May 30/07 10:20 am - CAAWS Calls for Youth Leadership Facilitators

Posted by Editor on 05/30/07
 

CAAWS Calls for Youth Leadership Facilitators
Courtesy SIRC

CAAWS' Women and Leadership Program consists of five professional development sessions designed for adult women working and volunteering in the sport and/or active living communities. These session topics were developed in 2003 and 2005 and include the following topics: Effective Networking, Creating Work Life Balance, Effective Communication, Influencing Change, and Conflict Resolution.

In response to public demand for leadership workshops targeted to a younger audience, CAAWS has recently developed a youth leadership workshop designed for girls and young women (ages 15-20) who are involved in sport, recreation and physical activity as athletes, coaches, volunteers and hope to continue to contribute to sport in their future career or through volunteer activities.

This interactive workshop entitled 'Unleash your Leadership Potential: A workshop for young women' combines theory and interactive exercises. It caters to 15-20 year olds and can be delivered in a two-hour or three-hour format. With sport and physical activity as a backdrop, the session covers the range of leadership skills and attributes that will assist young leaders to take on roles as planners and decision makers during their school years and beyond. The session is fast paced, hands-on and provides an opportunity for participants to:

- identify activities in their home community where they can develop their leadership skills
- discuss effective and ineffective communication patterns
- review the importance of a strong introduction
- learn 5 steps to increase their leadership skills
- create a personal leadership plan

CAAWS has made the initial investment in the leadership program by developing the content and piloting the sessions and is now seeking qualified individuals to be trained as 'Youth Leadership Facilitators' (YLFs). Each YLF selected will receive comprehensive training in the delivery of the youth leadership workshop and will subsequently be required to deliver the workshop to the target audience in her own community.

Youth Leadership Facilitators are required to have the following competencies and experiences:

- Held/hold a leadership role in sport, physical education, recreation, active living (3+ years experience)
- Experience in delivering workshops, seminars/training sessions or teaching
- Confident public speaker with an ability to engage participants in discussion
- Basic computer literacy (word processing, e-mail and PowerPoint)
- Ability to oversee the logistics for hosting workshops (i.e. event planning experience as required)
- Have a women-centered approach and a personal commitment to developing girls and women in sport
- Have a strong working relationship and access to an existing network of girls and young women aged 15-20 years old (i.e. sports team, school-environment, community recreation centre, health club, etc.)

Two separate training sessions are tentatively scheduled to take place in Halifax, NS in October on the 13th and 14th. Interested Individuals who meet the qualifications must complete a registration form and send it to CAAWS. Questions and inquiries concerning the training sessions can be directed to Krista Benoit, CAAWS Women and Leadership Program Manager at kbenoit@caaws.ca or 819-682-7739 or visit www.caaws.ca for more information.