Extracurricular opportunities are a great way for young people to discover what they care about, build skills, and gain practical experiences affecting positive change around them. We invest in extracurricular opportunities because we believe they are fundamental building blocks for fostering the next generation of leaders.
We fund opportunities that have the following characteristics:
Experiential opportunities to build skills
Identifying a problem, considering and choosing potential solutions, deeply understanding diverse perspectives, collaborating with others, recognizing one’s own strengths and potential to contribute, and taking action – we think that young people learn these skills best by doing. We support programs that provide young people with practical and hands-on experiences to build and practice skills that are fundamental to leadership.
Intercultural experiences
We believe that young people benefit enormously from meeting youth from different geographies, with different experiences, and different perspectives. Traveling to new places and meeting new people can take a young person out of their comfort zone and help them to broaden their worldview. Intercultural experiences help young people build skills like empathy, deep listening, and creative problem-solving that we know are essential for fostering fairer, more caring, and more vibrant communities. We support organizations that support young people to go on international and national exchanges, and that bring together youth from diverse backgrounds to work towards common goals.
Volunteerism and civic engagement
We support tangible opportunities for youth to contribute their skills and energy towards solutions to real challenges that exist in their communities. The initiatives we support recognize that youth can contribute significantly to their communities and provide high-quality training and supports to enable young people to do so.
The Outside Looking In Annual Showcase on Friday, May 10, 2024, in Toronto, Canada. Photo Credit: Ziyaad Haniff
What We Support:
We support initiatives aimed at youth between the ages of 15 and 24, primarily in Canada: We support extracurricular opportunities that reach youth in high school and the early post-secondary years when experiences, exchanges, and ideas can have a deep impact on the choices they make about their future.
We support initiatives that engage diverse youth in a wide range of thematic areas: We recognize that youth have a wide range of interests, and so the extracurricular opportunities we support focus on a wide range of themes – from science to poetry, and from literacy to environmental sustainability and beyond.
We seek to reach a wide range of youth: We recognize that access to extracurricular opportunities differs enormously. Included in the opportunities we support are initiatives that reach youth in rural and remote areas, and populations that may have less access than their peers.
We focus on in-person experiences that provide a substantial growth opportunity: We have found that the best opportunities to help young people stretch and grow are ones that bring them together in person, and that include quality training and supports alongside meaningful opportunities for young people to take purposeful action.
Our Impact
Supported
40+
enrichment programs
Reached
6,500+
young people with extra-curricular opportunities
Shad changed my whole understanding of post-secondary education and also how I can make an impact in society. I have learned many important skills that will put me in an advantage in post-secondary school. I have learned a variety of new and exciting STEAM topics that have opened my eyes to explore different areas.
Lewi Lambebo 2024 Shad Leader
Working with United for Literacy solidified my desire to continue working with children. I learned leadership skills, how to think on my feet, and how to adjust my approach to meet individual needs. I believe that this position allowed me to have a direct and meaningful impact on children’s lives.
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Shad programs use a STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) and entrepreneurship framework to allow Canadian high school students to develop impactful solutions to the social issues facing their communities. Through its flagship ShadOnCampus summer program, high school students spend a month living on campus at one of Shad’s university partners. There, students take…
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