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LEAP Program Launch, Cornwall Ontario
3ci – the Carleton Centre for Community Innovation is very pleased to announce the launch of its new LEAP Program in Cornwall, Ontario with its partners, the Stormont, Dundas, & Glengarry Community Futures Development Corporation and the Cornwall Business Enterprise Centre.
30 participants assembled in downtown Cornwall to take part in the program orientation and launch activity. For the next three months they will pursue weekly workshops and real-world activities designed to foster hands-on entrepreneurial approaches to their working lives. After the formal delivery of the program, participants will continue to receive coaching support from the LEAP team, as well as access to services from our partners. The high level of enrollment is a direct result of three exploratory workshops delivered in the region by LEAP Lead Coach Shawn MacDonell last fall, as well as subsequent word-of-mouth and vigorous grass-roots promotion by our partners.
With this LEAP pilot we are growing out of the pilot phase of our project with the commitment and active involvement and support from of our Stormont, Dundas, & Glengarry partner agencies dedicated to entrepreneurship and employability. Thanks especially here to Gay Hamilton’s forward-thinking approach and Alyssa Blais and Terry Besner’s energetic outreach, in taking the “leap” with us.
The LEAP Program is a project sponsored by the Office of Literacy and Essential Skills (HRSDC) and is intended is to connect nationally with other organizations seeking to foster entrepreneurial culture in rural and remote Canadian communities. We want to change the way employability training and entrepreneurial development is delivered in Canada and link our project with other great work being done in partnership initiatives across the country. For those interested in learning more about the project, contact Peter MacGibbon.
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New LEAP Launch in Renfrew County
3ci – the Carleton Centre for Community Innovation is very pleased to announce the successful launch of its new LEAP Program in Renfrew County (the largest geographic county in Ontario), with its partners Enterprise Renfrew County (Pembroke) and Employment Networks (Renfrew).
In the first week a dozen women assembled in Pembroke and Renfrew to participate in workshops and activities designed to foster hands-on entrepreneurial approaches to their working lives. Word of the LEAP program is now spreading quickly throughout Renfrew County, and we expect the enrollment number to rise as more people hear about it.
This particular LEAP pilot also marks several major turning points as we fully engage in the delivery phase of our project:
1. The commitment and active involvement in the LEAP program of our Eastern Ontario partner agencies dedicated to entrepreneurship and employability.
2. The use of high-quality and user-friendly open-source technologies (BigBlueButton webcasting / audioconferencing, and the tiki-wiki website from Citadel Rock) to bridge the distance between Carleton University, Renfrew, and Pembroke for an authentic and satisfying learning scenario without expensive hardware or dedicated lines. This gives our model the legs to be scaled up and adopted anywhere in Canada.
3. The consolidation of our excellent delivery team who offer “high-touch” services through the high-tech, ultimately, making the difference in each of our participants’ lives.
The LEAP Program is a project sponsored by the Office of Literacy and Essential Skills (HRSDC) and our intention is to connect nationally with other organizations seeking to foster entrepreneurial culture in rural and remote Canadian communities. Canadians need this type of program more than ever, and we seek to link it with the other great work being in other initiatives across the country. For those interested in taking the leap (or simply learning more about the project) please do not hesitate to contact Peter MacGibbon at peter@qln.ca.
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LEAP team hosts Enterprise Centres’ Summer Company Training Day at Carleton
On June 6th, over 100 young entrepreneurs from across Eastern Ontario descended on Carleton for a day-long training session conducted by 3ci’s Local Employability Access Program (LEAP). The youth are all successful Summer Company candidates receiving sponsorship from their local Enterprise Centres to develop and run their summer businesses. They received training in customer relations, marketing, and business etiquette in a session designed by LEAP Lead Coach Shawn MacDonell. The event was conducted with Ottawa partners The Entrepreneurship Centre as part of the LEAP project’s outreach to Eastern Ontario Enterprise Centres. What is the Summer Company Program?
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LEAP supports Rural Women’s Leadership
LEAP partners the Quebec Community Groups Network have launched a project for Rural Women's Leadership with workshops and activities developed in partnership with selected rural and remote English-speaking communities in Quebec. Women in these communities often face a precarious socioeconomic status. In some regions, the unemployment rate is twice that of the provincial average and the job market is traditionally male-dominated. To implement change, these women need access to training and resources which will allow them grow and excel as leaders.
The LEAP team is working with the QCGN to design, develop, and deliver a project that will address these and other issues with community-driven and action-oriented projects to foster creativity, skills development, and ultimately, leadership, amongst young adult women in rural English-speaking Quebec. Learn more about the Rural Women’s Leadership project
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LEAP program shares it content through Creative Commons licensing
Partners in the Local Employability Access Program (LEAP) project can now access, adapt, and share back content through the newly revamped LEAP wiki at http://theleapforward.ca. The materials consist of online learning modules for Enterprise Development, Learning for Employability, Personal Development, Using Information Technology, and Community Development. Using wiki technology, partners can easily adapt individual lessons and worksheets and create a learning suite of materials custom-designed and ready to access for their own project or program. Another example of 3ci bringing innovative practices to grass-roots community development!
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New LEAP Wiki
3ci (Carleton Centre for Community Innovation) is very pleased to announce the launch of its new wiki website for LEAP, the Local Employability Access Program at http://theleapforward.ca .
You’ll find up-to-date information on all the pilot activities being run through our “Fostering an Entrepreneurial Culture” project, as well as news and information about the growing LEAP network.
As a wiki site, http://theleapforward.ca is intended to be an active workspace to encourage regular contributions by project partners, affiliates, and learners, so expect the site to grow and change quickly over the coming weeks and months!
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3ci - Fostering an Entrepreneurial Culture in the Lower North Shore!
An exciting new distance learning program was launched on October 21 when the Community Learning Centres of Chevery and St. Paul’s River in the Lower North Shore connected by videoconference with 3ci (the Carleton Centre for Community Innovation) for the first workshop of the Local Employability Access Program (LEAP). The 13 participants from the two coastal Quebec villages are receiving coaching and mentoring through a schedule of videoconference and webcast workshops while following a guided self-study program that helps them develop the attitude, skills, and support networks for reaching their career, business, community, or workplace goals. The participants meet to work in groups at their Community Learning Centres and receive the support of a local facilitator, as well as connecting directly to the LEAP program coach, Shawn MacDonell, by the latest technology and through private phone consultations. After the formal delivery phase, which will run until the winter holidays, the program continues on an informal basis as participants pursue their Self-Directed Learning Plans over another two months with the help of personal mentors.
The LEAP program is the first of a series of pilot projects planned by 3ci aimed at promoting an entrepreneurial approach to local development by boosting individual skills, knowledge, and confidence amongst those looking for a chance to pursue their goals without having to leave their communities. The Fostering an Entrepreneurial Culture project is being sponsored through 3ci at Carleton University and funded by Human Resources and Social Development Canada. Project partners include the Quebec Learners’ Network, the Quebec Community Groups Network, Entrepreneurship Incorporated (New Brunswick), the Talent First Network (Ontario), the Bell Community Development Fund. 3ci would also like to thank the Netagamiou and the St. Paul’s Community Learning Centres for providing access to these remote Lower North Shore communities through its local personnel and technology infrastructure.
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