![Island Lake region [3]](https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/secure.notion-static.com/ceff7715-29eb-484e-b473-8838793bb225/Untitled.png)
Rachel Brooks, Sunny Guo, Nagma Mathur
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Many Indigenous communities face problems with self-sufficiency and self-determination. Youth are the fastest growing demographic in these communities [1], but they face barriers to education, job training, and support to secure long term employment and live a sustainable life.
In northern Manitoba, the 4-year high school graduation rate for Indigenous youth is 50.7%, compared to 89.9% for non-Indigenous youth [2]. Low high school graduation rates lead in part to low employment rates, which in turn lead to low economic output in the Indigenous communities.
Starting with the Oji-Cree nations of the Island Lake region, how can we empower youth to help build sustainable, self-sufficient communities?
Island Lake region [3]
Long term success of the designed solution would:
Create a high school mentorship program between youth (ages 14-18) and community stakeholders, in order to share skills & knowledge, develop design thinking, and solve self-identified problems in the community.
As a pilot program, we can start this at St. Theresa Point First Nation. The program can run after school, as an extracurricular activity.