Personal experiences to create change: A panel discussion

“Anyone can make change if they put their mind to it.”

By We Make Change USA and We Make Change Canada 🇺🇸🇨🇦

Everyone’s route to creating change is different. From being a ChangeMaker and volunteering your skills or starting your own Social Enterprise, there is something we can learn from each other’s stories in creating change that can all help our own experiences.

We Make Change USA, and We Make Change Canada hosted a panel discussion with 3 Social Enterprises paving the way for change for women, mental health, homelessness, and social entrepreneurship. National presidents of We Make Change US, Katherine Posniak, and National Co-Presidents of We Make Change Canada, Joana Jabson, and Jessica Li round up their thoughts and key takeaways from the event below.

Equality, Gender, Education: Personal experiences to impact

The panel discussion set out some key themes that highlighted the importance of these issues. These themes included equality, gender, and education. Our panelists discussed their own experiences and how they are trying to tackle these issues through the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals.

Gender Equality

Our women panelists each brought their own unique set of experiences and perspectives to shape their organization’s mission and values. For Jana Amin, her advocacy surrounds uplifting and empowering the voices of Muslim women and recognizing and harnessing the power of her youth. She also recognizes that public speaking is one of her biggest talents and uses her public speaking skills to drive change and raise awareness at international events and conferences.

For Amaka, her motivation to develop and grow her brand MKCurvy was born out of her struggles with body image as a child, her work in development, living through illness, being a working mother and caring for her young son, and the hope to uplift other women by providing them with work in her native country of Nigeria. MKCurvy seeks to leverage the digital space to market designs produced under our brand in Africa by mainly African women to a global marketplace. Amaka is the epitome of a superwoman!

Anya’s mission grew out of examining issues in her own backyard, aka Canada, where she and her sister Shania, created the Canadian Courage Project, a charitable organization that supports youth and their furry friends transitioning from homelessness into independent housing. The sister duo are youth mental health advocates that are passionate about promoting, educating, and bridging the gap between animal companionship and mental health. Anya has given us an actionable recommendation, which is to make a change anywhere, no matter how small!

Education

Education was a theme that was reoccurring throughout the panel discussion. All our panelists shared their insight into how education was vital in equipping them to create change. Many still lack access to education highlighting the importance of tackling this issue. Many young people are often denounced for taking action because they’re ‘too young.’ However, the panelist reinforced the power of mobilizing youth is vital for creating a lasting impact. The panelists recognized that a lot of work has been done to progress the issue of education; however, we still have a long way to go. One of the ways suggested is to connect ChangeMaker’s who care about the same causes with Social Enterprises. Doing so would help give more opportunities to youth and allow them to develop their skills further.

Homelessness

Homelessness was an issue that was discussed in our panel regarding Sustainable Development Goal 10 : Reducing Inequality. Although you may not be aware of it, homelessness is an issue that faces people everywhere. The panelists discussed the cyclical nature of poverty and homelessness, as the system offers few resources for people struggling with homelessness to get back on their feet. In particular, our panelist Anya Bhopa, discussed the struggles of homelessness on mental health and well-being. Through her work at The Canadian Courage Project, Anya supports homeless youth with animal companions across Ontario and promotes mental well-being. Through raising funds The Canadian Courage Project, utilize resources to create care kits for youth. There is so much we can do to help the homeless community, and the easiest thing we can do is to extend compassion to those dealing with homelessness and not make them feel ostracized. From there, it is imperative that we promote structural changes that help homeless people break the cycle of poverty.

Key takeaways

The panelist speakers highlighted that anyone can make a change if they put their mind to it. They indicated that they all had their own personal challenges in setting up their organizations, but it was their passion that really drove them to continue. It was also the fact that they remained open-minded and were always willing to learn from others. The amazing panelists mentioned that everyone has unique skill sets and experiences that they can utilize and make a change. It is all about having the confidence to amplify your voice! The speakers emphasized to not be afraid to take the risk and don’t listen to anyone who says “you can’t do it”. The main takeaway was that anyone can make a change if they have passion and are eager to make an impact in their community.

About We Make Change USA 🇺🇸

We Make Change USA focuses on connecting people in the US who are looking to volunteer with the causes and organizations they are passionate about. We have a diverse group of ChangeMakers from all over the country who work to advance a variety of social issues, ranging from racism to climate change and gender equality. For Quarter 3 of 2021, We Make Change USA is focusing specifically on Sustainable Development Goal 3: Good Health and Wellbeing. We are excited to spread awareness about equitable healthcare in the US, navigating a post-pandemic world, and advancing access to mental health resources. Please follow us on social media and email us at wemakechangeusa@gmail.com if you want to join our ChangeMaker family!

Instagram: @WeMakeChangeUsa

LinkedIn: We Make Change USA

About We Make Change Canada 🇨🇦

We Make Change Canada’s role is to grow Canada's national community and provide a platform where individuals can network, collaborate, mobilize and exchange ideas to create change. We Make Change Canada focuses on four of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG): No Poverty (SDG 1), Good Health and Well-Being (SDG 3), Reduced Inequalities (SDG 10), and finally Responsible Consumption and Production (SDG 13). Through the Sustainable Development Goals, the Canadian Executive Team is focused on creating an action plan to support the Canadian community directed towards promoting well-being and mental health support, providing marginalized communities the support to fight homelessness, advocating the needs of the Indigenous community and racial inequalities within Canada.

Instagram: @WeMakeChangeCanada

Facebook: We Make Change Canada

LinkedIn: We Make Change Canada