Black Seed
developing culturally-safe standards of practice
Black youth need immediate innovation to better support their development in the workforce. Their unemployment rate is nearly double that of Canadian youth overall, they face systemic racism, and they often find themselves receiving job-seeking assistance from organizations ill-equipped to adequately and appropriately acknowledge and address their unique needs.
Enter Black Seed: A culturally informed and culturally safe program that aims to improve the experience of Black youth and ensure their success by supporting and equipping Black service providers.
It enlists the expertise of Black-led organizations to help others serving Black youth.
Through Black Seed, the Canadian Council for Youth Prosperity will support the creation, implementation, and adoption of culturally relevant standards of practice for organizations that are Black-led, Black-focused and Black-serving (B3) through authentic and credible research that centers Black youth and their lived experiences with service providers.
Because of their specific focus, these organizations have long struggled for the funding needed to improve and scale their services. Yet, during times of crisis, they are burdened to offer insight, absorb investments and provide training. Black Seed aims to help.
It’s the evolution of the Strength in Structure project that addressed anti-Black racism and how Black youth experience and navigate the world of work. Black Seed was born from recommendations made by Black youth participating in the predecessor program and B3 organizations to improve the youth/service provider ecosystem.
Black Seed connects findings from the successful Strength in Structure program to real-world support to better serve Black youth in the workplace by:
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providing B3 service providers with timely and relevant information through a toolkit to help them better meet the needs of Black youth
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identifying the challenges B3 organizations face in having conversations with youth about racism at work
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working with B3 organizations to find new solutions to help Black youth and identify the coaching needed to effect change
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If your organization provides services to Black youth in the workforce, download the Black Seed toolkit for information and resources to ensure your offerings are positioned to give Black youth the full support they need.
CCYP is proud to partner with the following organizations:
