What’s Your Path’s History

In 2018, we received a SEED Grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation* to explore a “What’s Your Path” Hub.  By meaningfully engaging youth, the What’s Your Path Youth Hub Project identified the challenges Flamborough youth faced collectively and determined how we could provide the resources needed to build pathways to success in their community. 

Building upon this concept, the “What’s Your Path” Program took shape.

*At the time, HYN was not incorporated as a not-for-profit and therefore required a partner for the application. For this application, we partnered with Flamborough Connects.

What We Learned

Working with our youth, we learned that the “Hub” term did not resonate with them and so the logo was adjusted to reflect the new vision.

Utilizing existing youth spaces (YMCA, Library, Youth Centre, etc.) and meeting youth where they already were (school, work, volunteering, programs/clubs, sports organizations), meant we did not need to create another “Hub”. Instead we would collaborate with these partners to form a network that would seek to improve outcomes for youth.

Portal & Speakers Bureau

During Covid, our Advisory Team began to explore an online model that would connect high school students to information, resources and support, as well as learn more about various careers from local professionals.

Based on a successful model by the Business and Education Partnership of Waterloo Region (BEPW), which launched a Speakers Bureau in 2002, we developed and launched the What’s Your Path Portal and Speakers Bureau, piloting it at Waterdown District High School in November 2023. 

What’s Next?

Our goal is to scale up our What’s Your Path/Speakers Bureau Portal into Hamilton high schools, enabling educators, students and their families to connect with professionals from the local workforce quickly and easily so that ALL students in Hamilton can make informed and inspired career choices for their future.