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Fall Institute – Information Co-creating Leadership Spaces with Youth, and Young Researchers, with Disabilities

Overview 

The Fall Institute (‘Institute’) was created as a core part of the Eviance YSTAR Fellowship program. Originally an in-person leadership institute, the Fall Institute has evolved to be a virtual leadership opportunity to engage a wider audience of youth (18-35) and young researchers with disabilities in leadership spaces.  

The Institute will feature trainings, panels and workshops tailored to youth leadership development. Additionally, the Institute will serve as a platform for youth and young researchers to present on their work and engage in dialogue with other youth and young researchers.  

Goals 

The Fall Institute has the following goals: 
    Enhance the leadership and community-based research skills of youth with disabilities. 
    Serve as a space to platform young researchers to share their work. 
    Foster dialogue and collaboration among youth. 
    Connect participants with new opportunities to network with youth with disabilities, and their allies.  

Partners 
    Eviance (Project Lead)  
    PROUD Project 
    Canadian Disability Studies Association CDSA 
    National Educational Association of Disabled Student (NEADS) 
    ARCH Disability Law Center 

Structure  

The Fall Institute will be a four-day virtual opportunity taking place across 2 weeks in November. The first week will feature session on November 12 & 13th and the second week will hold session on November 17th & 18th. It will feature 4 days from approximately 11-5pm EST each day to account for the various time zones across Canada. Each day will have a maximum of 3 sessions, which will each be 1.5 hours maximum to allow for breaks throughout the day.  

Based on consultation with Eviance’s existing youth network, the Institute will feature sessions in various formats to better engage participants: 
    Keynotes and panel discussions; 
    Hands-on workshops; 
    Community-based research and project presentations by young researchers; and, 
    Networking opportunities.  

Participants  

The Fall Institute is intended to engage youth and young researchers with disabilities as its core audience to increase the leadership opportunities available for youth with disabilities. 
The Fall Institute will centre on the intersections of disability and leadership and be open to all youth leaders and young community-based researchers who embrace anti-ableist and/or intersectional approaches and/or other critical theories. Participating youth will have an interest in learning more about engaging in leadership opportunities with diverse, disability communities. This may include students, as well as youth from academia, Organizations of Persons with Disabilities (OPD’s) and other NGO employees, service provision, entrepreneurs, public service employees, and any other interested youth.  

Call for Speakers 

We want to invite speakers and facilitators who are interested in supporting and engaging youth in leadership and research. This can be through any of the following methods: 
    Chair a panel discussion; 
    Young/New Researcher presentations; 
    Participate in Panel Discussion  
    Facilitate an interactive workshop; and/or; 
    Engage in youth mentorship, including providing feedback and perspectives on research presentations.  

Any support on other initiatives, sponsorship, or resource-sharing is also welcome.  

Evan Wicklund
Senior Research Officer / Manitoba Head Office Lead
Eviance (Canadian Centre on Disability Studies Inc. operating as)
Manitoba Head Office, 330 St. Mary Avenue, Suite 300 (Treaty 1 territory, traditional territory of the Anishinaabeg, Cree, OjiCree, Dakota, and Dene Peoples, and on the homeland of the Me´tis Nation)
Winnipeg, MB R3C 3Z5
Phone: (204) 809-5954
Fax: (204) 809-4819
Email: evan.wicklund@eviance.ca