OUR GOAL
Our goal is to create a community of celebrated Indigenous youth leading work that responds to the dynamic needs and priorities of their communities.
This work is done in partnership with a network of individuals, organizations and funders who all share a commitment to the values of OIYPP.
We achieve this in three ways:
The partnership is deeply rooted in reciprocity and shared ownership focusing on mutual learning experiences to build strong, equal and lasting relationships between everyone involved
- Providing direct financial, mentorship and capacity support to indigenous youth to explore and execute their own ideas;
- Building reciprocal relationships between Indigenous youth and a community of support including individuals, organizations and funders.
- Increasing awareness amongst the sector of philanthropy’s on-going role in colonization and in response pushing for change according to our learnings and values
The partnership is deeply rooted in reciprocity and shared ownership focusing on mutual learning experiences to build strong, equal and lasting relationships between everyone involved
OUR VALUES
Our values are ever evolving and come from a place of discussion and unity. Every year our Youth Advisory Committee, comprised of Indigenous youth from across Ontario, and a core team from The Circle and Tides Canada meet in-person for a day of visualization and relationship building. This is known as the Annual Kick-Off Meeting. This collaborative process molds OIYPP’s activities and allows us to reflect upon and update our values as we grow and new perspectives join the OIYPP team.
It is important to note that the values are intentionally presented in no particular order to hold all OIYPP participants equally accountable. Below are OIYPP’s 2020 Values, definitions and a glossary to help elaborate on keywords in our work that might not be as common or accessible depending on your geographical and socio-economic lived experience.
It is important to note that the values are intentionally presented in no particular order to hold all OIYPP participants equally accountable. Below are OIYPP’s 2020 Values, definitions and a glossary to help elaborate on keywords in our work that might not be as common or accessible depending on your geographical and socio-economic lived experience.
DECOLONIZE - While it is true that settler colonialism was a historical event that perpetuated racial violence, forced assimilation, language loss, and land apprehension. We would also add that settler colonialism is on-going and are critical of how the structures in place today uphold settler colonial ideals. In this recognition, and during a time of reconciliation, we aim to approach our work through the framework of decolonization. OIYPP views the decolonization process as a chance to disassemble colonial structures and reimagine a society that prioritizes Indigenous knowledge and traditions. We want to allow Indigenous youth to create projects they identify with and are passionate about. Therefore, using decolonization as a guiding framework, we will create space for projects that are not bound by eurocentric requirements.
ACCOUNTABILITY - In keeping with the spirit of decolonization, we have decided to add accountability as a value that we wish to uphold in our work with OIYPP. We recognize that the philanthropic sector was built through the extraction, dispossession, and exploitation of wealth from Indigenous lands and bodies. OIYPP believes that Indigenous youth hold the key to advancing the implementation of new systems that center the wellbeing of the community. In response, our goal is to remain accountable to those youth through our explicit disruption of existing systems. Whereby, in hopes of preventing further harm and changing the system, we plan on being hyper-conscious of where the wealth is coming from.
INDIGENIZE - This is the act of us respectfully decoupling from Eurocentric approaches and focusing on a process of relearning that encompasses the diversity of Indigenous peoples. By acknowledging our original land-stewardship responsibilities, we strengthen an understanding of Indigenous sovereignty and we model our cultural values, languages, and teachings in the philanthropic sector through this project.
LEADERSHIP - We believe a leader is brave and takes chances outside of their comfort zone. We are inspired by the initiative taken by our youth applicants, and also want to convey that anyone can be a leader. We see leaders as speaking up when something is wrong and they motivate others to take action. They are accountable to their supporters. They are willing to welcome change and most importantly, they encourage interdependence (being independent but being open to having others share). Leaders have that Skoden attitude!
RECIPROCITY - We believe that the work with Indigenous youth through OIYPP is a fair exchange. We feel that our communities gave us many things - a sense of belonging, cultural teachings, and space to learn about ourselves and grow. So we feel it is our responsibility to give back. To us, reciprocity means “giving, receiving and sharing” and we believe that we have just as much to gain from a partnership with youth, as they do with us.
HEALING - OIYPP works to support healing within the communities of Indigenous youth and the philanthropic sector. Therefore healing reflects two approaches for us:
RELATIONSHIP - Respect, honesty, courage, wisdom, truth, humility and love guide us in building unity among our relationships with our Indigenous Youth Leading Projects, our Indigenous Youth Advisors, the Core Team and our partners in philanthropy.
ACCESSIBLE - We want to ensure that the process of applying for a grant or working with OYIPP is as barrier-free as possible for Indigenous youth. We encourage youth to reach out if there are challenges to your application that would prevent you from seeing your idea come to life. We aim to be as accessible as possible in many different ways such as providing an ASL translator, child care so you can attend our gathering, Inuktitut translator, using gender-inclusive language, and ensuring gender-neutral washrooms.
ACCOUNTABILITY - In keeping with the spirit of decolonization, we have decided to add accountability as a value that we wish to uphold in our work with OIYPP. We recognize that the philanthropic sector was built through the extraction, dispossession, and exploitation of wealth from Indigenous lands and bodies. OIYPP believes that Indigenous youth hold the key to advancing the implementation of new systems that center the wellbeing of the community. In response, our goal is to remain accountable to those youth through our explicit disruption of existing systems. Whereby, in hopes of preventing further harm and changing the system, we plan on being hyper-conscious of where the wealth is coming from.
INDIGENIZE - This is the act of us respectfully decoupling from Eurocentric approaches and focusing on a process of relearning that encompasses the diversity of Indigenous peoples. By acknowledging our original land-stewardship responsibilities, we strengthen an understanding of Indigenous sovereignty and we model our cultural values, languages, and teachings in the philanthropic sector through this project.
