Youth for Christ Canada is a chartered nation of Youth for Christ International, a worldwide Christian movement working with young people around the globe. Motivated by our faith in Jesus Christ, we share the good news of God with young people.
The vision of YFCI is:
“As part of the body of Christ, to see that every young person in every people group in every nation has the opportunity to make an informed decision to be a follower of Jesus Christ and become a part of a local church.”
We believe that all people are created in God’s image according to His likeness. We further understand that when all people of different ethnic and racial backgrounds are together, we see a more complete image of God.
As Christians, God has given us a wonderful message and ministry of reconciliation:
All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
2 Corinthians 5:18 – 20 ESV
As Christians, our work of reconciliation starts with being reconciled to Christ but doesn’t end there. We are co-labourers in God’s work of reconciliation with all of God’s creation.
We recognize that Canada is a diverse, multicultural country, and our staff does not always accurately represent the youth that we serve. To address this, we have formed round table discussion groups to identify potential barriers that may prevent us from diversifying our staff and provide recommendations on how to overcome them.
These discussion groups discussed diversity and inclusion as it relates to race and ethnicity, women in ministry, and Indigenous-Settler relations. From these discussion groups, and their recommendations, we are starting to overcome some barriers and intentionally seek staff who more accurately reflect our diverse culture as Canadians.
At the Executive Director Conference in October 2019, through prayer, discernment, and facilitated sessions, the leadership team of Youth for Christ Canada determined key strategic priorities for the next three years.
Diversity in Leadership at YFC was a focus that the team agreed needed to be addressed. This focus included women in leadership and ethnic diversity.
An advisory committee was formed to discuss the staff representation of Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour at Youth for Christ | Youth Unlimited when compared to the diversity of youth across Canada.
This committee was responsible for identifying barriers and making recommendations on how YFC | Youth Unlimited is becoming a more inclusive workplace that fosters a sense of belonging for all and accurately reflects the diversity in our country. The leadership of our organization is committed to working towards removing barriers that may prevent individuals from the Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour, and Immigrant and New Canadian communities from being represented at YFC.
The Diversity & Inclusion advisory committee recognizes that we have only scratched the surface on diversity and inclusion and encouraging a more inclusive environment. Further work needs to be done to ensure that we are working towards dismantling unconscious biases and creating a safe environment for individuals to share their experiences and flourish professionally.
We are encouraged by YFC’s commitment as they hired a Diversity & Inclusion Director to advance initiatives at both a national and local level as well as the new fund that helps onboard new staff from the Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour communities.
An advisory committee was formed to identify and report on barriers that are preventing women from entering into leadership roles in YFC | Youth Unlimited. This committee was responsible for identifying barriers and making recommendations as to how women can mitigate common challenges and limitations. The leadership of our organization is committed to removing barriers that prevent women from moving into leadership roles.
“Research shows that when a minimum of 30% women are included in decision making tables around the world, levels of crime, corruption, terrorism, poverty and abuse go down…. Quality of life, healthcare, education, organizational health and economic well being go up.”
Ellen Duffield, Sting Research by Rossabeth Moss Kanter and others“500,000 delegates and 189 Countries at the fourth UN Conference on the Status of Women, held in Beijing in 1995 discussed the value of women’s advancement in achieving major societal goals. Building on 3 years of regional research and expert input they agreed that the presence of 30% women in decision making bodies is the tipping point to have women’s ideas, values and approaches resonate. The ideas caught fire. A global agreement reaching across all cultures, religions and political systems declared the importance of having 30% women decision makers to spur economic and social development.”
Linda Tarr-Whelan, Women Lead the Way.
We realize that being intentional about the conversation of women in leadership makes a significant difference in ensuring that female voices are heard and welcomed.
The Women in Ministry advisory committee recognizes that more work needs to be done to gain deeper insight of this issue within our Canadian context. Further steps such as all staff surveys, defining/measuring success and mentoring programs should be pursued. This has been a very positive experience for the committee members.
We are encouraged by YFC’s commitment to address challenges and proactively pursue improvements with the ultimate goal of men and women working together in harmony in order to best share God’s love with youth.
Indigenous young people are a people group in Canada that have not historically been served well by members of the Christian community. We recognize our responsibility to be people of reconciliation. We have put together a team of Indigenous and settler people from across the YFC community to find ways to partner and collaborate.
We have created a series of workshops as an introduction to Indigenous-Settler Relations with the goal of introducing staff in Canada to a deeper understanding of how healthy Indigenous-Settler conversations can lead towards reconciliation.
Our work on Indigenous-Settler Relations began in earnest in 2021. A small working group was formed to explore the idea and try to understand how things might move forward. A workshop was designed around recommendations from members of First Nations communities and/or people who work closely with them.
We felt that education and awareness was crucial, and that any education needed to be Indigenous-led. A series of workshops have been conducted and we will continue to offer training and resources for staff from across Canada to engage more deeply and authentically with the history and consequences of colonialism in Canada.
More workshops are planned and we are developing a growing list of resources for staff to learn from. These include; books, courses, workshops, video and audio media, and Indigenous leaders who are willing to offer their insight and perspectives.
We recognize that this is only the beginning of our journey towards a more inclusive and diverse workplace and appreciate the grace and understanding of everyone involved as we move forward together.
If you would like to support this initiative, please click here to donate to the Diversity Fund. This Fund was established with the help of our generous partners to help fund 10 new staff positions across the country for Black, Indigenous, People of Colour staff who may struggle with our traditional support raising. The Diversity Fund will support and help launch staff in Chapters across the country into their role with YFC | Youth Unlimited.