This donation will create and build on James鈥� education initiatives for Black youth in priority areas including student success, pathways to education, and support for Black scholars.

Established in 2008, the Jean Augustine Chair is an endowed Chair established by Jean Augustine, the first Black woman elected to the Parliament of Canada, and champion of the unanimous vote in 1995 that saw February designated as Black History Month. The Chair is one of only two endowed university chairs in Canada dedicated to research and knowledge mobilization endeavours on Black and African-descended communities.

鈥淢y research, academic and community work has long been guided by the urgent need to support Black youth as they strive for success in the face of longstanding systemic barriers in education, and in society,鈥� said James. 鈥淩BC Future Launch, designed to support a variety of community-centred initiatives for young people, is a deeply appreciated contribution; and I鈥檓 pleased that the work of the Chair 鈥� particularly its programs that seek to support Black youth across Canada 鈥� will benefit significantly from this generous donation.鈥�

RBC Foundation鈥檚 $1.2-million donation will provide direct support to the Chair鈥檚 programs in four key areas, including:

1. Hosting the first ever National Conference for Black youth in Canada.
2. Supporting student pipeline initiatives at York and up to four other universities across Canada that will bring high school students unto university campuses, thereby enabling them to imagine themselves participating in post-secondary education.
3. Establishing a new Canadian data hub that will strengthen research and information capacity and inform better public policy.
4. Creating new opportunities, supports and training for young Black scholars who as graduate students and post-doctoral fellows will engage in research, teaching and mentorship activities that will serve as resources to local Black communities.

It is anticipated that up to 900 high school and university students, and postdoctoral scholars could be served through the various initiatives and serve as a pipeline for many of these youth鈥檚 post-high school ambitions. The accompanying research will serve to inform feasibility and productivity.

RBC Future Launch is a 10-year, $500-million commitment to empower Canadian youth for the jobs of tomorrow. With a focus on networking, skills development, practical work experience and mental wellbeing supports and services, the initiative aims to help break down the barriers facing young people. In 2020, RBC a series of actions against systemic racism 鈥� including a commitment to invest $50 million by 2025 through RBC Future Launch to create meaningful and transformative pathways to prosperity for up to 25,000 BIPOC youth with investments in areas such as skills development and mentoring.

Building on previous work, and working with all university community partners, York has re-doubled efforts to advance specific initiatives and strategies to support Black scholars, and directly address anti-Black racism. Through innovative programs, including the research and scholarly work of James, the Jean Augustine Chair, York's unique Black Canadian Studies Certificate, and the new , 快播视频 is putting this responsibility at the center of its teaching and research.

鈥溈觳ナ悠� is committed to offering a diverse student population access to a high-quality, research-intensive university committed to the social, economic, cultural and environmental well-being of society,鈥� said Rhonda L. Lenton, 快播视频 president and vice-chancellor. 鈥淭his generous donation, made possible by the RBC Foundation, will support Professor James鈥� trailblazing work to build pathways for Black youth to pursue their educational goals, and provide new opportunities for current and future Black scholars to drive positive change at York, across Canada, and beyond.鈥�

Article from the March 3, 2021 issue of

The post 快播视频 receives $1.2M donation from RBC Foundation to support Black students appeared first on Faculty of Education.

For every 100 dollars donated to a charitable organization in Canada, as little as seven cents go toward supporting Black charities, concludes a new first-of-its kind study of the country's philanthropic sector and its impact on Black communities.

The report by the Network for the Advancement of Black Communities (NABC) at 快播视频 and Carleton University's Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership program found Black charities are significantly underfunded in Canada. The researchers say the country's philanthropic sector has "failed" to meet the needs of Black people in Canada. 

The post IN THE MEDIA: Black organizations receive as little as 7 cents for every $100 donated to Canada's big charities, study finds appeared first on Faculty of Education.

Building on the work of numerous Black community-based organizations, NABC is an initiative of the in the Faculty of Education at 快播视频. The Network amplifies the Chair鈥檚听aims to advance access, equity and inclusivity to education through community engagement and collaborative action.

Constituted in part by agencies and initiatives funded under the , NABC听 supports 70 agencies and works collectively to reduce education, employment and well-being outcome disparities of Black children, youth and families through : Innovative supports for Black Parents, Stop Now and Plan Middle Years Program, Enhanced Youth Outreach Worker Program, Youth Opportunities Fund, Industry Led Career Initiative, Violence Prevention Campaigns Initiative and the Youth Mentorship Program.

鈥淲e deploy community of practices as a model to promote learning and to build capacity for systems change鈥�, said NABC Director Amanuel Melles. 鈥淪o far, we have two communities of practice: Youth Mentoring, and Data and Evaluation Capacity Building in the Black community sector鈥�.

Pictured above: NABC session on Data and Evaluation Capacity Building Community of Practice held in October 2019 in Ottawa.

NABC continues to expand and work with numerous organizations across Ontario and Canada to strengthen the conditions for systemic changes through collaborative learning. NABC staff member Denise Challenger comments, "Working as a Network Weaver has been an exhilarating experience. It pushes me to find collaborative and creative ways for network members to build healthy connections, share resources, mobilize knowledge and self-organize in lived and virtual spaces. Each day offers me a new opportunity to map and strengthen relationships within the Black non-profit ecosystem."

Some of the initiatives that NABC has created/collaborated on include:

NABC in collaboration with the Youth Opportunities Fund of the Ontario Trillium Foundation hosts a discussion series, 鈥淟eadership for Systems Change.鈥澨� During each knowledge sharing session, we discuss a text-based report or video presentation of a systems change thought leader. Our goal is to develop a shared understanding of how best to apply a system change framework to the issues that affect black children, youth and families in Ontario.

We often hear about Black bodies being profiled; in this series we profile Black excellence. We interview both individual agencies and community thought leaders asking them to share how their programs and initiatives promote Black excellence, positive identity formation and inclusivity in order to address anti-Black racism and other challenges facing Black communities.

This series provide a platform for thought leaders, organizations, allies and grassroots groups in Black communities to explore the impact of the pandemic on our communities. It mobilizes knowledge to build capacity for collective action-oriented solutions. The Provincial Government recently announced one million dollars in additional funding for NABC to support Black organizations in their COVID-19 related emergency responses.

UN Decade of People of African Descent Capacity Building Program
NABC has provided extensive support to the development of national capacity fund for Black organizations across Canada that will be implemented for the next four years. This fund was announced by the federal Government in 2019 and will kick start in 2020.

鈥淭his is a very important initiative that promises to help address the issues we are facing at this time,鈥� said Jean Augustine Chair in Education, Community and Diaspora Carl James. 鈥淚t is consistent with the goal of NABC.鈥�

NABC has also launched a new that houses a wealth of resources including COVID-19 related information; publications and reports related to youth education, employment as well as health and well-being.

听

The post Initiative aims to address long-standing systemic disparities in Black Communities appeared first on Faculty of Education.