Community Living Ontario

Young Women’s Leadership Group to educate communities on importance of inclusion
Monday August 23, 2010 -- Deron Hamel

The Government of Canada has announced it will be providing Community Living Peterborough with $62,596 in funding to help support the Young Women’s Leadership Group project, an initiative that will see young women who are connected with the agency engage communities in the importance and value of inclusion and full citizenship of all people.

Barb Hiland, Community Living Peterborough’s director of operations, says the funding will be going towards providing training for the 10 women involved with the group. To date, 11 workshops have been identified to provide training on topics such as women’s rights, leadership, media engagement and presentation skills.

The training project is expected to be carried out over a two-year period.

The group is looking to engage schools, colleges and universities, as well as community organizations, such as police forces and service groups.

Not only will the women be creating dialogue with communities, they will also be mentoring younger people so they can educate others on the importance of inclusion and how to enable change.

“(The project is) going to empower people to have a voice, it’s going to influence the community to be more accepting and more inclusive,” Hiland tells Community Living Leaders.

The funding will also help with the development of media kits and a handbook outlining the importance of inclusion and full citizenship of all people. Equipment, such as computers and projectors to be used as part of presentations, will also be covered by the funding.

The announcement was made Aug. 13 at Community Living Peterborough’s office. Peterborough Member of Parliament Dean Del Mastro was on-hand to make the announcement.

Community Living Leaders will be speaking with the women involved with this initiative as part of future stories.

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