Lifelong Leadership Institute seeks students to develop leaders for its 2022 -2023 Leadership by Design Program

BY PAUL JUNOR

If you are a parent of an academically promising Black African-Canadian student who longs for help in optimizing your child’s talents, help is available from the Leadership by Design (LBD) program that is offered by the Lifelong Leadership Institute. The LBD program is now accepting applications for admission, and only students who are enrolled in Grade 10 this September may apply.

The Grade 10 start allows students to participate in rigorous leadership development and career exploration programs throughout the high school years of Grades 10, 11, and 12. The program also encourages post-secondary destinations and facilitates significant parental participation. These are characteristic features of the LBD.

Why the focus on leadership? It is well understood that leadership skills are critical to a student’s personal, social, academic and career success. Most employers demand effective leadership skills and these same skills found in successful entrepreneurs. These skills include: decision-making, accountability, communications, resilience, confidence, persuasiveness and relationship building. In addition, the LBD program provides opportunities for career exploration and civic engagement. These lifelong skills are vital for success in life.

The nice thing is the LBD program is free, has been running since 2016, and has an incredible track record of success providing skills-focused workshops such as public speaking, coding and goal setting, and also mentorship support and tutoring. What it does well is foster intellectual curiosity in students. This is nurtured as they develop critical, analytical, reasoning and problem-solving skills.

For the academic year 2022-23, LBD students will be able to select learning opportunities that enhance academic preparation, highlight career pathways and foster leadership. These opportunities include:

1. Pursue STEM – offered by the Faculty of Arts & Science, University of Toronto
2. Telescopes and Astronomy – through workshops steered by NASA and the CSA
3. Pursue Coding – courses using HTML, CSS, JavaScript and Python programming
4. Pursue Entrepreneurship – starter kit for developing the entrepreneurial mindset
5. Pursue Business (Marketing) – provided by Dentsu Canada, a world leader in marketing and digital advertising
6. Mathematics – led by the Black mathematics instructors from York University

Parents, guardians, teachers and community organizations should encourage their Grade 10 children to apply for LBD admission using the link: https://llileaders.com/lbd/

The early application deadline is September 19^th, 2022. The secondary application deadline is September 26^th. It’s best to apply early.  For general insights into Leadership by Design visit: https://llileaders.com/