Innovative Projects Realized

At the intersection of a global pandemic and social justice movement: Effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement on the development of passion for a cause, mental health and well-being of Black young adults in Canada.

The historic events of the spring of 2020 – the collision of the worst public health crisis in a century and the largest Black civil rights movement in half a century – offer a unique opportunity to examine how the frustrations and hopes of Black young adults were affected. We sought to understand the potentially competing impacts that the public health and social justice crises have had on the young adults in their communities. In partnership with the Black Community Resource Center, we are planning to conduct a longitudinal study to examine the psychological impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement on Black young adults in Canada. We plan to recruit a nationally representative sample of 400 Black young adults through the research company Léger.

SSE – Denis

La pandémie a grandement impacté le travail des journalistes. La fermeture des bureaux prive de la fourmilière d’idées qu’est une salle de rédaction. La règlementation des déplacements empêche parfois de se rendre sur le terrain, activité pourtant essentielle à un bon traitement journalistique. Les vidéastes doivent composer avec les entrevues Zoom de mauvaise qualité. La crise économique des médias, qui existait avant la crise sanitaire, ne s’améliore pas. À ces restrictions matérielles s’ajoutent des questionnements. Comment couvrir la crise ? Un média peut-il critiquer le gouvernement lorsque des vies sont en danger ? Comment faire face aux conspirations et à la désinformation grandissante ? Le monde des médias sortira changé de cette crise. Il y a eu un avant, un pendant, et il y aura un après COVID-19. Ce stage s’inscrit à un moment charnière de l’évolution de la pratique journalistique.

Mitacs Business Strategy Internship

The intern will be responsible for aggregating all the data which resides in various databases and programs to create a single unified tool that can analyze and compare our various journals and be able to provide an
assessment of their overall health. The intern will have to collaborate with a number of individuals across the organization to learn about our business and to understand how the data will be used to help us make better business decisions in light of the shifts and changes in our industry.

West Central Womens Resource Centre: New Journey Housing

West Central Women’s Resource Centre: New Journey Housing, Social Media Designer

Criterium Group – Analyst/Junior Consultant

Since the first case in Alberta, COVID-19 has impacted everyone, especially the most vulnerable. At Criterium Group, we pride ourselves on our resiliency; with our agile structure and ways of working, we have been able to adapt to these challenging times. In light of the pandemic, we have focused on working with our clients to support their strategy development and adapt their structures and processes, so they too can be resilient. In addition to supporting current projects in both the private and public sector, one client and partnership we want to support even further and highlight is the United Way of Calgary and Area (UWCA).
UWCA has had to shift their focus on dealing with the crisis at hand and requires consultancy support in paving the way for even greater resilience in the future. Criterium Group is proposing to hire four to five interns from the top Canadian universities to consult for UWCA. Criterium Group would cover the costs and would provide consulting services to UWCA as pro bono. Specifically, the Criterium Group interns would support the Social Impact Lab (Lab) and Digital Transition initiatives.

Low Income Advocates Network – with Low Income Intermediary Project and Spence Neighbourhood Association

Harold Dyck has been an EIA advocate in the community for more than 20 years, and has developed extensive knowledge and experience navigating the EIA system. The Low Income Intermediary Project helps provide resources, education, and advocacy for Manitobans experiencing poverty. The implementation of online resources and creation of an EIA advocates network will help to increase the accessibility of this knowledge to the community.

There are two main objectives of the project. The first is to develop a centralized online list of educational materials and advocacy resources for people navigating the EIA system and for advocates and community organizations working with those people. The second is the creation of a network of EIA advocates in Manitoba to facilitate the sharing of skills and information. My work on this project, which will also involve collaboration with a second internship student, will focus primarily on the first objective, with an emphasis on research and organizing information.

Calibration d’un indice physiologique chez la larve de pétoncle géant (Placopecten magellanicus) et caractérisation d’un régime alimentaire optimal

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1JustCity WestEndCommons

The WestEndCommons project operates in a neighbourhood that needs the services it provides, and the beneficiaries are:
• Members of the community who receive services and volunteer in the Neighborhood Resource Centre (NRC) Residential tenants who work, volunteer and receive services in the NRC
• Organizations that receive services in the NRC
• Church members
• Start-up businesses that use the commercial kitchen
I will create a network of partners that will serve as a bridge to help an organization facing challenges at the time of any pandemic breakout. Most small non-profit organizations are not prepared for a disaster and have not a system place to assess meaningful information that can help them cope. I like to establish a network of information needed on the how and what to do in of these challenges.

Level IT Up Mitacs Internship

Level IT Up is a social enterprise located in Winnipeg that is committed to connecting the tech sector with skilled individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder. To better prepare their candidates for the labour force, Level IT Up works with them to assess skills, aptitude profiles and offers various kinds of support pre and post-hiring. Currently, Level IT Up prepares and connects their candidates to jobs related to software development, data entry, data processing, software development, logistics, and engineering. Although this is an extensive range of jobs in the sector, Level IT Up is now ready to expand their operations and seek other industries/sectors that will benefit from the skills of candidates with ASD.
My objectives for this project include researching more sectors that would benefit from the innate skills of Level IT Up’s candidates. These areas include science, engineering, math, and others. This raises questions related to employment opportunities within these areas, what kinds of jobs there are, and if the current candidate training and assessment processes are relevant to what these sectors need. Level IT Up also feels ready to expand their service area to other parts of Manitoba, starting with Steinbach.

Wolseley Family Place Summer Programming

Wolseley Family Place is non-profit organization that provides numerous supports for families with children under 6 years of age. Wolseley Family Place has been serving the Winnipeg community for nearly 25 years. Wolseley Family Place has phenomenal values, and their programs and services are designed to facilitate the growth of individuals and families. Main avenues of facilitating growth are providing education and supports in diverse forms – which are both accommodating and intersectional.
The project consists of researching all components of the organization — from researching current and past programming, demographics serviced, as well as current methods of support. Aside from research I will be developing my technological skills, as well as interview skills. I will also collaborate with staff and the Health Education Coordinator to create a plan for documenting summer programming at Wolseley Family Place in an ethical and engaging way.
As previously stated, the project proposed will create opportunities that will impact the community as whole. The project will help the organization secure grant funding, which will benefit Winnipeg. There will always be a need for supports provided by Wolseley Family Place, and with greater funding the reach of their services will be wider.

PureGold Summer Student Geological Technician

I will be working as a Student Geological Technician for Pure Gold Mining Inc. throughout the summer in order to help with data acquisition from underground workings, drill programs, sample preparation, and data processing, while adjusting to covid-19 protocols. Government covid-19 protocols would be changing at an unknown rate, affecting supply and conditions at the mine. Afterwards, I will conduct a report and presentation which will present the influences of covid-19 presented throughout the project.

Artbeat Studio Community Engagement Assistant

I will be working with the team as the community engagement assistant to help with online engagement by helping facilitate their weekly art demonstrations. Project activities for that will include researching art methods and speaking on different topics in regards to mental well-being. Other projects I will be taking on are helping with in-person events when those are available depending on covid restrictions. This project will involve volunteer coordination, reaching out to alumni of their residence program to help facilitate art programming, and finding new ways to communicate and engage in the community. The last project I will be taking on is assisting with their booth at the weekly CEDA market. This project will include volunteer coordination, outreach to alumni, tracking sales, helping with set up, and engaging with people at the market. I believe these projects and this role will allow me to further refine my interpersonal skills and use my project management skills to overcome any obstacles that come along the way. Throughout my time at the studio working on different projects, I will be able to assess the mental health practices that Artbeat studio currently incorporates.