New partnership provides students with skills training for international volunteer experiences

Vancouver, BC — Student innovators taking part in international leadership projects now have access to a suite of professional skills training programs thanks to a new partnership signed by Mitacs and EQWIP HUBs.

Mitacs Training is now offered to EQWIP HUBs participants before departure for their international volunteer experiences. The online courses help students to build business and leadership skills such as project and time management, and cross-cultural communication. These skills will help Canadian undergraduate and graduate students be successful in their volunteer and leadership programs abroad.

EQWIP HUBs offer entrepreneurship, skills development, and job readiness programs for undergraduate students to find learning and leadership opportunities abroad. EQWIP HUBs offers its program through 18 knowledge centres across Bolivia, Ghana, Indonesia, Peru, Senegal, and Tanzania.

Mitacs’s online courses will be offered at no charge to EQWIP HUBs participants through the partnership and are taught by industry professionals, leaders in their fields.

Quotes:

Alison Ewart, Vice President, Programs, Mitacs

“Mitacs Training prepares Canadian students with important professional skills that are essential in any workplace. This partnership will help prepare students of EQWIP HUBs’s programs to tackle challenges in volunteer settings and to act as ambassadors of innovation leadership the world over.”

Derek Cameron, Project Director, EQWIP HUBs

“EQWIP HUBs provides young Canadian professionals with volunteer experiences that build skills, confidence, and experience, positioning them for the careers they want. We are excited about this collaboration with Mitacs to jointly offer professional development opportunities to EQWIP HUBs volunteers and build the skills that today’s graduates need to thrive in a changing and interconnected global working environment.”

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About Mitacs:

• Mitacs is a national, not-for-profit organization that fosters growth and innovation for business and academia.
• Working with more than 60 universities, thousands of companies, and both federal and provincial governments, Mitacs builds partnerships that support industrial and social innovation in Canada.
• Funded by the Government of Canada and Canadian universities, Mitacs Training fosters job-ready skills development through workshops and courses for graduate students and postdocs led by industry leaders.

About EQWIP HUBs:

• Funded in part by the Government of Canada through Global Affairs Canada, EQWIP HUBs are dynamic innovation spaces spanning 18 urban centers across Bolivia, Ghana, Indonesia, Peru, Senegal, and Tanzania.
• Each EQWIP HUBs is housed and operated in partnership with an established and locally respected youth-centred organization and operated in collaboration with local staff and volunteers.
• The goal of EQWIP HUBs is to change the lives of 100,000 youth by 2020.

Learn more:

• For information about Mitacs Training, visit www.mitacs.ca/en/programs/training/about-training
• For information about Mitacs and our programs, see www.mitacs.ca/newsroom
• For information about EQWIP HUBs, visit www.eqwiphubs.org