LEADERSHIP - We believe a leader is brave and takes chances outside of their comfort zone. We are inspired by the initiative taken by our youth applicants, and also want to convey that anyone can be a leader. We see leaders as speaking up when something is wrong and they motivate others to take action. They are accountable to their supporters. They are willing to welcome change and most importantly, they encourage interdependence (being independent but being open to having others share). Leaders have that Skoden attitude!
RECIPROCITY - We believe that the work with Indigenous youth through OIYPP is a fair exchange. We feel that our communities gave us many things - a sense of belonging, cultural teachings, and space to learn about ourselves and grow. So we feel it is our responsibility to give back. To us, reciprocity means “giving, receiving and sharing” and we believe that we have just as much to gain from a partnership with youth, as they do with us.
HEALING - OIYPP works to support healing within the communities of Indigenous youth and the philanthropic sector. Therefore healing reflects two approaches for us:
- healing the history of philanthropy, how it has impacted and often participated in dispossession and colonization of Indigenous peoples.
- youth know what is needed and have the ability to heal themselves and their communities.
RELATIONSHIP - Respect, honesty, courage, wisdom, truth, humility and love guide us in building unity among our relationships with our Indigenous Youth Leading Projects, our Indigenous Youth Advisors, the Core Team and our partners in philanthropy.
ACCESSIBLE - We want to ensure that the process of applying for a grant or working with OYIPP is as barrier-free as possible for Indigenous youth. We encourage youth to reach out if there are challenges to your application that would prevent you from seeing your idea come to life. We aim to be as accessible as possible in many different ways such as providing an ASL translator, child care so you can attend our gathering, Inuktitut translator, using gender-inclusive language, and ensuring gender-neutral washrooms.
Evolved Values
OIYPP's values are fluid and evolving with each year's learnings. The values below have since evolved to more closely represent OIYPP's mission. Some are still relevant but perhaps not in use and we don't want to lose them. So we continue to include them and show what our path has been and hopefully to continue to show our growth and journey forward.
Youth has been included in Leadership
Empowerment, has since evolved to Community
Open, has since evolved to Accessible
Innovation, has since evolved to Revitalize
LANGUAGE - There are many different indigenous languages among our youth and communities. We want to invite youth to share, include and revitalize our languages as much as possible in the awesome work they are doing in communities.
COMMUNICATION - OIYPP is committed to act as a bridge to communicate what we are learning, and whether it is working and what isn’t. Helping our youth and funders in the philanthropic sector better understand one another in order to support youth led change making in Indigenous communities. By communicating clearly and honestly we can help increase awareness and accountability.
REVITALIZE - This change was in recognition that the overuse of the word innovation has diluted its meaning. OIYPP’s transition to include revitalize as a value recognizes that youth are resilient and they have the power to make changes in their lives and their communities. Indigenous youth also have influence of how OIYPP does its work; in best supporting youth whom see the needs within their communities and that have a vision for positive changes. That power and influence leads to the revitalization of their lives, their communities, and the philanthropic sector.
COMMUNITY - Mobilization and community building are strengths built between the individual and relationship with their community. OIYPP recognizes the importance of each person’s unique roles, responsibilities and gifts when working in community and strives to create an empowering network of support for further community successes.
RESPONSIBILITY -Embracing responsibility as a value means that we are accountable to the youth that we work with. We believe in the importance of building mutual trust and do our best to ensure that we are transparent and responsive to the needs of Indigenous young people and their communities. We are also guided by our responsibility to protect youth from ongoing harms that exist in the sector (e.g. racism, tokenism, extraction of knowledge and labour etc.). We recognize that Indigenous youth are resilient and carry their own tools to navigate these spaces. However, the OIYPP team is in a position to help them strengthen these tools and to shield some of this harm.
Removed Values:
Dialogue
Intergenerational
Youth has been included in Leadership
Empowerment, has since evolved to Community
Open, has since evolved to Accessible
Innovation, has since evolved to Revitalize
LANGUAGE - There are many different indigenous languages among our youth and communities. We want to invite youth to share, include and revitalize our languages as much as possible in the awesome work they are doing in communities.
COMMUNICATION - OIYPP is committed to act as a bridge to communicate what we are learning, and whether it is working and what isn’t. Helping our youth and funders in the philanthropic sector better understand one another in order to support youth led change making in Indigenous communities. By communicating clearly and honestly we can help increase awareness and accountability.
REVITALIZE - This change was in recognition that the overuse of the word innovation has diluted its meaning. OIYPP’s transition to include revitalize as a value recognizes that youth are resilient and they have the power to make changes in their lives and their communities. Indigenous youth also have influence of how OIYPP does its work; in best supporting youth whom see the needs within their communities and that have a vision for positive changes. That power and influence leads to the revitalization of their lives, their communities, and the philanthropic sector.
COMMUNITY - Mobilization and community building are strengths built between the individual and relationship with their community. OIYPP recognizes the importance of each person’s unique roles, responsibilities and gifts when working in community and strives to create an empowering network of support for further community successes.
RESPONSIBILITY -Embracing responsibility as a value means that we are accountable to the youth that we work with. We believe in the importance of building mutual trust and do our best to ensure that we are transparent and responsive to the needs of Indigenous young people and their communities. We are also guided by our responsibility to protect youth from ongoing harms that exist in the sector (e.g. racism, tokenism, extraction of knowledge and labour etc.). We recognize that Indigenous youth are resilient and carry their own tools to navigate these spaces. However, the OIYPP team is in a position to help them strengthen these tools and to shield some of this harm.
Removed Values:
Dialogue
Intergenerational