Next Up

Next Up began our very first year of programming in Regina (Treaty 4 territory) on November 5 & 6, 2016, a week after the Saskatoon (Treaty 6 territory) program began its 7th year.

The first ever Next Up Regina cohort poses outside Heritage Community Association where their meetings will be held. 

  In both Regina and Saskatoon, Next Up is trying out a new format for our programming in Saskatchewan this year, which consists of six full weekends of training over the course of the six-month program, in lieu of the weekly evening sessions in our usual programs. We began our orientations with prayers and words from Elder Marjorie Beaucage in Saskatoon and Life Speaker Noel Starblanket in Regina. In both cities, we also participated in a process created by Marjorie Beaucage called A Medicine Wheel for the Indian Act, which consists of learning and sharing about colonial history and our experiences with it. The weekend also consisted of learning about social change theory and building skills for hosting sessions. 

 See our website in December for a photo of our newest Saskatoon cohort. 

We’re excited to announce the launch of Project: Change, the summer edition of Our Schools/Our Selves, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternative’s quarterly journal on education.

This summer 2016 issue is devoted to Next Up – 26 essays, stories, and creative pieces submitted by our alumni, staff, and advisors. Our goal was to commemorate Next Up’s work for its 10th anniversary, and wow, we’re so pleased with what you’ve created.

We’ve wrapped up another fantastic year at Next Up Winnipeg- our first official full 7-month program. We had 13 wonderful participants survive- I mean flourish- through the program and I don’t know where the time has gone! Graduation was lovely, with almost 60 guests in attendance, including alumni, presenters, funders, supporting agencies and most importantly- participants’ parents, partners and kids! Start the youth engagement young, I say! We don’t do anything by halves in Winnipeg.

On May 14th, we held the graduation of Calgary's 6th cohort. We met at Moh’kinsstis—the meeting of the Bow and Elbow Rivers, in the traditional land of the of the Blackfoot Confederacy, shared by the Beaver people of the Tsuu T’ina Nation, the Nakota people of the Stoney Nations, and the Metis people.  We acknowledge that historical injustices created Treaty 7, and are grateful to be living in a time that our collective good will and works have begun the steps to make reconciliation our basis for sharing these lands.

Next Up Saskatchewan's 2015-16 cohort, the eighth group in six years of programming in Saskatchewan, planned a unique celebration for their graduation on May 16, 2016. The group formed an entertainment committee, a decorating committee, a program committee and a pay-it-forward committee to plan for the amazing and unique event.

Hi everyone,

It’s hard to believe that September 2016 will be our ten-year anniversary. We started Next Up in Vancouver in 2006 and nine years later our 534 alumni are making waves across the country.  I’m proud of what we’ve built together and I'm excited for what’s to come.

Thanks to a fabulous grad committee and volunteers (Julia Dalman, Diane Connors, Aleah Loney), we had an amazing celebratory evening on May 16. The event was held at The Almanac on Whyte Ave, a welcoming, new, cozy venue in Edmonton. Guests included friends and family of the graduating cohort, alumni, Advisory Committee members, funders and supporters, and Next Up presenters. We had 13 leaders graduate this year, presenting each other certificates of completion during a program MC’d by alumni Chris Chang-Yen Phillips. 

Next Up BC's first ever Spring Intensive brought together people from across Nanaimo, Victoria, Surrey, Burnaby, and Vancouver for a dose of Next Up's leadership programming. We explored how social change happens and what individual forces drive us into action. 

After seven months of sharing, listening, learning and growing, Next Up Vancouver's ninth run has come to a close. Some of the year's highlights include taking a warm and sunny Labour History Walking Tour with Vancouver District Labour Council president Joey Hartman, exploring connections between hip hop and decolonization with Jerilynn Webster, and learning some self-care tools with the Self Care Project's Christine Boyle and Samantha Cheng.

As the Next Up Ottawa program comes to a close, we celebrated a fourth round of graduates in the city!