Youth and Family Ambassador Program
The Youth and Family Ambassador Program (YFAP) was started to help young people strengthen their leadership skills to advocate for IYS in their communities and get better access to services. Funded by Health Canada and led by Foundry, YFAP brought together young people and families from across Canada.
To find more details about each YFAP cohort, their projects and time together, please see below.
2023 to 2024 group
The 2023-2024 cohort had 33 ambassadors from various communities across Canada. These ambassadors participated in ongoing training and support to share their IYS experiences and grow as community leaders and IYS supporters. The goal was for them to learn skills that help build and strengthen IYS models across Canada.
The ambassadors participated in hands-on-learning and were tasked with creating IYS projects centered around six key themes. These themes are:
Policy development
Engagement
Knowledge mobilization
Community development & advocacy
Rural & remote
Justice Equity Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) and Cultural Agility, Safety, and Humility (CASH)
Projects
Youth Leading Us Forward: The Impact of the 2023-2024 YFAP
On February 17 & 18, 2024 in Vancouver, the ambassadors gathered for an in-person celebration of these projects. The participants engaged in conversations about their collective work in promoting IYS and celebrated the work they accomplished.
2021 to 2022 group
Young people and their family members from across Canada were invited to join our program. 60 ambassadors were chosen, making sure there was a mix of different backgrounds, including where they're from, their gender, age and ensuring Indigenous representation.
These ambassadors brought their talents, strengths and eagerness to learn. They received training in leading, managing projects and creating new projects. Ambassadors were grouped into eight teams, each focusing on a different project related to IYS.
From the summer of 2021 to the spring of 2022, they worked on these projects. The teams met regularly, sharing updates about IYS in their areas, their project goals and personal experiences in a supportive environment.
At the end of the program, they got to share what they learned, their successes, the challenges they faced and their hopes for IYS's future at an online national conference. Everyone learned a lot from this experience.
Projects
Key lessons
Creativity
Ambassadors came up with innovative ideas, from awareness campaigns to new ways to promote IYS.
Passion for change
They were eager to learn and use their experiences to help others, showing a strong commitment to improving IYS.
Resilience
When plans changed, they adapted and kept working hard to make their projects successful.
Action-oriented
These ambassadors didn't just talk; they made real changes in IYS.
Youth and family power
The program proved that young people and families can make a big difference in shaping the services they use.
In short, the ambassadors showed that with creativity, resilience and passion, real change is possible.