Top 20 Under 20

Kamal Hassan, Director, The South Asia Group Ltd., and Director, The Empire Club of Canada; Laksh Vig, Honour Roll Student, Westview Centennial Secondary School; Rev. Michael Clarke, OC, Associate Priest, Church of the Incarnation; Fariba Anderson, Partner, The Manta Group, and Director, Youth in Motion; Margaret Hachey, Executive Vice-President, Duocom Canada Inc.; Brian Hunt, President and CEO, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario; Sylvia Morawetz, Principal, S.A.M. Solutions, and Director, The Empire Club of Canada; James Cowan, Managing Director, Macquarie North America Ltd.; Lisa Banks, Senior Director, Community Affairs, Bell Canada; and Charles S. Coffey, Executive Vice-President, Government Affairs and Business Development, RBC Financial Group, and Third Vice-President, The Empire Club of Canada.

Introduction by William Whittaker

Today's date in numeric form is 06-06-06, a once-in-a-century occurrence. An Empire Club luncheon focused on youth is almost as rare an occurrence. However, we are showing signs of progress as this is our second luncheon in the past year focused on youth. Last year, then nine-year-old Hannah Taylor spoke to us about her Ladybug Foundation campaign for the homeless. Hannah is one of the Top 20 Under 20 winners this year and we are pleased she is with us today.

Older people always like to pontificate about youth and I quote the following people in alphabetical order and not on the basis of profundity:

The secret about staying young is to live honestly, eat slowly and lie about your age (Lucille Ball).

Always be nice to those younger than you, because they are the ones who will be writing about you (Cyril Connoly).

The most aggravating thing about the younger generation is that I no longer belong to it (Albert Einstein).

Blessed are the young for they shall inherit the national debt (Herbert Clark Hoover).

Youth is a religion from which one always ends up being converted (Andre Malraux).

Youth is a wonderful thing. What a crime to waste it on children! (George Bernard Shaw).

The denunciation of the young is a necessary part of the hygiene of older people, and greatly assists in the circulation of their blood (Logan Pearsall Smith).

While our Top 20 Under 20 guests no doubt know most if not all of these names, how many of us over-twenty-year-olds know what contemporary young Canadians are thinking and doing? While some of us can name their current interests in music--Black Eyed Peas, Coldplay, Franz Ferdinand, Metric, Our Lady Peace, Nine Inch Nails, Nickelback and The Goo Goo Dolls--we generally know little else about today's teens, particularly when we no longer have teenagers at home. So today's luncheon with these 20 exceptional young Canadians is a learning opportunity for most of us.

The Youth in Motion Educational Foundation, with offices in Toronto and Calgary, is a national charitable foundation focused on developing the employability and life skills of Canadian youth to prepare them effectively for success in life and work. Its mission is to help Canadian youth make meaningful life and career decisions while inspiring them to be contributing citizens of Canada.

In 2004, Youth in Motion launched Canada's first national award and mentoring program for youth, Top 20 Under 20, which honours young Canadians under the age of 20 who have demonstrated a significant level of achievement, innovation and leadership. We are pleased that the 2006 Top 20 Under 20 award winners, who were introduced to the media earlier today, are with us together with Youth in Motion's Executive Director Akela Peoples who will introduce them in a moment.

Ms. Peoples, who is the Co-Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of Youth in Motion and the moving force behind the Top 20 Under 20 awards program, was recently named by the Women's Executive Network, as one of the Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada. She was the youngest-ever recipient of the YMCA's Women of Distinction Award for Entrepreneurship in 2002.

Ms. Peoples has proven expertise in the areas of education and fundraising. She has authored three books on mentoring and is featured regularly in the media respecting youth matters.

Please join me in welcoming Akela Peoples, the President and CEO of Youth in Motion, to our podium today.

Akela Peoples

Emerson said, "Do not follow where the path may lead...go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." These words very much represent the group of outstanding young people that are with us today. I am delighted to be here today with my team and Youth in Motion's Top 20 Under 20 award recipients for 2006. I would like to begin by thanking RBC and, in particular, Mr. Charlie Coffey for making today's event possible.

Youth are the future of our country and, unfortunately, all too commonly today, we hear a tremendous amount of negativity about the younger generation. I am so proud to be doing work with so many positive young people who I believe will restore your faith in the fact that the future of our country is in very good hands!

