Y4Y

Youth on Boards gives young adults the tools to step up

Ruby Pratka

Local Journalism 

Initiative reporter

editor@qctonline.com

Twenty-five English-speaking young adults from the greater Quebec City area, Western Quebec and the Côte-Nord region started their journeys from the classroom to a local nonprofit boardroom this past weekend. They gathered at the Palais Royal hotel in downtown Quebec City for Youth On Boards, a two-day intensive training program co-ordinated by Montreal-based youth engagement nonprofit Y4Y. 

The free program, which first ran in 2023, is open to teens and young adults ages 16 to 30. It “comes from an articulated need from youth in our community who were saying they wanted to have more leadership roles in the community organizations that serve them,” said Y4Y project co-ordinator Adrian Smith. “We also know from partner organizations we work with … that nonprofits would like to have more youth on their boards. The intention is to demystify what it means to be a director on a nonprofit board, and give [participants] the necessary skills and training.

“We often get participants from a variety of different levels of experience. Some people who don’t even know what a board is, which is great, the training is intended for them, too. But also sometimes people who are already on a board … on a youth council or in their student government or serving on a committee of a nonprofit or something like that,” he said. Plain language specialists from Éducaloi give participants a crash course in the legal and ethical obligations of board members on day one; on day two, the youth put their knowledge to the test with a series of simulations. 

“One big barrier [to getting more youth on boards] is that there are not a lot of places for youth to find answers to what it means to be on a board,” said Smith. “Not a lot of your peers are involved in nonprofit governance, and you don’t really know that’s a possibility for you.

“I think it’s important for all young people in Quebec to know that having a diversity of perspectives in leadership is what a lot of nonprofits are going for. They don’t need every board member to have 25 years of experience as a lawyer in Quebec. They have a few of those already. They need some youth voices as well, to be talking about what issues are significant to youth in Quebec,” he added. 

Kessy Iriza Karake, 18, is a business student at Cégep de Sainte-Foy who is considering going to law school. She said she enjoyed the opportunity to take the training in English and meet people from around the province with a wide variety of educational and professional backgrounds, including young people who were in law school or had become lawyers. She said she “learned lots of governance and leadership skills” and found the training very interesting. 

“I’m interested in participating in nonprofits, maybe as a board member or just a member in general. Also, giving back to the community that gave back to me seems like an important thing to do in life,” she said. 

For more information on the Youth on Boards program, contact Adrian Smith at adrian.smith@y4y.org.