similar to mine, how did you push forward from there?
If you know any volunteering/mentorship opportunities that I should be aware of, please share them with me.
Thank you in advance!
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Thank you so much for sharing this, Toni! Music is such an incredible resource and can be one of the easiest way that students can start to feel a sense of belonging and appreciation in the classroom.
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Join YouthREX on Thursday, March 24, from 12:30PM to 3PM ET, for a webinar on Centering Equity in Family Engagement! This webinar will be hosted and facilitated by Dr. Carol Wade, who will deliver a keynote presentation, Strengthening Engagement with Families, as well as conversations with caregivers, advocates, service providers, and researchers to explore inclusive and meaningful family engagement.
Together, we will:
- surface challenges and complexities in families and in family engagement
- unpack assumptions, stereotypes, and biases around definitions of family, what is possible in our engagement work, and what meaningful engagement may look like
- disrupt current practices at the individual, community, and system levels
- explore how to create safe and accepting spaces for families abandoned by systems
- strategize ways to empower and uplift parents and caregivers
- cocreate inclusive, affirming, and strength-based approaches that advance the wellbeing of youth and families
Register online and learn and share with us! (Can’t join us for the live webinar? No worries! This event will be recorded and available on our Knowledge Hub.)
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How can we prioritize meaningful and trauma-informed family engagement? How can we ensure that parents/caregivers feel valued as part of the care team – and that their voices are centered alongside the voices of young people?
We know that family support, engagement, and involvement can serve as a protective factor for youth mental health and wellbeing, especially when that support can be facilitated in ways that are culturally-relevant and community-based. But we may not always have the tools, resources, and supports to engage with families in intentional and meaningful ways.
Share your strategies for meaningfully engaging equity-deserving families in youth work.
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Hi everyone! Don’t miss Thursday’s webinar, Centering Equity in Family Engagement, hosted and facilitated by Dr. Carol Wade and featuring caregivers, advocates, service providers, and researchers.
Register online and join us from 12:30PM to 3PM ET! Together, we will:
- surface challenges and complexities in families and in family engagement
- unpack assumptions, stereotypes, and biases around definitions of family, what is possible in our engagement work, and what meaningful engagement may look like
- disrupt current practices at the individual, community, and system levels
- explore how to create safe and accepting spaces for families abandoned by systems
- strategize ways to empower and uplift parents and caregivers
- cocreate inclusive, affirming, and strength-based approaches that advance the wellbeing of youth and families
We look forward to learning with you! (Can’t join us for the live webinar? No worries! This event will be recorded and available on our Knowledge Hub.)
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I appreciate continuing to read all of the practice strategies that folks have shared in this space!
I wanted to let you all know that Carol Wade (who presented Module 3’s lecture, “Strengthening Engagement with Families of Black Youth”) is hosting a webinar with YouthREX on Thursday, March 24th, from 12:30PM to 3PM ET, on Centering Equity in Family Engagement.
The conversations with caregivers, advocates, service providers, and researchers will build on what Carol shared in her lecture, using the 4Es framework for culturally relevant family support and engagement (check out our NEW factsheet on the Knowledge Hub!).
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I feel like this needs to start with listening to Black youth, before any planning can begin. What does this mean to them? But this also needs to be paired with on-going intentional daily work of those who work with those youth (or for youth-serving organizations), to make sure that they are going in to the work with the mindset of meeting with youth in partnership, that they are looking at the youth with a strengths-based focus, that they are doing the anti-oppressive learning and unlearning regularly (and self-reflection) to check in before entering the room. I think it’s going to happen in little moments where youth identify they feel safe and valued with a caring adult, in their classroom where they feel represented and respected, in their school where they feel connected and excited and engaged, and also in big moments where people are willing to speak up for change and actively work to dismantle white supremacy, to change the ways their institutions operate. I know there are a lot of groups already doing this work, so I think we need to keep talking and sharing with each other, to try to shift what is considered “the way things are done”.
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I think this question almost answers itself. First, let’s dream and envision programs and services that support Black young people in their wholeness and that are anti-racist and anti-oppressive. Then, let’s begin strategizing, finding supports/resources that align with this vision, and pro-actively go about putting the vision into reality, while keeping in mind there will be challenges and resistance along the way. Finally, if we fail, know that the effort is crucial in and of itself. But if we succeed, watch out. 🙂
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* Be authentic.
* Empathize. However, do not look down upon.
* Challenge the systems and structures in a way that fits who you are.
* Know that despite the odds being stacked against many Black young people, they can be the source of change if given the opportunity.
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I really love the point of young black people being the source of change if given the opportunity. Too often young black people’s experiences and thoughts are disregarded, and they are told what they need without any of their own input.
