TORONTO, ONTARIO, May 23^rd, 2019 – Youth Fusion is pleased to announced the success of the first ever Ontario installment of the Future Education Festival, on May 23^rd and 24^th, at the brilliantly captivating Evergreen Brick Works and the glitzy Yonge-Dundas Cineplex Cinemas.

The job-creating organisation welcomed approximately 700 students ranging in age from 12 to 18 years old, from dozens of schools across the province, to join fellow students in a celebration of their finished work in Youth Fusion’s experiential learning projects aimed at developing employment readiness and 21^st century global competencies, including Cinema, Media Production, Environmental Design, Video Game Design and Robotics. This event is a Torontonian take on the flagship, Montreal event, which is preparing for their latest installment this coming week.

The festival brought together industry partners, professional mentors, and post-secondary institutions to support the youth, to encourage them to pursue potential training and employment opportunities they otherwise might not have been able to access. Representatives included partnered post-secondary institutions: OCAD University, Durham College, Ontario Tech University, Carleton University, and Confederation College, and l’Université Saint Paul.

Guest speakers included Cam Collyer, Executive Director of Evergreen Brick Works, Heather Steele, Director of Communications for Ubisoft Toronto, Ontario’s largest game development studio, and representatives from RBC. Judges for the Youth Fusion awards include representatives from the National Film Board of Canada, DOC, TFO, and the Conservation Authority. Also joining in the festivities were representatives of major partners including award sponsorship by Landscape Ontario, The City of Toronto and partnering sponsors PWC, the Counselling Foundation, and the Azrieli Foundation.

Fast Facts

• Youth Fusion operates in 25 schools, province wide, ranging from grades 1 to 12
• Youth Fusion was listed as one of the top 100 Canadian charities by Macleans in 2018 and 2019
• Youth Fusion is nationally celebrating their tenth year working and partnering with Indigenous communities across Québec and Ontario
• Follow the company on Instagram @fusion_jeunesse and the Toronto festival @future.ed.festival

 About Youth Fusion

Youth Fusion is a bilingual, job-creating charity that contributes to school perseverance, employability and civic engagement of targeted youth by developing innovative experiential learning projects that create ongoing links between school systems and the community. Every week, we work with over 13,000 young people in over 200 schools in rural, urban and Indigenous communities, including 4700 youth in 23 Inuit and First Nations communities.

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Contact Information

Kathleen Hemsworth

Youth Fusion/Fusion Jeunesse

Ontario Communications and Event Manager

E: khemsworth@youthfusion.org

T : 416-453-2209

TORONTO, APRIL 23^RD, 2019 – Youth Fusion announced a three-year agreement with the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) to provide full-year experiential learning programs to its secondary school students through the Video Game Creation Program. Developed in partnership with video game industry leader Ubisoft, students will learn how to design, develop, and market their own video game through the program.

“Over 23 Million Canadians play video games. For younger players, they are a way to learn, explore, and connect with friends,” [1] said Rima Brek, Associate Managing Director, Ubisoft Toronto. “We are proud to partner with Youth Fusion on this innovative program that provides students with the opportunity to develop increasingly valuable STEAM-focused skills needed for the jobs of the future, by learning how to make their own video game.”

Youth Fusion will bring their full-year programming to the TDSB in September 2019, integrating 21^st century skills development, applicable to their Information Communications Technology Specialist High Skills Major certification. Through the program, youth have the opportunity to develop job-ready skill sets applicable to the technology industry through mentorship from university students and expert developers at Ubisoft Toronto, Ontario’s largest game development studio.

“Experiential learning at its optimum, where art and creativity marry programming,” says Principal Sam Miceli of George Harvey Collegiate Institute, “our pupils are psyched !”

Fast Facts

• Youth Fusion introduced the Video Game Creation Program as a pilot in Quebec schools in 2014
• Since then over 25 schools in Quebec and Ontario have taken part in the program
• 65 TDSB students from George Harvey Collegiate Institute and Kipling Collegiate Institute participated in a four-month pilot project of the program in 2018-2019
• Across its history, over 500 marginalized youth have been positively impacted by the program

About Youth Fusion

Youth Fusion is an award-winning charity that contributes to the persistence in school, employability and civic engagement of youth by developing innovative experiential learning projects that create ongoing links between school systems and the community. Every week, we work with 15,000 young people in over 250 schools in rural, urban and Indigenous communities.

