YLI Advisory Committee

The Disability Foundation is a Canada-wide organization that supports six charitable societies that provide accessible and meaningful activities for Canadians with disabilities. With funding from the Federal, Provincial Government, and community partners, the Disability Foundation has embarked on a new project under the banner of the Youth Leadership Initiative, in which we hope to identify and address attitudinal barriers to young Canadians with disabilities entering the workforce as well as creating a toolkit for recent graduates to use to aid them in overcoming and navigating these barriers.   

As of now, we are in the process of forming an Advisory Committee which will help identify solutions breaking down the perceived barriers to employment for youth with disabilities and oversee the toolkit our YLI staff is creating. The Advisory Committee will be tasked with ensuring a resourceful and well-rounded approach is being taken.

We are looking to have youth with disabilities between the ages of 17-29 participate in the Advisory Committee. It would be great if you could advertise this opportunity to the students within your student union.

For more information visit https://disabilityfoundation.org/yli/

To apply contact Serena Bains (they/she) at sbains@disabilityfoundation.org

Terms of Reference:

National Advisory Committee for the Youth Leadership Initiative 1. PROJECT DESCRIPTION

1.1 What is the Youth Leadership Initiative

There are three key phases the interns will be leading:

Year 1 – Research to identify attitudinal barriers youth with disabilities 17-29 face as they transition to the workplace.

Year 2 – Engage a national advisory committee to identify solutions to address these barriers

Year 3 – Produce resources to support employers and youth with disabilities in the hiring/ job seeking process.

1.2 Why is YLI important?

There are several compelling statistics that illustrate the importance of the Accessible Employment – Youth Leadership Initiative:

The Disability Foundation’s Youth Leadership Initiative empowers youth with disabilities to lead a national three-year project to identify and articulate often overlooked attitudinal barriers faced when transitioning from studies to the workplace. The objective of this initiative is to develop tangible solutions to break down these barriers.

  • According to Statistics Canada, youth aged 20 to 24 with mild or moderate disability were 14% less likely to have a job in 2011 than youth with no disabilities (Government of Canada, 2014).

  • Approximately 15% of youth with milder disabilities were neither in school nor employed. However, 76.7% could be identified as potential workers. (Government of Canada, 2017).

  • In a three-year research project that brought together 250 job seekers with disabilities and volunteer mentors to identify, set, and achieve job search goals, only 31% successfully secured employment. One major finding was the attitudinal barriers such as confidence and perceptions of the 9-to-5 structure are barriers for people with disabilities and the need for accommodations due to health factors (ConnecTra, 2018).

• With remote work becoming the norm during the COVID-19 pandemic, this has proven there is alternatives to the traditional five days a week 9-5 structure and that employees can be even more efficient in their job

2 COMMITTEE FOCUS

2.1 Vision

To empower youth with disabilities on employment journeys and create genuinely inclusive workplaces through providing knowledge and resources supporting youth with disabilities and employers in Canada.

2.2 What Does Success Look Like?

Build a comprehensive database of resources and information support youth with disabilities and employers in the job-seeking process.

2.3 Membership

The Advisory Committee will comprise of approximately 7-13 individuals across Canada with diverse perspectives/experiences to help ensure an intersectional approach in achieving the committee goals. Members can include:

  • Youth with disabilities between the age of 17 and 29

  • Professionals from employment agencies or career advisors

  • Staff members from post-secondary institutes’ accessibility offices

  • Faculty members from post-secondary institutes (Disabilities Studies, Psychology, Political

    Science, Equity Studies, and Woman’s Gender Studies)

  • Employers from private sectors

  • Counsellors or social service workers,

2.4 Role and Guiding Principles

With support from staff members of the Youth Leadership Initiative, the Advisory Committee is accountable to :

• Understand the employment of youth with disabilities through discussing the research findings

  • Support youth with disabilities and employers in providing accessible employment in the job-seeking process by providing advice and recommendations to YLI on solutions and resources addressing attitudinal barriers identified in the research

  • Review the multimedia toolkit as required. The toolkit will be produced by the YLI staff members based on the Committee’s advice and recommendation

    The membership of the Advisory Committee will commit to:

    • Attending all scheduled Advisory Committee meetings (virtual)

    • Fostering participant engagement to achieve project effectiveness

    • Sharing all communications and knowledge across all Advisory Committee members

    • Making timely decisions to ensure deliverables and milestones are achieved on-time and on

      budget

    • Notifying fellow members of the Advisory Committee, as soon as possible, if matter arises

      which is deemed to affect the development of the Committee

    • Implementing a feedback loop to continuously improve engagement

    • Attending all meetings or if necessary, nominate a proxy.

      Members of the advisory group can expect:

    • To be provided with complete, accurate and meaningful information in a timely manner

    • To be given reasonable time to make key decisions

    • To be alerted of potential risks and issues that could impact the project as they arise

    • An inclusive space for diverse/intersectionality perspectives

    • Open and honest discussions, without misleading assertions

    • Ongoing ‘health checks’ to verify the overall status and efficacy of the Committee.

      2.5 Committee Chair
      The Advisory Committee Chair is to be elected at the first meeting and will be appointed initially for one

      year.

      2.6 Term of Membership

      This Terms of Reference is effective from September 1, 2022 and continues until July 31, 2023, at the completion of the YLI initiative.

Members are appointed initially for one year, with the option of re-appointment. Members have the

options of long-term and short-term or rotational commitment. Long-term members will commit to

attending all scheduled meetings. Short-term or rotational members have the option of attending

selected scheduled meetings. This flexibility in term will accommodate both a staggering turnover of

membership and retention of expertise.

3. OPERATING PROCEDURES

3.1 Meetings

The proposed meeting length is 1.5 – 2 hours. The meeting interval is bi-monthly via Zoom, and any additional meetings are required.

3.2 Quorum
50% of members (or their proxies) constitute a quorum.

3.3 Records

The Advisory Committee Chair will set the agenda. The YLI staff member will liaise with the Chair and prepare and distribute the Minutes.

2.4 Conflict of Interest

Advisory Committee members must declare all potential conflicts of interest. The Chair of the Advisory Committee will advise if the member is to refrain from participating in any discussion or decision-making process. Any conflict of interest will be recorded in the Minutes.

4. ADOPTION AND AMENDMENT

These Terms of Reference shall also be reviewed upon request. Changes shall be approved by the YLI team. Advisory Committee members will participate in scheduled meetings and discussions and liaise with their peers to provide input and recommendations to YLI. The YLI team will manage the daily operational deliverables of YLI with the focus of achieving outlined project goals and objectives. Upon the formation of the Committee, these Terms of Reference will be reviewed by the YLI team. Adjustments may be made based on changes, including (but not limited to) scheduling changes or policy changes.

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