A Guide to Facilitating the. Fly with the Wind. Employment and Entrepreneurship. Workshop for Youth

Transcription

1 A Guide to Facilitating the Fly with the Wind Employment and Entrepreneurship Workshop for Youth March 2014 (c) Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada

2 Contents Introduction... 1 Fly with the Wind Resources... 1 Sample Workshop Agenda and Content... 3 Top Ten Hints and Tricks to Make the Workshop a Success

3 Introduction Fly With the Wind is a set of resources for Inuit youth interested in business or employment. There are 15 fact sheets on a variety of topics and a guide specifically for youth interested in starting a business. The fact sheets address topics including budgeting, debit and credit cards, online banking and shopping, writing a resume and preparing for and participating in a job interview. The guide covers topics including coming up with an idea for a business, what makes a good businessperson, business plans, marketing, banking, accessing start-up funding and staying on top of your business. These resources have been developed with direct input from Inuit youth and have been designed so they can be used by any individual or relevant organizations across the Arctic. Unlike similar resources from other parts of Canada, they take into consideration challenges like lack of access to banking services or other supports in the communities, limited infrastructure and specific business needs and ideas. The sample agenda is based on two workshops held with youth to gain feedback on what information they need to help them, and holding a mini-workshop with presentations from local business owners, economic development officers, representatives of banks and others. The workshop also allowed youth to participate in mock interviews and brainstorm their own sample business idea. All of the feedback from the youth has been incorporated in the final resources and this workshop outline. Feel free to bring in your own ideas, experiences and resources to make sure the workshop is relevant and meaningful to the participants. You may wish to hold a similar workshop for youth in your community as part of your work as an economic development officer, teacher or other capacity. If all the participants live in your community, you can break the topics up into shorter sections that can be held over a longer period of time like one or two evenings a week or three Saturdays. Depending on the number of participants, you can either review the fact sheets or do the handson exercises as one group. If you have enough participants you can hold smaller breakout groups but you will need more than one facilitator. Fly with the Wind Resources All of the Fly with the Wind resources can be found at A good start to the workshop is to review the website with the participants to familiarize them with the subjects that willl be covered. The website contains a video clip of participants in an earlier workshop held in Iqaluit. The participants will be able to hear inspiring comments from other Inuit youth and will provide an encouraging environment for the participants. 1

4 The fact sheets cover the following topics: 1. Strengths and Challenges 2. Job versus Career 3. Self-assessment for Youth Entrepreneurs 4. Writing Your Resume 5. References 6. Preparing for a Job Interview 7. Opening a Bank Account 8. Using Cheques 9. Debit Cards 10. Credit Cards 11. Good Debt versus Bad Debt 12. Getting Out of Debt 13. Online Banking and Shopping 14. Budgeting 15. Business Checklist The Strengths and Challenges fact sheet can be used completed by participants during the workshop. The Budgeting fact sheet includes a sample budget that participants can complete base on their personal income and expenses. Participants can share in a group their own strengths and challenges, but may wish to keep their budget details private. 2

5 Sample Workshop Agenda and Content Use this sample agenda however works best for you. You can tailor it to include different topics or resources, or break it into shorter sessions over a number of weeks. This section will also provide some background on the activities of the workshop. Day One 9:00 10:30 Opening Prayer Welcome and Opening Remarks Keynote Speaker Roundtable and Introductions Introduction to the Workshop Pre-Workshop Evaluation Form Icebreaker The opening prayer is optional, depending on the preferences and practices of your community or region. A keynote speaker may be the Mayor, councillor or other community leader. Having an opening speaker will set a positive tone for the workshop, and acknowledge the importance of the youth participants and what they are trying to accomplish. It will also demonstrate local support for youth. 10:30-10:45 Break 10:45 12:00 Video: The American T Dream Discussion (The Purse Suit of Happyness) This video, which can be found at was very well received by the youth who helped develop this workshop agenda, resources and website. It is a good general opening to the workshop and will provide both an opportunity for participants to discuss their hopes and goals as well as be a good introduction to examining their own strengths and challenges in the next exercise. 3

6 You will need a laptop or computer with speakers, Internet access and a projector and screen to show this video. 12:00 1:15 Lunch 1:15 2:15 What Are Our Strengths and Challenges Use this section to review the Strengths and Challenges fact sheet, and have the youth do their own assessment. If the group agrees, they may wish to share their own assessment with the others to provide positive reinforcement and mutual support. 2:15 2:45 Presentation and Discussion You may wish to have a local business person come and talk about their business, how they started, the challenges they faced and overcame, and their goals for the future. This will provide a positive role model and real life example to inspire the participants to consider what is possible in their own community. 3:55 4:30 Discussion/ Questions 4:30 5:00 Summary, Wrap up and Review of Agenda for Next Day Day Two 9:00 9:15 Recap of Previous Day 9:15 Presentation and Discussion Another speaker of your choosing will provide a more informal start to the day, and provide more real life success stories and positive examples. 10:15 10:30 Review Fly with the Wind Website An overview of the website content will provide an introduction to the concepts, information that is available and photos and a video of previous participants. You will require the same equipment as day one to view The American T Dream. 4

