Student Leadership and Youth Empowerment
5 STEPS TO COORDINATE THE ROADSHOW IN YOUR COMMUNITY
INTRODUCTION
Student Leadership & Youth Empowerment (SLYE) believes in a world where all young people are socially and economically included in matters that affect their lives. A contributing factor to the social and economic success of youth is the young person's connection to community supports & resources.
The purpose of this online learning platform is to support you and your team with the coordination and implementation of the Roadshow, a series of youth outreach events that support young people in connecting with meaningful opportunities and essential resources in their communities.
STEP 1: WHAT IS THE ROADSHOW?
The Roadshow is a youth outreach initiative that takes place in high schools during the spring and fall, and in community spaces (malls, community centres, etc.) throughout the year. The Roadshow consists of a series of outreach events that connect thousands of youth with essential programs and services (health, employment, volunteering, education, recreation, arts, scholarships) being offered in their community.
What makes the Roadshow special is that youth service providers will meet youth in their space and engage them with performances, games, prizes, and music for optimal participation!
Youth should always involved in the planning to ensure that we are meeting the diverse needs of the youth who we are reaching out to.
STEP 2: WHY IS THE ROADSHOW IMPORTANT?
The Roadshow has been helping youth discover and access the resources and supports available to them since 2009. We have built, and will continue to build, a direct bridge between young people and youth specific services.
In 2019, quantitative data was collected and focus groups were conducted using a third party evaluator in order to measure our desired outcome (equitable access to resources and increased engagement in community for Toronto youth). The data collected has significantly supports the positive impact the Peer2 Peer Trainings & Roadshows have had in influencing our desired outcome.
Click the link below to view our 2019 Evaluation Report.
STEP 3: WHAT'S NEEDED TO COORDINATE THE ROADSHOW?
Outreach
Prepare
Infographic
STEP 4: HOW CAN YOUTH LEAD THIS WORK?
To successfully engage young people in their community and to connect them to essential services in their community, it is beneficial to have young people leading this work. We recommend that youth service providers encourage young people to take on leadership roles by helping them build their skills and supporting them in putting their skills into practice by coordinating and leading the Roadshow.
We have developed evidence-based, leadership development workshops that have been, and continue to be, implemented with youth leaders from the different schools we work in. We call these workshops Peer to Peer (P2P) Leadership Trainings.
The video below was created by alumni P2P Youth Leaders and it explains our basic training process. You can find detailed training resources located to the right of the video. Please email the Program Facilitator at facilitator@slyenetwork.com for more information about this model!