YOUTH CURATED Research Projects

Program Overview

At the VOICES Global Collective, we are passionate about Research! We believe that having the right knowledge is an essential part of community and individual transformation. Our in-house team of researchers is intentionally staffed with young people passionate about curating and sharing information that matters to their peers. Our dedicated fellows are hired on a stipend and given opportunity to focus on research projects that are relevant in order to ensure that the youth perspective and experience is represented well. This information is presented on our social media pages and is also instrumental in fine tuning our programming. We post some of our curated information on this page knowing that information shared is the best way to solve problems and ignite social change.

For the 2021-2022 research cycle, our Research Fellows are working on providing qualitative and quantitative information on the impacts of COVID-19 on youth, Public health and social encomium barrier issues in young women marginalized by identity and the prevailing entrepreneurship climate for youth-led businesses. See below for further information.

Selected ongoing RESEArch Topics

Barriers of Young Entrepreneurs in Toronto

Entrepreneurship is the activity of setting up a business or businesses, taking on financial risks in the hope of a profit. In a more broader sense it is a process of action undertaken by an entrepreneur (Person) to establish their enterprise.

In today's society, being your own boss is heavily glamorized and the 9-5 job is looked down upon. The narrative that entrepreneurship is somewhat easier or better than a 9-5 is far from accurate. In this research we have interviewed seven young entrepreneurs to bring to light the challenges as well as the successes they have encountered on their journey. This research will uncover barriers that young entrepreneurs face such as racism, discrimination, lack of support etc. The objective of this research is to understand these barriers and find ways in which we can assist young entrepreneurs in their journey. This research will also show the impact that COVID-19 had on small business and the government’s response.

We conducted this research by having interviews with participants via Zoom. We also sent out a short questionnaire to participants which is attached below. For access to our research results please check on our social profiles and or email us to ask for our white paper.

MENTAL HEALTH IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON YOUTH

click here for more info

Curated List of Services for Immigrant and Refugee Youth in Toronto

This research project was conceived as an initiative to provide a comprehensive list of organizations in the downtown Toronto area that serve specifically the Refugee and immigrant population.

These services are categorized in 4 types based on their approach to the services they provide. Their theory of change are categorized either as punitive, empowering, diversion programming and restorative.

links are provided to their websites and services for your convenience. Please note that this is a curated list based on our own internal assessment and not at all representative of the full extent of services in the GTA.