Next Up

NU Saskatchewan alum Fred Reiben and his fellow Next Up'rs created a zine to commemorate their time together:

When asked to reflect on how we would like to summarize our year, our Next Up cohort had a number of ideas.  Some ideas focused on certain aspects of the year, but we weren't feeling like there was something that really captured the essence of our experience in its entirety.  Then someone spoke about the importance of the stories we brought, heard, and created together throughout the year.  That was something that immediately connected with the group. This is how we decided on Stories and Storytelling as a theme to unify our shared experiences.

We decided on a zine as the medium to tell these stories.  We collected our favourite memories, inspiring art, and greatest learnings and presented it at our graduation.  

As we go forward beyond the program, we hope this zine can jog our memories and fill our hearts.  We would like to share it with you and hope that it will inspire you to make change in your own communities. Enjoy!  

You can read the zine here: http://issuu.com/fredreibin/docs/next_up_zine

We are happy to announce that Rana joined the ranks of Next Up Coordinators in the Fall of 2014.  She's coordinating Next Up's third cohort in Ottawa.  Here's Rana, in her own words:

I am an activist, student, artist, and writer. I consider myself a community organizer, both locally in Ottawa, and in my second home, Palestine.

While working on my BA in human rights and law at Carleton University, I became interested in organizing for students' issues, from food poverty to reviving the fight for accessible tuition. I am working for the establishment of an ethical investment policy with Students Against Israeli Apartheid (SAIA), and I sit on the board of the Ontario Public Interest Research Group (OPIRG), a social and environmental justice resource centre. In Palestine, I worked as an independent journalist and with grassroots collectives, training new activists in nonviolent direct-action.

I am interested in creating spaces where oppression and colonization can be addressed and deconstructed, for the betterment of our movements and ourselves. I always contend that change is possible when we know which buttons to push and am happy to be working with young change-makers through Next Up!

 -Rana Hamadeh, Next Up Program Coordinator, Ottawa

Next Up Saskatchewan held the first ever Next Up Human Library public event on Monday, February 9. Over 100 people turned out on a cold Saskatoon evening to listen to 18 peoples' stories about the history of women and transgender people organizing for change in Saskatchewan. With book titles ranging from "Joy is My Guide" to "Law as a Tool for Change?" participants were able to visit six books over the course of the evening. The event focused on the stories of women, transgender and non-binary people since those stories are less often told when social change history is discussed. The books shared personal and political stories from the last four decades of social change work in Saskatchewan. Congrats to co-hosts Carolyn Doi, Lauren Russell and the rest of the NU Sask 2014-15 cohort on a very successful event!

Thank you everyone for your participation and support. CCYYC 3 was a blast!

 Hey there Southern Alberta Folks, do you have an idea you would like to share? Are you looking for ways to get involved in the community? Are you interested in educating people about your work? 

 Next Up and CommunityWise are co-hosting the third annual Community Connection on February 21, 2015 at the CommunityWise Resource Centre in Calgary from  9 am to 4:30 pm. This is a public, popular education event that brings together community groups, activists, educators, and those interested in creating progressive change. Let's build networks, share stories, generate new ideas and opportunities for collaboration and support for our communities.

 The entire day will be interactive and energizing. The program includes 24 Marketplace of Ideas presentation, a world cafe, Keynote by Stephanie Jackman (founder of REAP), creative space for networking, collaborating and artisan coffee drinking, along with morning and afternoon workshops, and more. Join in, be a part and Make it Happen with us.

Follow us on Twitter #CCYYC

 Tickets are available at: ccyyc2015.eventbrite.ca

Visit our webpage at communityconnectionyyc.ca

Thanks to everyone from Winnipeg who applied to our new Next Up program!  The application period is now closed.  We'll be reviewing your applications in the next few days and shortlisted applicants will be hearing from us by the 13th of January.  Thanks again to all who applied.  We couldn't do this without you!

Thanks to all of you awesome people who applied for the Winnipeg Program Coordinator position! The application period is now closed. We're busy reviewing applications and we'll get back to you with shortlisted candidates as soon as we can!  Thanks again - we couldn't do this work without YOU!

You might have noticed that things look a bit different around here. Over the past few months we've been working hard at overhauling the Next Up site, working to build something that's a bit more engaging and interactive.

A new Advisory Committee made up primarily of Indigenous leaders has been created in Saskatchewan to help plan the first ever intensive Next Up program - a model that covers some of the core content of Next Up in a five day period. In addition to core sessions like organizing & campaigning, purpose and storytelling, the participants will learn about anti-racism skills, environmental justice, housing & homelessness, and more sessions chosen by the New Advisory.

Feminist Summer Camp began on May 26th in Saskatoon.  It is a ten-week initiative bringing together feminist participants who want to deepen their understanding of gender issues, develop a network of fellow feminist activists, and grow their skills around creating feminist narratives.