I am not your main attraction today.

I am pleased that we have all of this year's award recipients with us and in a few moments I am going to introduce them to you.

But first, I would like to tell you a little about our organization and why we launched our innovative Top 20 Under 20 Awards and Mentoring program. As Bill mentioned, we are a national non-profit organization and our mission statement is to assist youth in making positive life and career choices. But what I think is the most powerful aspect of our mission statement is actually the second part of it: We strive to inspire youth to become active and contributing citizens of Canada. We all have a lot to gain when each of us is able to give back, even just a little bit or a lot. Because "if we each do a little then we all do a lot!"

A number of years ago, we were getting requests from every province and territory in Canada to expand our successful mentoring programs and career-learning days to impact even more Canadian youth. At that time, we decided that we would launch a unique national awards and mentoring program. It is unique because it focuses on multiple paths to success. As we continue to grow and evolve the program, we hope to raise awareness about the fact that we now live in a country in which you can now go in many directions that will lead you to success in the world of work. You can go to university, there are fantastic college programs, you can be an entrepreneur, or go into the skilled trades. There are many paths to success in Canada and we need to do a better job in educating young people and their parents that we need bright and talented people going in all these directions.

Top 20 Under 20 is a program that has a national call for nominations in partnership with national media partners and as a result, we receive hundreds of applications from all provinces and territories in Canada. We have a very extensive and credible assessment process. We are looking for young leaders who have been innovative and creative and who have had a vision and a high degree of success in making that vision become a reality. Marks are a small part of the assessment process--that is unique! When they are selected as a Top 20 Under 20 award recipient it has been determined by a national team of judges and a finalist team of prestigious Order of Canada judges. Our award recipients are then invited to participate in a week-long Leadership Summit, a prestigious awards celebration, and a year-long mentoring program.

So our goal with this program is not just to applaud their accomplishments and celebrate their successes, but to support and facilitate their continued learning and leadership skill development. We also want to keep them connected as a national community of young leaders as I believe they will be making, individually and collectively, tremendous contributions to the future of our country.

So, in the year following this week's Leadership Summit, they will each be linked with a personal mentor and they will all be dialing in as a group once a month via conference call in which they will be hearing a keynote presentation and will have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to have a "Q and A" with a prominent Canadian leader. And when we launch our alumni program, they will re-connect annually with past award recipients and the power of that group, I believe, will be something to behold!

I would like to acknowledge that the head table today is representative of the many people that support Youth in Motion and enable us to do this important work. I am surrounded by volunteers and Board Members both current and past. Partners such as the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario and Bell Canada provide great support and resources to make our programs possible. Thank you for believing in us and in our youth.

Leadership is action not position. And I am about to prove that to you now by introducing Canada's Top 20 Under 20 for 2006. They are young scientists, artists, entrepreneurs, social activists, community capacity builders and global visionaries. They are all under the age of 20 and I think you will all agree that they are leading us towards a very bright future in Canada. Their intros will be brief but their accomplishments are many so I encourage you to visit our Web site at Top20Under20.ca to learn more.

I would ask that you kindly hold your applause to the end and I invite each award recipient to stand and be recognized as I call their name.

Marie Abbott, Age 16; Whitehorse, Yukon

At the age of 12, Marie Abbott became appalled when she learned about the horrific plight of child soldiers. Her interest soon developed into a passion for raising awareness and taking action on children's rights issues.

Miles Aronson, Age 18; Calgary, Alberta

Miles founded "Spread the Love" whose mission is to inspire and recruit young people so that they may lead their own communities in providing hundreds of sandwiches to the hungry and homeless on a monthly basis.

Melanie Bell, Age 18; Coleman, Prince Edward Island

Melanie wrote, illustrated and self-published a 96-page poetry book, "Tears for the World." One hundred per cent of the proceeds from the sale of this book was donated to Farmers Helping Farmers, a local organization that assists farmers in Africa through agricultural means. She has recently written a second book and is working on her third.

Kayla Cornale, Age 16; Burlington, Ontario

Motivated by her 9-year-old autistic cousin, Kayla invented and trademarked "Sounds and Syllablesª," a teaching system, which applies the musical component of "pitch" to the process of learning language.

Sarah Dubé, Age 18; Halifax, Nova Scotia

Sarah formed a group called "Students for Teaching Peace" which is committed to promoting the understanding and respect of all beliefs and cultures, through advocacy, and education.

