Miziwe Biik Aboriginal Employment and Training

Management consulting

Strategic Challenge

Miziwe Biik Aboriginal Employment and Training received a grant from the Government of Ontario to better understand how the experience of urban Indigenous youth can be improved with the province’s skilled trades system. The project examined how young people experience the system, how organizations connected to the system operate, and how the overall system functions. Together with their partners – the Aboriginal Apprenticeship Board of Ontario, LiUNA Local 183, the Skilled Trades College of Canada, and Indigenous youth – Miziwe Biik is seeking to further the organization’s learning around challenges to skilled trades entry, and design strategies to minimize or eliminate barriers to skilled trades program and employment sustainment by Indigenous youth in the Greater Toronto Area.

Our Approach

To support Miziwe Biik in the minimizing and elimination of barriers to skilled trades participation for Indigenous youth in the GTA, a five-phased approach is being undertaken. First, StrategyCorp collaborated with Miziwe Biik to identify potential partners within Ontario’s skilled trades ecosystem who may be interested in working together to enhance the experience of Indigenous youth with the skilled trades. Second, StrategyCorp developed a project vision and governance model through two structured, interactive co-design sessions with project partners. Third, StrategyCorp gathered insights related to the experience of urban, Indigenous youth with the skilled trades through various research methods, including stakeholder consultation, a literature review, and a leading practice scan. This phase also involved the formalization of a Skilled Trades Youth Committee alongside Miziwe Biik and Indigenous Friends – an Indigenous-led not-for-profit organization specializing in youth outreach.

Outcome

In 2022, StrategyCorp was successful in fully securing the $6M capital funding they needed from the provincial and federal governments; a huge victory for Miziwe Biik and Toronto’s Indigenous Community.

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