multi-year funding Stream 2023 Impact Report
Executive Summary
The Multi-Year Funding Stream 2023 provided two years of funding to six Indigenous youth-led organizations, grassroots groups, and collectives. A total of $884,000 in funding was distributed, $442,000 in Year One, and $442,000 in Year Two. Creation received 41 proposals from nine provinces and territorie for this grant, representing a funding request of $5,835,700, and highlighting the importance of multi-year funding for Indigenous youth-led organizations, grassroots groups and collectives.
Over the course of two years, grantee projects focused on providing Indigenous youth with experiential learning opportunities, using program activities as tools to facilitate capacity building. Most grantees also worked with their participants to co-create their programming, enabling them to tak agency over grantee projects and develop their leadership skills. As youth gained new knowledge and skills, and participated in activities that they helped to design, grantees saw success in increasing youth empowerment and youth confidence. This focus on capacity building and collaborative program design also allowed grantee projects to be more flexible and to more easily adapt to youth and community needs, which helped youth leaders navigate challenges due to limited youth capacity and logistical issues. Over two years, the Multi-Year Funding Stream supported Indigenous youth in feeling more empowered in developing their leadership capabilities. Grantees also reported an increase in overall youth and community wellness, stronger connections to culture, and more meaningful connections to community.
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What stood out about the Creation grant was the way it allowed us to meet youth where they were at and adapt as needed. That flexibility made the project meaningful, sustainable, and rooted in the real needs of our young people! This is what Truth and Reconciliation looks like when it is done in a way that is meaningful and true! Thank-you IYR team!
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- Jody, Kiikew Keur Program,
Lii Michif Otipemisiwak Family & Community Services