7 10:30 10:45 Break 10:45 12:00 Employment Fact Sheets Strengths and Challenges Job versus Career Writing Your Resume References Preparing for a Job Interview It is recommended that the employment content and resources be introduced first. Participants will have an opportunity for hands-on practice in writing a resume and you may wish to conduct mock interviews to demystify job interviews and provide a practical learning experience. 12:00 1:15 Lunch 1:15 2:30 Group Exercise (game, draw for prizes, dance break, etc.) This will allow some movement and fun before moving on to serious discussions of the fact sheets below. You may wish to solicit donations of small prizes from local businesses and organizations, play some games or even a dance break to music. Entrepreneurship Fact Sheets Self-Assessment for Youth Entrepreneurs Opening a Bank Account Using Cheques Debit Cards Credit Cards Good Debt versus Bad Debt Getting Out of Debt Online Banking and Shopping Budgeting Business Checklist This section gets into the details of the fact sheets. You may wish to have the participants do the budgeting template and self-assessment. You may also wish to go online and look at some relevant online vendors of business goods, services and equipment. This exercise will also provide an overview of good commercial websites and their potential use by businesses in smaller communities. 5

8 2:30 Break 2:45 3:00 Entrepreneurship Fact Sheets (continued) Continue to review the fact sheets as required. 4:45 5:00 Review, Wrap-Up and Next Day Day Three 9:00 9:15 Recap and Review of Agenda 9:15 10:30 Presentation and Discussion (Bank, Economic Development Officer, etc.) This interactive session is more informal but will provide the participants with information about local supports and services that are available and how they can access them. 10:30 10:45 Break 10:45 12:00 Fly with the Wind Guidebook Several hours will be required to go through the guidebook. Depending on the size of the group, you may do it in one group or smaller groups. If you do hold smaller group discussions, have each group report back to the other about how they think the guide may be useful to them. 12:00 1:15 Lunch 1:15 2:30 Fly with the Wind Guidebook (continued) 2:30 2:45 Break 6

9 2:45 3:15 Workshop Review and Discussion What did you learn? What would you like to learn more about? What do you plan to do now? This discussion will allow participants to reflect on what they have learned and start to think in a more concrete way about what they want to do next. 3:15 Post-Workshop Evaluation Form Asking participants to complete an evaluation of the workshop will allow you to improve and make adjustments for future delivery of the workshop and materials. 3:30 Closing Remarks Top Ten Hints and Tricks to Make the Workshop a Success The following are the top 10 recommendations from participants in other Pauktuutit businessoriented projects for holding a successful workshops. We hope you find them helpful in holding business and employment workshops for youth. 1. Ensure the participants have time to explore their strengths, challenges and goals in relation to business. The activities and exercises associated with this task have led to a number of ah-ha moments for participants as they discover things about themselves and to them gaining a much greater and clearer understanding of themselves. 2. Be flexible and adapt the workshop material to the needs and level of the participants. Some participants may be ready to start planning for a business while others are just as the initial exploration stage. 3. Make the workshop fun. Don t overwhelm everyone with information and don t be afraid to throw in some fun activities where possible. 4. Have practical interactive exercises and have a lesser emphasis on the lecture format of workshops. More hands-on exercises have proven popular and effective. 5. Having access to the Internet and computers enables participants to become familiar with how to access information and support on-line and prepare some documents and forms. 6. Have information from local business support and financial agencies available. Ask local resource people to make presentations to the group on subjects related to the workshop. Let potential presenters know the workshop is to help encourage women to consider 7

10 starting a business and to keep their presentation at the appropriate level of technicality, detail, etc. 7. Ask local business owners and role models come to speak to the group. Knowing how local people set up businesses and overcame challenges acts as a huge boost for people s confidence. 8. Some activities such as the scavenger hunt where people have to run around town and find information from various business-related sources are great ways to help people overcome their shyness and get to know business and resource people in their communities. 9. Ensure participants have time to share and really listen to each other s goals including things that they are making and learn about local resources. 10. Include information from the Inuit Women s Business Network ( and use the information to support sections of the workshop. These resources have been developed specifically for Inuit women in business. 8