The week of April 25th 2022 marks this year’s National Volunteer Week! NPower Canada appreciates our partners and their efforts every day of the year, and today we would like to publicly celebrate their generous contributions to our program participants.
Through NPower Canada’s corporate volunteer program, our partners engage with participants in various activities and help guide them through their early career journeys; this includes a diverse array of professional development training and networking opportunities, such as in-class presentations, speed mentoring sessions and mock interview opportunities.
Over the past year, 296 volunteers have collectively donated an incredible 1068 hours in 29 engagement opportunities, to more than 2000 NPower Canada program participants across Canada. Hosting high-impact events and activities at individual and group levels on topics most pertinent to underserved youth and adult job seekers, such as effective communication, successful interviewing, overcoming fear of change, and goal-setting, our partners are actively engaged in helping our participants transition into the digital workforce and support their career advancement.
Let’s take a look at some of the events we have held with our wonderful corporate partners recently:
Accenture Industry Guest Speaker Event
In March 2022, Lee delivered a powerful presentation on his career journey in tech, engaging with 50 NPower Canada participants from our Toronto and Halifax training cohorts. Lee shared personal stories and insights on how to persevere and work hard to navigate a career journey during his presentation.
“I had so much fun at today’s event and the attendees seemed to enjoy my presentation. I was happy to receive so many thoughtful questions at the end. I’ve been looking for a way to give back to my community and absolutely love the approach that NPower Canada is taking. I look forward to continuing to be involved in future events.” – Lee Daniel, Principal Director, Accenture
International Women’s Day Panel with Tata Consultancy Services
In March 2022, senior female tech executives from TCS engaged with 125 female-identifying and non-binary NPower Canada program participants in a career panel to celebrate International Women’s Day. It was an inspiring and uplifting conversation, celebrating the achievements of our panelists and encouraging our participants with their professional and personal development aspirations.
Being Future Ready with Your IT Career Path Workshop with RBC
Guest speakers from RBC’s technical recruitment team and a cybersecurity professional shared job search and career advancement advice with NPower Canada’s program participants. Volunteers highlighted the importance of soft skills and certifications in absence of formal education, encouraging our participants that people with non-traditional backgrounds can obtain success in IT. RBC is a champion partner of NPower Canada’s, engaging in a total of 11 corporate engagement events in 2021!
Youth in Tech Mentorship Program
In 2021, NPower Canada matched 93 professional mentors from various companies including Microsoft, Blackrock, Accenture, OKTA, Hootsuite, Benevity and Unity with NPower Canada’s program participants. Mentors engaged in fruitful mentorship conversations that provided their mentees with individualized coaching, guidance, and encouragement over the course of 8 weeks! Microsoft Canada has been a leading partner of NPower Canada’s mentorship program, engaging 51 staff volunteers since October 2020. We appreciate that so many Microsoft employees were able to carve out time from their busy schedule to give back to their community and support job-seekers in their career development journeys.
“I have enjoyed meeting and getting to know my mentee, and having an opportunity to share my experience and thoughts with someone who is early in their career. And feeling that I can make a difference is very rewarding.” – Microsoft Canada Mentor
“My experience as a one-on-one mentor within NPower Canada’s Youth in Tech Mentorship Program was both rewarding and insightful. I truly appreciated the opportunity to connect weekly with my mentee, who was preparing to apply for her first ever career role. The experience definitely refreshed my awareness of the challenges and opportunities faced by the incoming generation of technology professionals and furthered my interest in volunteering further in the area of technology career mentorship. Thank you NPower Canada for your impact on our workforce and society!” – Microsoft Canada Mentor
NPower Canada participants and staff are grateful to have access to a pool of volunteers who generously donate their time and expertise to support a diverse range of virtual learning opportunities for our program participants. Our volunteers’ generosity is vital to ensuring youth and adults from historically marginalized communities have equal access to the many career opportunities available in the technology sector.
To all of our wonderful volunteers, on behalf of our participants, alumni and staff, Happy National Volunteer Week! We wouldn’t be able to do what we do without your support.
