Youth Programs

Are you eager, passionate and committed to creating positive social change in your community? Are you looking to share your ideas, stretch your mind and imagine new possibilities for collaboration? Are you ready to explore your role and gain new skills as a facilitator of change?

Skills for Social Change is a three-week certificate program for youth, bringing together community practitioners, allies and activists seeking to explore the personal, local and global complexities of community engagement and development. More.

We are not currently accepting applications for the Youth in Partnership (YIP) program. Please check back in late Spring 2012 for details of any future opportunities with this program. Those interested in international youth internships are also encouraged to subscribe to RSS Feeds on the CIDA website (http://www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/rssfeeds)

Grounded in the Coady International Institute’s approach to citizen-led development, Coady Youth Programs develops learning opportunities for young leaders to develop the capacity for citizen action towards a more just world. This involves young people in the global south as well as Canadian youth .

Youth Leaders in Canada
Since 1997, the Coady International Institute's Youth in Partnership Program has provided opportunities for recent Canadian university and college graduates (19-30 years old) to gain experience working overseas with development organizations in their area of expertise, to help them increase their understanding of development issues and participate as global citizens. The program also provides experience that will improve participants' employment opportunities when they return from their placements. more

A new three-week Skills for Social Change certificate, being piloted in May 2012 at the Coady Institute, is targeted toward Canadian youth (19- 35 years old) although international youth are also encouraged to apply. The course will bring together young community practitioners seeking to explore the personal, local and global complexities of community engagement and development. Youth leaders will be invited to share best practices and experiences, challenge each others’ realities and gain new skills and knowledge in order to participate more fully in citizen-centered social transformation and creation. more

Coady Youth Programs coordinates the annual InterACTION for Change! workshop, which connects leading development practitioners from around the world who attend the Coady Institute’s Diploma in Development Leadership course and local Antigonish high school students. This opportunity for interaction between local students and global change leaders is designed to increase awareness of the impact that international issues have on all of us as a global community; empower, engage and encourage students to take active and progressive roles in their community; and show how change can be achieved through the strengths and capacities of the local community.

Youth Leaders in the Global South

Recent events such as the Arab Spring demonstrate that young people are at the heart of social justice and social change. The Coady Institute is well-positioned to support the capacity development of young leaders to facilitate their continued growth and development. There is broad recognition within the Coady Institute of both the need for and the capacity to provide further knowledge-sharing and education among youth leaders in the developing world. Coady Youth Programs is currently exploring opportunities to engage these young people.

For More Information

For more information about youth programs, please contact Adam Baden-Clay, youth programs coordinator, at coadyyouth@stfx.ca or call 902 867 5020