Upcoming Event
Against the Current Workshop Series
Continue the conversation through our upcoming workshop series.
This year, Against the Current will mark a milestone: the Students Commission of Canada’s 35th anniversary as a youth voice node within Canada’s youth-serving network.
Theme: Raise or Raze – How do our systems shape youth futures? Are we co-creating environments that empower young people to thrive, while critically examining the barriers that still hold them back?
Date: Wednesday, May 13, 2026
Time: 7:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. EST
Virtual Time: 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. EST
Location: Toronto Reference Library, Toronto or virtually
Who: Join decision makers, practitioners, youth leaders, and academics leading collaborative efforts that respond to calls for action and support from youth themselves in these turbulent times.
Registration is open; spots are filling up!
What: A Village for a Day
Youth-serving collaboration is, in part, about co-creating environments that build youth confidence and competence through structured support. For the day, we create a village environment. Expert speakers kick off each session block for the whole village; then participants move into various neighborhoods to explore together the session theme in smaller groups through facilitated conversations and diverse styles of interactive techniques.
Attending Virtually? You’ll have live stream access to opening, Kickstart, and wrap up sessions. Following each Kickstart, you’ll have the opportunity to connect with a national audience of practitioners, community leaders and researchers, learn activities that you can use in your own work, and dive deeper into theories and questions underlying driving topics!
Each session begins with a Kickstart topic presentation, followed by participants choosing activities from the village. Each session includes small group dialogues and highly interactive activities, including critical conversations, artistic, kinesthetic engagement techniques, culminating in a collaborative wrap-up to synthesize key learnings.
Registration/ Breakfast: 7:30 - 8:30 a.m.
Opening: 8:30 a.m.
Sesson 1: Intergenerational Partnerships, The Heart of the Village
35 years of shifting the culture of youth engagement, coast-to-coast-to-coast and globally
•Linda Rose-Krasnor, PhD. Professor Emeritus, Brock University, Founding Academic Director of the Centre of Excellence for Youth Engagement
•Denise Campbell, Deputy City Manager, City of Toronto
•David Forteau, Creative Director, Producer
•Brina Ludwig-Prout, Board Chair, The Students Commission of Canada
•Niko Lacroix, President of Students Against Drunk Driving, Student Representative Council Officer (Saskatchewan)
•Abbi Poirier, Regional Youth Lead, Generation XX (Prince Edward Island)
Session 2: System Change, Avoiding the Drift
Collaborative structures and partnerships needed for communities to move upstream, toward system changes that create environments where youth can thrive
•Tanya Halsall, PhD, Scientist, University of Ottawa Institute of Mental Health Research at The Royal, Assistant Professor, School of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Ottawa
•Chad Bredin, Policy Analyst, Public Health Agency of Canada
•Stephanie Wright, Manager of Youth Programs and Partnerships, Next Gen Men
•Talib Michael Hirlehey, Regional Youth Leader, YACHS Highland Shores (Ontario)
Session 3: Hearing Unheard Moments, Shifting Cultures
Difficult conversations and alignment of efforts needed to reach cultural tipping points, locally and nationally, towards safety and inclusion.
•Heather Lawford, PhD, Professor, Bishop’s University, SSHRC TII Canada Research Chair, Youth Development, 3M National Teaching Fellow
•Roger Romero, Manager of Youth Services, Kingston Community Health Centres
•Lanny Libby-Jimenez, Senior Planner - Grants, Social Policy and Projects, City of Vancouver
•Becca Henry, Senior Policy Advisor, Public Safety Canada
•Shannon Nash, PhD, Senior Policy Advisor, Public Safety Canada
•Madin Hoey, Prince Albert Youth Group, Aspiring Educator (Saskatchewan)
•Jiya Charla, Program Facilitator, Red Fox Healthy Living Society (British Columbia)
Session 4: Celebrating Culture, The Roots of the Village
How prioritizing the needs, dreams, and interests of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit youth reshapes what intergenerational partnerships in a healthy village look like for (non)Indigenous youth.
•Jennifer Markides, Ph.D. SSHRC TII Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Youth Wellbeing and Education Associate Professor, Curriculum and Learning, Werklund School of Education & Faculty of Social Work, University of Calgary
•Zoey Roy, PhD, Researcher, Spoken Word Artist, Community-based Educator
•Baamiishi Ikwe (Flying Woman), Antonia (Toni) McCune, Elder
•Erica Van Vugt, Archeologist, Indigenous Research Circle & the Pawaatamihk Journal of Metis Thinkers
•Heaven Ryder, Youth Leader and Facilitator, SCC Roster Cohort 2 (Saskatchewan)
Session 5: Spaces that Shape the Village: Families, Schools, Recreation, and Businesses
Exploring how core community environments can partner to support youth flourishing
•Lori Brooks, Director-General, Employment Skills Development Canada
•Tracy Luca-Huger, Executive Director, Mentor Canada
•Andrea Haefele & Maleah Omari, Ophea
•Yana Berardini, PhD, Assistant Professor, Child and Youth Studies, Trent University and member of the Canadian Centre for Caregiving Excellence
•Steven Whitaker, OCT, MES, SWAN (Sports, Wellness and Achievement Network)
•Youssof Khalil, Youth Worker and Leader, Red Fox Healthy Living Society (British Columbia)
Wrap Up: Raise or Raze & Closing Remarks
What today means for raising youth up for a brighter tomorrow and razing the systemic barriers in their way -- Reflections and Directions
•Heather Ramey, CYW, PhD, Associate Professor and Graduate Program Director, Department of Child and Youth Studies, Brock University
•Sharif Mahdy, Chief Executive Officer, The Students Commission of Canada, in conversation with key speakers of the day
•Serin Ali, Youth Leader and Youth Roster member (New Brunswick)
•Smruti Patel, Be Blunt Youth Researcher, Peer Influencer, and Tutor (Ontario)
•Eva Chaurasia, Be Blunt Youth Researcher and School Board Student Trustee (Ontario)
