GUYANESE PROVIDE CANADIAN YOUTH WITH ENTREPRENEURIAL TRAINING

Jun 20, 2018 News

---

Two Guyanese-born Canadians, Bishop Joseph Fisher, and social worker, Leyland Gudge, have collaborated to provide marginalized youth, 18 to 29 years old, in the Greater Toronto Area of Durham Region with a comprehensive entrepreneurial training programme.
The youth employment programme is funded by the Government of Canada at a cost of $390,000 that provides for the financing of two sets of training programmes offered for a period of five months each. The programme involves two batches comprising a total of thirty young people who have already started or active in planning to start their own businesses.
Bishop Fisher is the founding pastor of The Family Worship Centre located in Pickering, Ontario that is an eastern neighbouring suburb of Toronto. As part of his church’s mission, Bishop Fisher has sponsored and operated a Family Life Centre, which is now in its fourteenth year of operation and offers various programmes for youth, adults and seniors.
Leyand Gudge, a former General Secretary (Executive Director) of both Albouystown and Thomas Lands YMCAs, designed the model and coordinated the Family Life Centre’s first youth employment programme that has operated continuously for some 12 years.
The Centre has graduated about 300 marginalized youths in Job Readiness Training Programmes with an 80 percent success rate of being gainfully employed. Many other youth participants have seen it necessary to pursue academic upgrading and occupational/professional training.
The Canadian Government has provided funding throughout each of the 12 years of the Youth Employment training programmes. At one point, a former Minister of the Canadian Government with responsibility for youth employment cited the centre’s youth employment programme as one of the best in Canada.
The current programme reflects a change in Bishop Fisher’s vision to prepare youth to move from Job Readiness to becoming entrepreneurs. The programme employs a staff of five. Youth participants are involved for six hours daily from Mondays to Fridays over the programme’s five-month duration. Participants are paid the minimum wage of $14 per hour and are involved in a variety of learning and training activities with a strong focus on Self-Development, Human Relations, Leadership and Communication Skills.
In-class sessions focus on research and analyses of Canada’s Labour Force and the roles and functions of Small Business Enterprises (SME). The in-class sessions also involve workshops on business start-up requirements and other related areas such as product development and marketing, speaking presentations and discussions are facilitated by experts in entrepreneurial training, business financing and also presentations by successful entrepreneurs who represent a range of businesses that are similar to the participant’s chosen entrepreneurial field.
Additionally, participants are involved in networking activities and undertake a practical immersion over a period of four weeks of on-site placement where they are exposed to and mentored by entrepreneurs in the day-to-day tasks of operating and managing an existing business venture.
Development, revisions and final documentation of their Business Plan and Business Registration are mandatory requirements for completion of the programme. Just weeks ago, the first batch of 14 of the 15 participants who started and completed the five months of training received their awards at a graduation ceremony attended by Jennifer O’Connell, the Federal Member of Parliament who represents the Pickering-Uxbridge area.
In her keynote address, she said, “It’s obvious that the investment made in this programme is huge and the payback is beyond inspiring.”
One of the graduates, Daniel Davis, who migrated from Jamaica in 1997, stated in his graduation speech that he did not pay much attention to the newspaper advertisement that his mother left on his bed offering young people entrepreneurial training.
He was invited to do a photo shoot at Canada major performing arts Juno Awards Event back in March. Davis was counting on using this event to launch his photography business. “When my mom left that ad on my bed, little did she know that the message was that I should get off my butt and get serious about what I want to do. I am glad that I found the programme and made it through to the end.
There is no turning back.”
Davis business “Viewtacular” specializes in photography and branding.
Johanna West, another graduate said, “I believe the clarity and knowledge our speakers brought to the table will stick with us for a long time. The reason that I so loved the way our programme played out is because we didn’t just discuss the dry technical aspects of owning and running your own company, we learned about connecting with people, public speaking and managing our emotions.”
Being in a room with a variety of cultures and worldviews also appealed to West.
“That meant we engaged in more than just conversations about business,” she said. There were open discussions and challenging ideas. We talked about ethics, values, goal-setting and learning styles. These were not just to be applied to our businesses, but to our lives.”
West’s company, “The Athanaeum” offers a quality space for persons to gather for networking, business leisure and education. I want it to be a working space, event hub and creative venue,” she said. However, mostly, I want to build a community of people who feel inter-connected. It is an evolving concept.”
Coming into the programme, Keith Mayhew-Hammond was unsure how he would be treated. He is a person with Asperger Syndrome, which is an autism spectrum disorder.
“I was nervous because I thought I might be treated as a helpless child or no different than anyone else,” said Matthew-Hammond who runs “A typical Keith” that provides for persons facing barriers, including autism. To his delight, he was readily accepted by his peers and facilitators. “They welcomed the things that make me different and treated me with respect,” Matthew-Hammond said. I appreciated that and the fact that the programme dedicated a huge amount of time to self-development.”
At the end of May, a new batch of young entrepreneurs started the second set of their five-month training.

 

---

---