Our Story
The beginning…
In 1997, Akela Peoples had a vision to create some engaging, inspiring and educational programs for youth to assist them in choosing a rewarding career path. After completing her Master’s Degree in Educational Administration, she spent a number of successful years in the public school system designing and implementing specialized programming in the area of technology, business and the arts. She observed many youth, regardless of ability, struggle with career path decisions. Akela’s personal goal was, and still is, to help youth understand the strong correlation between having a job that you love and being happy and fulfilled each day. This kind of contentment often leads to personal success in work and life. Since most educated Canadians spend over 70,000 hours of their lives working, it seems to make sense that we should enjoy working if we can!
In order to launch her vision, she enlisted the creativity and unique skills of colleague Russ White who was co-incidentally retiring from a long and successful leadership career in education. Russ was known for his implementation and marketing skills and had decades of experience creating and innovating in educational arenas. Anyone who has met Russ, knows he is a big thinker, a “do-er”, an action oriented person who makes things happen. He offered to assist Akela for a year. The two believe in thinking big and setting stretch goals. And so an organization was born.
Along the way, they attracted the attention of many impressive and well respected partners. A key partner that launched the organization forward in the early years was the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario (ICAO). Shortly after the organization’s inception when the home office was Akela’s basement, the “then CEO of ICAO” Mr. Dave Wilson had the vision and experience to realize that providing inkind office space would literally “put the organization on the map”. YIM has benefitted from a decade of support from ICAO and they have truly been the “wind beneath the wings” of the grassroots growth of the organization.
The team never had any idea this interesting and worthwhile initiative would turn into a highly respected, national organization that now offers a vast array of engaging youth programs complete with an impressive array of corporate partners. Now 12 years later, Akela and Russ are still leading the YIM team and thousands of youth from Victoria, BC to St. John’s, NF have benefitted from YIM programs. Together – with the support of many key volunteers, funders and supporters - they have grown an organization that celebrates a culture of entrepreneurship and creativity. They are proud to work with a committed and growing staff who are passionate about youth and excited to be making a difference every day. Most significantly, Akela and Russ still believe that despite all that has been accomplished, the best is yet to come. Stay tuned as we continue to grow and help young Canadians realize and reach their potential.
Who we are now…
Youth in Motion (YIM) began as a grassroots, Ontario based non-profit organization in 1997 and, after requests from all provinces for program expansion, the organization quickly grew to become a national charitable organization in 2002. With offices in Toronto and Calgary, our purpose is to develop and implement dynamic programs for youth.
Top 20 Under 20™ is YIM’s signature national program, and it celebrates many “paths to success”. Our Top 20 Under 20 Leaders demonstrate achievement, leadership and innovation. Each award recipient has varied qualities and abilities; they are entrepreneurs, researchers and inventors, artists, athletes, philanthropists and community innovators.
YIM champions employment-focused mentoring programs for youth with barriers to employment. Additional programs include:
- youth-to-youth high school assemblies run across Canada to promote healthy life choices and personal growth, and
- school-based workshops that focus on career options such as entrepreneurship, politics and civil service
- a national youth leadership conference held in different provinces each year
Taken together, all Youth in Motion’s programs foster the continuing success of diverse youth and their important contributions to local, national and international communities. In all programs, we foster a culture of volunteerism and giving back to strengthen the fabric of Canadian society.
To support and mentor youth, YIM has attracted and retained over 1000 volunteers with professional backgrounds. We invite you to view our impressive and ever-growing list of partners and funders because, without them, our programs would literally not exist.
