Fall 2012 proved to be a busy time for the Hamilton Hive and I,
which received provincial wide recognition through a number of different
meetings, conferences, and summits, including:
On September 13th, myself and the (at the time)
recently hired Hamilton Hive administrator, Mike Kubes, traveled to Kingston,
Ontario to present to the Ontario East Municipal Conference on the topic of regional
Youth Retention, Attraction, and Engagement strategies.
The next week myself, and the Chair of the Hamilton Chamber
of Commerce’s Young Entrepreneurs and Professionals committee, Joe Accardi,
attended a meeting of the Economic Developers Council of Ontario, along with representatives
from a variety of Ontario Young Professional groups. The goal of this meeting was to discuss the
potential development of a Youth Advisory group for the province of Ontario.
Then, in early
November, I was invited, as Chair of the Hamilton Hive, to present as part of a
panel on Youth Attraction and Next Generation Talent, to the Ontario Chamber ofCommerce’s –Ontario Economic Summit.
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| Of course, among all this, an awful picture of me was taken. |
These were all amazing, and illuminating opportunities, each
for myself, for the Hamilton Hive, and for the topic of Youth Strategies and Programs. It was truly heartening to see the Hamilton
Hive get recognized on a provincial level for being an innovative and
successful model for engaging young people in a community as they seek to start
their careers. It was also incredibly
encouraging to see the topic of programs and strategies to professionally
empower young people, enabling them to attain their career goals, continue to
steadily resonate with regions and organizations across the province. Many young people have difficulty seeing
anything but a hard future ahead, so the more this issue, and recommendations
on enhancing prosperity among young people, are put front and centre, the better
the future looks.
