Specialized Youth Entrepreneurship Curriculum

Youth Employment Services (YES) is excited to announce the addition of a brand-new entrepreneurship curriculum to its knowledge transfer and training program. Developed by YES with the financial support of the Citi Foundation, the new curriculum is the organization’s latest innovation in achieving their mission of empowering youth through employment

This package provides resources and tools for Employment Specialists who are looking to expand their programming and adapt their practices to better serve youth exploring entrepreneurship as a career option – covering topics such as: social media platforms for business and social media marketing, the opportunity identification process and mental health and self-care for entrepreneurs – an often overlooked but important aspect of entrepreneurship training.

In Canada, there are more than 860,000 youth between the ages of 15 and 29 who are not working, studying or participating in some form of training. While many young people are interested in pursuing entrepreneurial opportunities, youth with low-income and immigrant youth struggle to access start-up funding and may lack the social capital of their peers.

The new curriculum is now available for download for free across the country through the YES on Demand! knowledge transfer and training program. Each of the modules includes a facilitator’s guide, participant workbook and PowerPoint presentation.

Focusing on what young potential business owners need to know to start and to sustain a business for themselves, the innovative curriculum consists of eight training modules that align with Canada’s current business climate and technological advancements. The full package can be downloaded here:

• Entrepreneurship 101
• Entrepreneurship 101 Facilitator’s Guide
• Entrepreneurship 101 Participant Workbook
• Creativity, Innovation and Opportunity Identification
• Creativity Innovation and Opportunity Identification Facilitator’s Guide
• Creativity Innovation and Opportunity Identification Participant Workbook
• Emotional Intelligence for Entrepreneurs
• Emotional Intelligence Facilitators Guide
• Emotional Intelligence for Entrepreneurs Workbook
• Digital Literacy for Entrepreneurs
• Digital Literacy for Entrepreneurs Facilitators Guide
• Digital Literacy Participant Workbook
• Business Planning for Entrepreneurs
• Business Planning for Entrepreneurs Facilitators Guide
• Business Planning for Entrepreneurs Participant Workbook
• Sample Business Plan #1
• Sample Business Plan #2
• Sample Business Plan #3
• Sample Business Plan #4
• Financial Management for Entrepreneurs
• Financial Management for Entrepreneurs Facilitators Guide
• Financial Management for Entrepreneurs Participant Workbook
• Marketing for Entrepreneurs
• Marketing for Entrepreneurs Facilitators Guide
• Marketing for Entrepreneurs Participant Workbook
• Social Media for Entrepreneurs
• Social Media for Entrepreneurs Facilitators Guide
• Social Media for Entrepreneurs Participant Workbook

In addition to this new suite of curriculum, the YES on Demand! program seeks to address the persistent issue of youth unemployment with four additional proven, evidence based solutions:

• Mentorship programming
• Online employability and entrepreneurship skills training
• Specialized programming for youth with mental health issues
• Specialized curriculum for youth exploring or pursuing entrepreneurship

This grant, part of Citi and the Citi Foundation’s global Pathways to Progress initiative, will help to ensure YES clients will have access to these three critical resources. Additionally, this grant will enable YES to share these resources with other non-profits through a nation-wide knowledge transfer and training program.

Training on the use of all four YES on Demand! resources is available.

To learn more about the YES on Demand! knowledge transfer and training program please contact YES Program Manager, Karlie Fisher, at karlie_fisher@yes.on.ca or 416-504-5516