Josianne Gosselin-Dubois, Age 18; Gatineau, Québec

At 13, Josianne assisted in the formation of a Youth Commission, aimed at educating and influencing city council on youth issues. Today, she is the Chair of the Youth Commission.

Larissa Fulawka, Age 18; Lac La Biche, Alberta

Three years ago, Larissa created a chess program for young students who struggled academically or had a difficult time interacting with their peers. The success of this program has led to its expansion into other elementary schools.

Naveen Hassan, Age 17; Toronto, Ontario

Based on student concerns about school safety, Naveen initiated three safe school programs at her high school. As a result of her initiatives major changes have occurred at her school including the installation of a student "hotline."

Joanna McNeil, Age 18; Red Island, Nova Scotia

Joanna never dreamed that she could have a role in the Tar Ponds clean up. Joanna embarked on research to discover whether bioremedial processes could provide a clean-up alternative to incineration. Her research has been publicized by the Sydney Tar Ponds Agency.

Heather Muir, Age 19; Walkerton, Ontario

Heather has logged over 8,000 hours and has created a student-only blood clinic which has been recognized by the Canadian Blood Service as having over 40-per-cent eligible donors compared to the Canadian average of 4 per cent.

Sami Oba•d, Age 17; Laval, Québec

Sami is a young scientist who is searching for a cure for neurodegenerative disorders like Parkinson's disease. Sami's promising research has earned him many national and international awards.

Keith Peiris, Age 16; London, Ontario

At age 11, Keith started his own Web development company, Cyberteks Design. What started out as a one-man operation has now grown to include 10 employees with many high-profile clients.

Douglas Price, Age 18; London, Ontario

Doug created a two-act, 14-song musical theatre production. He wrote the entire script and composed all the music and lyrics. He also led the 10-piece band while playing an electronic keyboard.

Aaria Rahim, Age 16; Coquitlam, British Columbia

In 2004, Aaria founded "Teens Transforming the Community" (T3C)--a unique leadership force directed at local teenagers making a difference in the lives of local community members. T3C has raised $5,000 for children in Africa.

Natalie Raso, Age 16; Hamilton, Ontario

In 2005, Natalie conducted research which led to the discovery that a mutant Herpes simplex virus had the ability to selectively kill cancerous cells. This research gained Natalie a first at the 2005 Canadian-wide Science Fair.

Meghana Saincher, Age 18; Edmonton, Alberta

In Grade 11, Meghana set out to develop a non-toxic alternative to current wood preservatives. She discovered that essential oils could be used in place of the current toxic preservatives to decrease the decay of wood.

Jordan Tannahill, Age 17; Ottawa, Ontario

Inspired by the love of film and the need to assist the next generation of Canadian filmmakers, Jordan put forward $3,000 of his own money to start the Canadian National Youth Film Festival (CNYFF).

Hannah Taylor, Age 9; Winnipeg, Manitoba

Since the age of five, Hannah has opened her heart to people who are at the lowest point in their lives. She founded a national charitable organization known as the Ladybug Foundation which has raised over $500,000 for homeless organizations.

William Turk, Age 18; Winnipeg, Manitoba

William's interest in science and innovation began in grade 9 where his research into mammalian retina earned him a Gold medal from Genome Canada and recognition by Maclean's magazine as one of 25 young Canadians who are already changing the world.

Jennifer Wang, Age 17; Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

Jennifer's research revealed that extracts from the root of wild sarsaparilla, a plant native to Saskatchewan, were able to kill cancer cells without substantially affecting non-cancer cells.

I'd like to now invite three of these young leaders to the podium so we can "get to know them" a little better. (Akela invites youth, one at a time, to the podium and engages them in an unrehearsed question and answer period.)

On my office wall, hangs a quote by Katherine Graham that says, "To love what you do and know that it matters, how could anything be more fun." I have the best job in the world. We have such great talent and potential in this country and I am honoured to be working with them and playing a small role in advancing their success.

It has been an honour, pleasure and a distinct privilege to profile these incredible young people making a tremendous difference in our communities and in our country. I hope we leave you inspired and truly believing that the future of Canada is in very good hands. Thank you.

The appreciation of the meeting was expressed by Sylvia Morawetz, Principal, S.A.M. Solutions, and Director, The Empire Club of Canada.