Meeting and Learning Opportunities

Exchanges Canada will help to pay for most of the costs associated with exchange visits between youth groups.

If your YAC would like to set up an exchange program with another YAC or YACs, and needs help with finding funds to make it possible, this could be for you!

Applications for exchanges in the current school year (2005 – 2006) needed to go in by September.

If you are interested in using this program to fund an exchange for your YAC in the future, you should:

1. get details by visiting the Exchanges Canada website
2. contact CFC's Barbara McMillan.

For more information, you can also see a more detailed summary on this website.

There are many ways in which youth members can connect with other YACs¹ in order to learn from and share with each other.

On-line...

We hope that the www.yipcanada.org will become a vehicle to promote and facilitate twinning, on-line learning, and mentoring among community foundation YACs.

• To connect with other youth across the country, visit the Discussion Forum.
• To learn more about what other youth are doing in other parts of Canada and around the globe, just spend some time on this website! And remember to share what you and your YAC are doing by submitting items to the News Room, the Grants Stories section, and the Face of Youth Philanthropy.

Off-line...

While on-line communication is convenient and inexpensive, it can't replace face-to-face meetings or the benefits of experiencing a new environment. Read on for more about conferences, twinning and exchange opportunities:

Conferences... YAC members always appreciate the opportunity to meet other youth grantmakers and to share ideas and experiences. Many attend CFC's Regional Meetings and National Conference, held in alternating years.

Many youth have stayed in touch with each other after these events and share information about their YAC activities.

Twinning... Some YACs have expressed an interest in the idea of "twinning" with a YAC in another part of the country. This way, all of the YAC's members can benefit from learning about everything from how others run their meetings, recruit new members and assess grant applications, to the youth issues and leadership activities in other communities.

			Interested in twinning with another YAC? Get in touch with Barbara McMillan, YIP National Consultant, for more information.

Exchanges... As part of a twinning relationship, YACs can explore exchange visits. This website will be an efficient way to help plan these visits and then maintain the relationship, as well as to share highlights with other YACs.

			Interested in an exchange with another YAC? There is a federal government program called Exchanges Canada that provides funding toward travel expenses. To find out more, click here (single web-page summary by YIP Canada).

¹ YAC stands for Youth Advisory Council (or Committee)