'Nothing About Us Without Us': Young People and the Youth & Innovation Project

Community-Based Research Canada presents “Young People in Community-Based Research”: our winter 2024 e-learning series. This series will highlight community-based research projects, models, and processes that exemplify participatory engagement of young people in research. An important hallmark of community-based research is that the research is participatory, meaning it involves authentic and meaningful participation of stakeholders in all phases of the research. When research has impacts on the lives of young people, participatory research would involve authentically engaging young people in the planning, design, implementation, and dissemination of research. Within this series we will hear about youth-engaged models and processes for research, as well as research projects that have been driven by young people.

Webinar:

The Youth & Innovation Project, a research project based at the University of Waterloo, aims to understand and amplify the positive social, environmental and economic impact young people, 15 to 25 years old, have on organizations, communities and systems. In this presentation, Ilona Dougherty, Managing Director of the Youth & Innovation Project, alongside a member of our Youth Advisory Council will share how young people are involved in the Youth & Innovation Project. The presenters will share the challenges they have faced along the way and how their thinking has evolved around meaningful youth engagement, shaping the future direction of their youth-engaged research work.

Presenters:

Ilona Dougherty, Managing Director of the Youth & Innovation Project, School of Environment, Enterprise and Development (SEED), University of Waterloo

Ellen Tam, Youth & Innovation Project Youth Advisory Council Member

Ian Korovinsky, Youth & Innovation Project Youth Advisory Council Member

Ilona Dougherty is the Co-creator and Managing Director of the Youth & Innovation Project at the University of Waterloo. She is an award-winning social innovator and a regular voice in the Canadian media advising business, civil society and government on how they can tap into the value and unique abilities of young people. She has extensive leadership and governance experience having co-founded several successful organizations. In 2004, she Co-founded Apathy is Boring, a non-partisan social enterprise that educates Canadian youth about democracy and encourages them to vote. Ilona is a PhD student in political science at the University of Waterloo, a speaker with the Speaker Spotlight agency and an Ashoka Fellow.

Ellen Tam is a member of the youth advisory council for the youth and innovation project as well as a current student of the UofA. She is passionate about social justice and aspires to be a constitutional lawyer in the future. She is the founder of PEGASI, a club that focuses on spreading awareness for social inequalities around the world, and a member of BeYOUtiful, a girl empowerment group based in Canada.

Ian Korovinsky is a member of Youth & Innovation Project Youth Advisory Council Member, and a student at the University of Waterloo. Ian has been engaged with the student community for the past 5 years, leading youth mental health awareness initiatives, spearheading financial literacy projects, and distributing care packages within the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) for the homeless community. In his spare time, he enjoys volunteering at competitions and learning from rising figures in youth engagement!

*This event is intended for CBRCanada members only. If you are employed, studying, or affiliated with any CBRCanada member institution/organization, you are already considered a member. If you are unsure if your institution is covered, learn more here. Individuals whose institution is not on this list are welcome to register as an an individual member. We value community participation and have a free membership option for registered community mobilizers.