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I believe anti-black racism is still a problem in Ontario for a number of reasons. I’ll address two of the reasons why I think it’s still a significant problem. 1) Those who are in power and authority are unwilling to sacrifice the benefits of their position to create sustainable change. 2) Racism is deeply entrenched in our history, our psychology, our bodies, our morals. To effectively impact/reduce racism and its consequences, there needs to be seismic shift in how we identify who the enemy is.
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One simple thing I can do in my personal practice to support Black young people and their families, is to be open and responsive to their needs. Also, I think it’s important for me to harness and use my feelings of frustration and pain as a Black man, to fight harder, speak louder, and work smarter.
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My organizations currently has some supports for Black wellbeing like short-term counselling, care sessions, and social programming. One thing that I could do to center and support this work is reach out to the organizers and see what I can help them with in the background, for example creating event logistics and promotional materials, so that they have more energy to participate fully in giving support and being part of community.
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Anti-Black racism training for educators and guidance counselors, and increased hiring of Black folks in these positions as well as leadership positions in schools which can create campaigns promoting Black excellence and encourage youth to strive for challenging course loads. Following interests of Black youth and providing them with the resources to create and lead communities like clubs.
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One of the ways to center Black youth is to listen. Listening is the most critical way to amplify the voices of Black youth. As educators, service providers, and community/social workers we need to ensure that we are approaching our work in an inclusive and anti-oppressive way. This approach will allow us to effectively engage with Black youth, rather than exclude them from these conversations. While making improvements to the system is a process it is one that is important to continue to support Black youth.
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This question has bothered me from the beginning of this course. Mostly because I did not understand how to answer from my perspective. Each time I finished a module I would come back and read some of the responses and still not quite feel that it had been answered for me. However, this final module has brought some clarity. Two pieces. The first being self-reflection as an ongoing piece of what we do because, as it was stated, it’s not enough to be Black. It takes more than that to deal with and combat ABR. The second is for me the most important and that is the use of research and data collection to bring about lasting change. How many times have we heard about this research and that research on this topic or another that went nowhere after it was published? No action items. This was powerful to me. And I think will help me evaluate the questions I ask when working with Black youth. Why am I asking this question. Is it my own curiosity, or does it have relevance to how I will understand, support and resource this young person? So much food for thought.
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ABR is still an issue in Ontario because people who are in positions of authority and power are not committed to change. It is also an issue because nowadays we have a lot of initiatives that are put in place under the guise of anti-oppression, anti-racism, diversity, equity and inclusion but in reality, nothing is actually being done. These initiatives are merely about ticking off a checkbox.
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I agree. There are systems that were designed to oppress that continue today, including justice and education systems. Like you said, there is performative action so it looks like there is change but there isn’t. I also think there’s a lot of silence. Where action could be real and make changes, there is silence instead.
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Until we have legislated accountability, it will continue to be a problem. Things are indeed changing, but much too slowly for me!
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I agree Deborah. We definitely need legislation in place to help eliminate the anti-Black racism! I think to that, in a similar way to the liberation of 2S-LGBTQ+ folks, it will require a collective and personal confrontation with ideologies that are prejudiced and devalue particular human life and experiences. There is a cultural and ideological shift, a real healing one, to uproot discriminatory thinking and ways of organizing society.
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One simple thing that I will continue to do in my work is to challenge the language used to describe students. Aggressive, violent, defiant- question we were taught to always ask is, “According to who?” I am going to push all educators I work with to use asset based language when discussing students and observations rather than judgements when focusing on behaviours teachers find difficult.
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I feel that mental health can be seen as a privilege when we consider the barriers black individuals face in our society. They are constantly having to be on high alert unlike those of us who are white. This constant state of alert leads to mental health issues due to the connections built in the brain. Not to mention the impact of generational trauma on mental health. If all of that energy did not have to be focused on protection and instead blacks were treated equal many of these mental health issues would not develop. Also getting support for their struggles is made increasingly difficult by systemic racism in the our health system.
Mental health is something we all work on but those of us with privilege have the community support, time, money and resource access to do so.
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I agree. I think many people believe Canada is superior to the United States when it comes to racism. There is definitely a widespread belief that Canada does not have a problem, making it harder to make changes.
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Some ways to have long-term action in our lives is to participate in groups like Standing Up for Racial Justice throughout the year(s), as well as create monthly giving plans to donate to ongoing work. In Module 3, long-term accountability strategies are shared which can be used by organizations or individuals, which consists of setting goals, and having someone or a community or people to hold each other accountable and check in on how those goals have progressed.
