Do Local Good

Everyone
can benefit from a little bit of guidance,

but how does mentorship truly shape lives
and strengthen our communities fabric?

Well we're going to talk about that today

and the profound impact
of these relationships.

Hi everyone.

Welcome to Do Local Good, a podcast
created by United Way of the Alberta

Capital Region and the team of volunteers
on our favorite team,

the GenNEXT Cabinet.

We feature stories and people
from Edmonton, from the Edmonton region

to inform, inspire and invite others
to join us in building resilient

and thriving communities.

And we're your host today, Rahma and Yawa,
we've been talking to Yaël Witvoet

BGC Canada Youth of the Year to talk about
the impact of mentorship on her life.

And we want to bring you
into the conversation.

Let's jump back in.

Yaël,
thank you so much for joining us today.

Oh, thank you so much for having me. I'm
so excited.

Yaël, you recently received
the BGC Canada's Youth of the Year Award.

Can you explain to us a bit
more about what the award is

and since we first chatted,
there was another award.

Yeah, absolutely.
I'm really excited to talk about those.

So BGC Youth of the Year is their way
of recognizing exceptional youth

throughout Canada who might have done
things for their communities:

It could be leadership, volunteer work,
any really big contributions.

And so this is BGC's way
of recognizing them.

And they do that
through scholarships and prize packages

and then also media training
and then you're with

BGC Canada for about a year,
working with them through that stuff.

So me and six others won regional Youth
of the Year and that's really exciting.

Yeah.

And the other award that you mentioned,
yes, the King Charles III Coronation Medal

I won that recently as well.

I'm very excited about that.

That award is, recognizing,
people within Canada who

have brought significant contribution
to either Canada a or community within it.

It's amazing,

what an incredible, incredible opportunity
and recognition for your work.

Can you tell us a bit more
about your personal experience

and story with mentorship

and how it helped guide you when you were
younger to eventually get to this place

of being Youth of the Year? Yeah.

So my story with mentorship really starts
when I was about 12 years old.

I joined the Youth Centre because Andrew,
who was my mentor at the time,

he talked to me at my local High School
about joining the Youth Centre.

They were really trying
to get more High Schoolers involved,

because it was really something
that only Elementary Schoolers,

a Middle Schoolers,
tend to go to regularly.

But he convinced me.

And so I started
going to their drop in program,

which is every Thursday or Friday.

You could just go after school
and it's just a safe place to hang out.

Especially if you can't go home
right away

or whatever else might be going on.

And then I joined their Keystone program,
so that's leadership based.

So eventually
I became President of that group as well

and I was able to help other youth learn
how to become leaders.

While I was actively
also being mentored by my staff, Andrew.

You give and you take and,
you also get at the same time.

That's amazing.

Were there
any specific people or programs

that were a part of this mentorship
journey?

Yeah,
we talked a little bit about Andrew, but,

you know,
is there anybody else that comes to mind

when you think about your journey
with mentorship?

Yeah, absolutely.

I think when I mentioned the Keystone
program,

that's
probably the most central part of it.

Andrew was the, at least when I first
joined, he was the staff running it.

And so he really like took my hand
and all the other youth’s hand

in learning what leadership was
and what it could be.

When I first joined the Youth Centre,
I didn't know

leadership was something you could pursue.

I guess, like,

I didn't know that was a concept
that you could just go forward with.

And so he taught me all about public
speaking, and he taught me about

the things that the things I really cared
about, the social justice issues

I cared about at a young age,
I actually was able to do something about.

Like, I wasn't a powerless
youth, like I had power.

And he, through Keystone,
he helped me find that.

That's amazing.

Incredible thing.

Yeah.

And one thing about me,
I love a full circle story.

And that's exactly what it sounds like,
because right now

you actually work for BGC here
in Edmonton.

So what has been on the other side of that
look like?

You were a mentee. Now you're a mentor.

Well, it's awesome.

So can you think of a success story?

