The YAC’s 2024/25 Recap
What an amazing year it has been! It seems like just yesterday our Youth Advisory Commitee (YAC) was gearing up to create new advocacy projects. As our 2024/25 YAC term comes to an end, let’s celebrate their achievements from this past year:
#1: School Collabs
We partnered with several schools, such as Father Henry Carr Secondary School (Etobicoke) and the University of Ottawa, to deliver engaging workshops to students. We covered a variety of topics, including the truths of institutionalization, inclusion, and individual rights and advocacy. We also visited several schools in-person to promote our youth initiatives to students, teachers, and families.
#2: Inspiring Possibilities at the CLO Conference
YAC members – Moira, Megan, and Grace – took the stage at Community Living Ontario’s (CLO) Inspiring Possibilities Conference in September 2024 to present their session ‘Supporting Youth Advocacy’. Building on the momentum, they hosted another session in February 2025 for adult allies from youth-serving organizations and Community Living member organizations in Ontario.
Fun Fact! YAC members have presented at CLO’s annual Conference for the past three years, and this September, we’re about to make it four! We have another exciting presentation by four YAC members – Moira, Arshiaa, Megan, and Nathan – entitled ‘Truths of Institutionalization: Sincerely, Youth Trying to Stop History from Repeating Itself’. It’s going to be a good one, so stay tuned for highlights!
#3: Amplifying YAC Voices
This year, we collaborated with Autism Ontario, Youth for Change, and Moksha Canada to provide YAC members with a platform to speak up on issues that mattered to them. They discussed topics such as mental health, accessibility in the community, and accessing online resources.
#4: Highlights from R4I’s Youth Leadership Series
In January 2025, we launched the ‘Youth Leadership Workshop’ series featuring 3 awesome topics. From Amherstburg to Prince Edward County, we travelled across Ontario to inspire youth to create more accessible spaces and advocate for inclusion. Between January to August 2025, we hosted 26 workshops for 359 youth across 19 schools and organizations.
Re:Action4Inclusion’s Youth Leadership Workshops will be offered until December 2025. The three workshop topics are ‘How to Be a Good Leader’, ‘Accessibility in the Community’ and ‘Building Authentic Spaces’. If you are interested in bringing these workshops to your school or youth group, visit our website under ‘Upcoming Events’ to learn more. If you would like further information, please email Leshona Lennard (Youth and Community Engagement Coordinator) at llennard@communitylivingontario.ca.
#5: New Advocacy Projects
This term, the YAC began developing a few new advocacy projects:
- Ontario-wide Youth Mental Health Survey: Through this survey, the YAC aims to understand the barriers that prevent youth with disabilities from accessing mental health support in Ontario. Their aim is to raise awareness about available mental health services and increase their effectiveness in the lives of youth with disabilities.
- Re:Action4Inclusion Podcast: The YAC is hopping on the mic (literally) to amplify their voices through an R4I Podcast. They will discuss a range of topics from anti-bullying to making friends in college. First episode coming soon.
- New Social Media Series: This June, we launched a new Instagram series aimed at challenging misconception about intellectual disabilities. Check out our latest post here.
Thank you to all our YAC members, partners, and allies for such a great year! We can’t wait to see what the 2025/26 term brings!
