City of Edmonton partners with local and national organizations to fund Civic Youth Fellowship for five years
December 11, 2024
The City of Edmonton’s Civic Youth Fellowship will run from 2025 to 2030 thanks to a five-year partnership with the Canadian Race Relations Foundation (CRRF) and IslamicFamily (Islamic Family and Social Services Association).
A total of $250,000 in funding is provided over five years:
- $125,000 from CRRF
- $125,000 from IslamicFamily
The City of Edmonton is providing $250,000 over five years to match the funding from the partner organizations.
“The ongoing commitment from national and local partner organizations has a lasting impact on encouraging the leaders of tomorrow to engage with local government to continue building an inclusive and welcoming Edmonton,” said Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi. “Equally, we as a government have so much to learn from our youth’s passion, ideas, and perspectives.”
With sustained funding in place, the fellowship creates ongoing opportunities for youth and young adults to work on capstone projects in local government that are aligned with the City of Edmonton’s Anti-Racism Strategy, Anti-Black Racism Action Plan, and Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) Municipal Response Plan.
“Through the leadership of organizations such as the Canadian Race Relations Foundation, local organizations were encouraged to commit to sustained funding,” said Salima Ebrahim, Chief of Staff and Corporate Lead on Anti-Racism and Reconciliation, City of Edmonton. “We are grateful for the support and encouraged by the belief in programs like the Civic Youth Fellowship.”
Having successfully run for two years, the fellowship provides ten-week paid placements for bright young Edmontonians from equity-deserving backgrounds in the public service or elected officials’ offices.
The placements teach fellows how to understand local government systems, navigate local government and influence programs and policy to create a more equitable and inclusive Edmonton by hearing and learning from fellows.
Through the funding, a minimum of thirteen fellowship positions are created, with the possibility of additional positions.
“These fellowships are not just about individual growth—they’re about creating a pipeline for systemic change that will benefit generations to come. Supporting young people as they learn how to drive meaningful change in public policy is not a one-off event,” said Mohammed Hashim, CEO, Canadian Race Relations Foundation. “It takes ongoing commitment, and the CRRF looks forward to continuing to support emerging diverse, young Edmontonian leaders over the next five years.”
IslamicFamily also provides gift-in-kind support to administer the fellowship.
“The fellowship offers the City an opportunity to better understand and build with its residents. It helps the City position itself for the not-so-distant-future workforce,” said Omar Yaqub, IslamicFamily. “The highlight of the program for me has been seeing passionate youth enter the program wanting to improve our city and graduating from the program knowing how to make the city better.”
Local partners also include Africa Centre, kihêw waciston at MacEwan University and ASSIST Community Services Centre. For more information, visit edmonton.ca/civicyouthfellowship
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For more information:
edmonton.ca/civicyouthfellowship
Media contacts:
City of Edmonton
Lydia Sadiq
Lead Communications Strategist, Office of the City Manager
780-619-6843
Canadian Race Relations Foundation
Thida Ith
Communications Manager
tith@crrf-fcrr.ca
(613) 793-4403