I know you probably work
with tons of youth, but those are like

one that like really stands out
to your one that you have like a really

you had a really good personal
relationship with because it sounds like

mentorship is not just,
you know, like professional and personal.

You actually make a connection that even
if the mentorship relationship were

and it sounds like this is something
that's still really important to you.

So is there a success story that you have
that you can maybe share with us

and the audience? Yeah, absolutely.
I feel like you're right.

There's so many success stories.

I work with probably about 150 kids
a week. Wow.

So, you know, to narrow
it down is really hard.

But I think I really enjoy working
with some of the older

kids, you know, Grades Five,
Six is the oldest I work with.

And so I find some of my success
stories really happening there.

When I talk about this one particular
youth,

she and I got really close over the year
that she attended Club,

and so she felt very safe about
confiding in me about her personal life.

And so when it came time that I thought
she need to talk to an actual therapist,

I was able to help her make those steps.

And I thought that was really powerful
in the role that I was given.

And the fact that she felt safe
with me to confide in me about that.

And then I got to not only see her
continue on to Junior High,

she still visits Elementary School
regularly to see me and the other staff.

So I think that really just shows
the power of that. Yeah.

Yeah, I no for sure.

And kind of like just hearing you speak,
we obviously know

what the impact of the mentorship
was like on you.

But I'm curious to know,

like for the kids, what do you think
it means to them to have someone like you

that they look up to, like,
and it's almost like,

I don't know if they understand
the concept of mentorship.

They don't look at you like, well,
that's Yaël, that's my mentor.

Kind of the same way that we do
when we're adults.

So for the kids,
what do you think it means to them, or

how do you think they understand

their relationship with you?
Or maybe as a youth,

how did you understand your relationship
with your mentor?

Yeah, absolutely.

It's hard because especially being
so young as I am, the kids do like

not really see me as a staff.
I mean, they do.

They understand that I am working there,

but they see me almost more as a friend
or maybe an older sibling type.

And so and I think that's really awesome.

You know, we get to kind of develop
almost close friendships with them.

And so they become comfortable telling me
about the games or playing on Roblox,

because half the time
I've played them too.

So I know what they're talking about.

The Office dress to impress, you know,

all of that.

So I would say that really comes in there,
sorry, what was the other part

of that question just essentially what,
what does it mean to the, to the kids?

And if they don't understand
like that, you're a mentor.

So what does it mean to them to actually
have you be there for them.

Yeah, absolutely.

So for me, I think to them
it means having someone who

they can let me see.

Some kids at home, they may not
have siblings maybe an only child.

Yeah. Yeah.

Especially if
or maybe their siblings are much older.

Especially in, I think, today's world
in economy we can assume most

parents are oftentimes both working
or pursuing things outside of the home.

Yeah. No, that's that's awesome.

I definitely make sense
because I'm just thinking, you know,

you have this

maybe ten, 11 year old girl
that's telling you about some things

they might not even
be telling their family about.

So, I'm just curious, you know, like,
what you thought it meant to them.

So thanks for kind of going deeper

into that and, kind of going further
into the topic of mentorship, I feel like.

And when I talk to people sometimes,
especially when it's regarding mentorship,

they almost feel like they don't have
anything to contribute or that they don't.

They're not in a space
to actually be a mentor.

They still need to be mentored,
if anything.

So for you,
what would you say to those people?

Would you say to individuals
who want to look more into mentorship

but are either nervous or intimidated
or insecure about the value

that it can actually add
to people's lives?

Yeah, I would say right now we're looking
for so many mentors inside of BGC.

There's so many kids
who want mentors right

now, and I can understand the scariness
of being a mentor to a child.

You're pretty much accepting the role

of being a role model
for someone younger than you, right?

And that can feel like a lot of pressure.

But at the end of the day,

It's like people think they

have to be like the CEO of a Forbes
like 500 Company to, to be a mentor.

So I guess in your you kind of described
it already but what do you think it takes?

Like what are the qualities?

You know
maybe accolades accomplishments aside

like what are the actual qualities
that it that it takes to be a mentor,

that maybe people might not know,
either, like, you know,

more in a good way or in a, in a way
that they would never expect?

Essentially. Yeah.

I think some of the qualities
of a good mentor is

I could think of a couple things.

For one, I think
having any kind of interest or skill

that's really unique to you is just
a really fun thing to bring to mentorship,

whether that be maybe it's baking,
maybe it's you're really good at Legos

because I know there's a lot of kids
who are really obsessed with Legos,

and they're going to really connect
with you through that.

And so even though you are the adult,
you are the mentor in this situation.

You can think of it as,
you know, this is, how I put this.

You know, you're both coming into this
new space.

You're both being vulnerable almost.

And so you can think of it
as just the start of a good relationship

and a good, leadership role for both you
and then something

for the youth to look up to and copy
when they get older.

And again, speaking of a youth
because again myself and Rahma,

we are nothing
if not United Way ambassadors.

So you want to kind of

Because I think the, the main long term
goal of ours.

Yeah.

And have you seen that success
like how impactful has this program been

through your eyes.

Would you say on the
on the lives of youth.

Yeah.

So in my eyes personally of course now
the youth I've worked with yet have gotten

old enough to graduate high I guess not
so I can attest to that just yet.

Yeah. Awesome. Awesome.

Well, honestly, I could be here all day
asking me questions.

Rahma,
do you have anything else that you like?

I think, you know,

it's such an such
an incredible opportunity

and such a great network
that you get to build

with all the youth
and the people you work with.

I think, you know, for yourself,
being a youth who's a mentor,

you know,
what is it like being among other mentors

and other leaders is that,
you know, encourage

you to, you know, maybe
look at mentorship in a different way?

How does it affect you?

And, you know,

how is that the connection that you have
with your with your fellow mentors?

Yeah, that's a great question.

I think it's really encouraging,
but it's almost,

I don't want to say intimidating,
but it's almost intimidating

when I'm in a room
with a bunch of other people

who are also mentors
and leaders in their own way.

And I only say that
because I feel like there's so much

I can learn from them as well.

And so it's only intimidating
in that sense of the fact

that I have all these other people
with all this other knowledge

and their own skills
that I may not have yet, but I want.

So I get to network with them
and I get to work with them.

And so in that way, being in a room
with other mentors is really

yeah, it's really great.

And I get to work on all that networking,
like you said.

And so, yeah, just looking back, it's
almost unimaginable

how different my life
would have transcended to since then.

Well thank you. It's amazing.

That's awesome. Honestly,
thank you so much for sharing your story.

I know I've had my experiences
with mentorship too,

and the trajectory
my life completely shifted

compared to where I would have been
if I didn't experience the mentorship.

So everything that you're talking about
really resonates,

and I'm sure that a lot of our listeners,

if they aren't mentors,
they're going to be mentees.

And if they're not mentees, they're going
to be mentors one of the two.

I have no doubt
that that's going to have a huge impact.

And, that's our show for today.

Thank you Yaël

for sharing your experience of the work
that you do for helping us

build resilient, connected

and thriving communities here in Edmonton,
which is our goal here at United Way.

And for everyone,
doing local good starts with you.

So to find out how you can help, head
to myunitedway.ca/GenNEXT

or check out the links in the show notes.

Either one works, and together we can all
make sure that no one is left behind.

And if you enjoyed this episode, you know
what to do: like, share, subscribe.

Yes. Yeah.

Do Local
Good is a production of the United Way

of the Alberta Capital Region
recorded here in Edmonton, Alberta,

and we're grateful that we get to have
this conversation on Treaty Six territory.

Treaty Six Territory and the Métis
Homelands and the Métis Nation of Alberta.

Thank you United Way, for helping
make this conversation happen.

On behalf of us
and the whole GenNEXT Cabinet,

thank you for listening to Do Local Good.