[1] http://theesa.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/ESAC18_BookletEN.pdf

OTTAWA, March 26, 2019 – Mr. Gabriel Bran Lopez, Founding President of Youth Fusion, was awarded the Meritorious Service Decoration (Civil Division) today by the Governor General of Canada, Her Excellency the Right Honourable Julie Payette, at the official ceremony for the presentation of Canadian Honours at Rideau Hall.

Mr. Bran Lopez was recognized for his excellence, courage, and exceptional sense of duty in his role as head of Youth Fusion, which he founded in 2009. Mr. Bran Lopez was one of ten Canadian recipients to receive this Meritorious Service Decoration (Civil Division).

Gabriel Bran Lopez is also co-founder of FIRST Robotics Quebec and was president of the Jeune Chambre de commerce de Montréal for two terms, in 2015 and 2016. He has received several distinctions and other prestigious awards. These include: EY’s Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award, a Mercuriades award from the Federation of Chambers of Commerce of Quebec, YMCAs of Quebec’s Peace Medal, Personality of the Week according to La Presse and Radio‑Canada, the Public Policy Forum’s Emerging Leaders Award, the Ashoka Fellowship, and the Jeanne Sauvé Foundation Fellowship.

About Youth Fusion

Youth Fusion’s mission is to help foster school perseverance, employability, a sense of direction, and civic engagement in youth by implementing innovative experiential learning projects that build ongoing partnerships bridging academic and professional environments. Each week, Youth Fusion supports more than 12,000 youths in 200 establishments across Canada. Since January 2019, the association has extended its activities internationally with an educational pilot project in France, involving 225 youths.

www.fusionjeunesse.org/en

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For more information:

Julie Paquet, 514-568-9900, jpaquet@fusionjeunesse.org

For it’s 5th edition, Youth Fusion is holding it’s mythical Pigunnaniq Regional Festival in Kuujjuarapik from December 7th to 10th. Similar to last year, young talents from all corners of Nunavik will gather together to share the stage with accomplished Inuit artists.

These students, ranging in age from 12 to 18 years old, are participating in the Youth Fusion Performing Arts Program, which is takes place in 5 Kativik School Board schools. Under the supervision of their project coordinator and local animator, students develop their musical and artistic talents during workshops that are offered in class and after school.

Throughout the Festival, students will participate in various workshops (throat singing, beatboxing, composition, studio techniques) with professional artists, who will also be performing at the Festival.

The names of the winners will be published at the end of the Festival !

Guelph June 9, 2017 – At an event marking the culmination of 4 months of hard work, 15 students, engaged in an experiential learning opportunity offered through Youth Fusion, held a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the completion of their Environmental Design initiative. These students, supported by their teacher Mr. Chaves, and a Youth Fusion coordinator, Laura Armstrong hired from Guelph University, worked countless hours a week to transform an unused outdoor space into a beautiful Japanese Garden. Students handled everything from tree planting to landscaping and were mentored throughout the process by Laura as well as local Landscape Architect, Paul Brydges, who currently serves as President of Landscape Ontario.

Youth Fusion’s Founder and President, Gabriel Bran Lopez notes: “It’s remarkable what these students have been able to accomplish since our launch in February. The passion demonstrated throughout this process is clearly reflected in the quality of their work. We are very proud that our model allows for students to feel engaged in their own learning, discover career paths and pursue their passions.”

The Honourable Liz Sandals, MPP for Guelph who attended the event commented, “Congratulations to all of the students involved, the local teachers who guided them through this process, and Youth Fusion who delivered the experiential project. I had the opportunity to speak directly with the students involved and they had a tremendous sense of pride in having completed their Japanese Garden. As a graduate of GCVI, I am glad to see students fully engaged and reflecting about the future of their community.”

About Youth Fusion
Youth Fusion is an award-winning charity dedicated to lowering school dropout rates. By creating continuous ties between the school system and the community, we involve at-risk students in innovative and meaningful educational projects that foster learning, skills and social integration. Our innovative formula is simple: we hire post-secondary students and recent graduates as project coordinators, and send them into schools to implement projects that engage youth in learning both inside and outside the classroom—while strengthening their sense of belonging. The approach is a win-win: targeted youth experience compelling activities that expose them to different post-secondary choices, employment prospects, and personal development opportunities, while project coordinators gain valuable practical experience to complement their studies, and discover new career-related interests. Youth Fusion has over 10 different project areas: robotics, environmental design, music, cinema, healthy living, leadership, digital and visual arts, fashion design, entrepreneurship, video game creation, science & technology, among others.

For information
Mathieu Dagonas
416-209-4328
mdagonas@youthfusion.org