Young Men of Colour Stand Up 2011

As a response to the high number of young men of Colour underachieving in schools, The Toronto District School Board launched the inaugural Young Men Conference in May of 2010. The conference was a tremendous success!

For students, the conference provided a very special opportunity for synthesizing their learning and to meet successful men of Colour and hear directly from them about the challenges ahead and how through, hard work and education they can achieve their dreams.  Students’ feedback from the day was overwhelmingly positive and encouraging. Students left the day expressing optimism and hope for their futures and were able to visualize a path to success as outlined by the men at the conference. 

The men who volunteered to spend the day with the youth at the conference demonstrated their commitment to reaching out into the community and providing leadership in fostering the social and intellectual development of young men of Colour.  

As a result of last year’s resounding success, we are doing it again this year. On Thursday, May 5, 2011 at George Brown College, we will gather over 300 young men of Colour in Grades 7 and 8 from eight of Toronto’s downtown public schools to spend the day together learning, sharing and growing at this very special conference organized just for them.   
 
The second annual Young Men’s Conference will provide its young male participants with the opportunity to engage with successful men of colour from a variety of professions including business, sports, entertainment, medicine, politics, and so on. These professionals will share their personal stories of success and strategies for overcoming barriers.  The hope is that the student participants will leave the day with a feeling of empowerment, responsibility and with a desire to be successful! 
 
The Event will run from 9am to 3:30pm. We are asking each presenter to facilitate two 45 minute sessions with about 20-25 boys: one session in the morning and a second in the afternoon.

If you are interested in participating in this event please contact Neil Le Grand at neill@trezcapital dot com

Stand Up Conference 2011