March 15, 2024
New experiences, new connections, and new possibilities for the future. On March 15, Oyateki Partnership hosted an occasion where each of these became a reality in a memory-making evening.
The Partnership is a collaborative effort of Gabriel Dumont Institute (GDI), Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technologies (SIIT), and the University of Saskatchewan (USask). Together they aim to positively impact Indigenous youth in Saskatchewan by creating opportunities for them to enter post-secondary education, find meaningful employment, and start their own businesses.
The Partnership’s Youth Advisory Circle (YAC) took a turn this spring to initiate an event to engage students in a career and job-developing opportunity. They came up with the idea of the “Indigenous Futures Networking Event”, where graduating and continuing students of the partners interact and network with recruiters and business owners from the industry sectors in which they have studied.
Chante Speidel, Youth Advisory Lead at Central Office for the Partnership, described the undertaking:
“The Youth Advisory Circle put forth the Indigenous Futures Networking Event to create awareness of the Indigenous talent across Saskatchewan. This event was tailored for the success of Indigenous young people within our partner institutes, to either find employment, learn more about a career or to network within the business community. I am overjoyed with the outcome of this event and the feedback received.”
The success of events like this stems from engaging youth in their vision and supporting their goals. YAC intended to design an event that would create the best possible scenario for student attendees to reach the goals. Their ideas included finding a welcoming and professional space for youth and students to shine, providing tools to give them confidence to step outside their comfort zone, and making an opportunity to grow their networks for future employment. The development of the event was a collaboration of efforts from the YAC group and the planning committee, which included staff representing all three partners. The committee lent their support leading up the event, including workshops on networking, resume-building, and interview-prep that were provided by the Career Services of SIIT. Business clothing donations from staff and local businesses provided professional attire to students so that they could put their best foot forward.
The event structure provided attending organizations the opportunity to answer the TRC Call to Action #92, through employment of Indigenous youth in a move toward Reconciliation. As well, they could share their vision and career opportunities with Indigenous youth.
Students and businesses were invited by the three partners, GDI, SIIT, and USask, to convene for a networking session in the setting of the beautiful Avenue Room in downtown Saskatoon.
As the room filled on event night the anticipation grew, with guests trickling in at first and increasing to a line-up outside the door. Then in a unique twist for a networking activity, the students with studies in Education, Health, Trades and Administration were asked to fill out ‘passports’. The objective was to meet and converse with employer representatives and earn a signature from each to complete the booklet. Once the passports were filled, the students used them to enter to win one of three bursaries provided by the partner institutes. As soon as the activity began, the room was buzzing with conversation and was non-stop for the next hour! Excitement remained high as draws for bursaries and door prizes were made, with cheers from fellow classmates coming from the crowd.
As the program wrapped up and attendees made their way to the door, comments heard from both employers and students were consistently positive, and the organizing committee and supporters remarked on the fantastic turnout. Employers were eager to talk about attending again ‘next time’, a sure sign that the night was a success.
The evening’s activities made the time fly by. The engagement and support shown by the business community were greatly appreciated by the Oyateki Partnership and contributed to its success. Even more significant was the impact their participation had on the Indigenous youth who took part. The connections and relationship-building not only gave them an unforgettable experience and boost of confidence, but also helped create pathways for their dreams to become reality and a lifelong positive impact.
Oyateki Partnership sends a special thank you to the organizing committee for all of the efforts and extra miles that were put in to make the event possible, to Dress for Success Saskatoon for our students feel spectacular, and to the vendors providing services on event night to make the night extra special. And the biggest thank you is for the students, who are our reason for making this happen!