Youth Leadership Orientation 2015

This year’s Youth Leadership Orientation (YLO) took place over the Thanksgiving long weekend, Friday October 9, 2015 to Sunday, October 11, 2015. Now in its second year, this annual event was held at Kinark Outdoor Centre in Minden, Ontario.

The participants consisted of;  Aga Khan Youth and Sports Board (AKYSB) – Youth Club Reps, Ismaili Tariqah and Religious Education Board (ITREB) – STEP Teachers, Human Resource and Development (HRD) – Ismaili Volunteer Corps (IVC) Youth Portfolio Lieutenants (YPLs), Junior Portfolio Lieutenants (JPLs), Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Student Mukhi/Kamadia Sahebs and Mukhiani/Kamadiani Sahebas.

“The Youth Leadership Orientation is an integral component to development of our young leaders across Ontario, which serves as an opportunity for them to congregate and cohesively create constructive dialogue for prominent issues such as bullying, mental health, poverty elimination, and many other worthwhile challenges facing Ismaili youths across Ontario,” said Ali Mulji-Poonawala, AKYSB Ontario member for Youth. “Through this critical brainstorming the youth leadership rolled out a calendar of programming to tackle these challenges and address our board’s mandate for the upcoming term of office.”

The weekend orientation included workshops, insightful discussions, fun activities and professional speaker sessions.  The outcome of the orientation was to bring out the leader within each of the youth. The weekend retreat provided youth with a chance to: 

• Develop new and strengthen existing leadership skills;
• Meet and network with Youth Club Representatives, Student Mukhi/Kamdias & Mukhiani/Kamdianis, JPLs, YPLs, Big Brothers & Big Sisters from all Ontario Jamatkhanas;
• Examine critical tools to complement development as an effective leader and team member;
• Understand, dialogue and learn key concepts within our Tariqah through a safe forum;
• Make decisions and set directions that will impact the upcoming year(s);
• Begin the planning process for the upcoming year;
• Reflect upon oneself as individuals and leaders in society; and
• Promote a culture of collaboration towards one united institution serving the Ontario youth.

Speakers this year included:

• Sheherazade Hirji – President, Council for Ontario
• Alnoor Ladak - Honorary Secretary, Council for Ontario
• Aly Shamsy - AKYSB Chair Ontario
• Farrah Kamani - Anti Bullying lead
• Farooq Noordin - Former Honorary Secretary for ITREB & GRB Current Member for CAB
• Hafeez Jamal/Husein Manji/Azin Soltani - Late Night Conversations Band
• Al-Waez Hussein Charania - Former AKYSB Chair -  Prairies / IWTP
• Ali Mulji-Poonawala - AKYSB Board Member - Youth
• Azrah Manji - AKYSB Board Member – Youth Development
• Alina Lalji - AKYSB Secondary Vice-Chair
• Faizal Khamisa - Sportsnet Reporter

Here’s what some of the participants had to say about the 2015 Youth Leadership Orientation:

My experience as a participant at the Youth Leadership Orientation during 2015 was a great one! We all got a chance to interact with one another by engaging in discussions and playing fun games! The activities were a great way to build relationships between other participants as well as councilors that will last forever. My favourite part was the "devotion through music" session where we all got a chance to join Mobeen and Salima and engage in various different forms of music. It was such a peaceful and beautiful setting when we all recited these devotional pieces as a group. The information we were given during the discussions was essential to bring back to the Jamat to make them aware of what is going on and how we can overcome the challenges that arise over time as a united Jamat. Overall my experience at YLO was a great one, filled with enjoyable activities and informative discussions that will help us in our respective positions. It is important to keep the youth engaged through these types of events as it is our duty to help achieve Mawlana Hazar Imams vision for his Canadian Jamat. The skills we learned are not only skills that will help us during our term of office, but also skills that we can use to engage in discussions about Islam and how we can improve the well-being of our Jamat.” – Noah Premji, Participant

“This year’s Youth Leadership Orientation was a fantastic experience that brought together many of our youth and allowed great connections to be formed between our future leaders. As a staff member at YLO, I was able to observe as our Jamat’s youth exemplified themselves as leaders throughout the weekend’s activities, as well as develop my own leadership skills while facilitating some of these activities. Throughout the weekend, students engaged in many sessions, including anti-bullying discussions, conflict resolution activities and team-building sports. These sessions facilitated open discussions between participants and staff members that allowed communication skills to develop, and taught participants to work within their teams to resolve conflicts – skills that we hope they have taken back to their own Jamats and will utilize as they continue in their leadership positions. This year’s Youth Leadership Orientation was an enriching experience for both the participants and staff involved, and the skills attained during this weekend will positively influence the actions of the future leaders of our Jamat!” -Afsana Allidina, AKYSB Secondary South West Member.

The YLO 2015 Team at Kinark Outdoor Centre

Please click here to view additional pictures from the Youth Leadership Orientation.

Please click here to view a video from the Youth Leadership Orientation.