Michaëlle Jean Foundation launches its second drive to promote entrepreneurship among underserved youth in Canada  

« OTTAWA, March 5, 2015—The Michaëlle Jean Foundation, supported by BMO Financial Group and CIBC, is kicking-off its second push to increase cultural entrepreneurship and business literacy within underserved communities across Canada.

Through its Young Arts Entrepreneur program, the Foundation is inviting creative youth from underprivileged backgrounds to apply for support to start or develop an arts-based business. Successful applicants are given $7,500 in start-up funds, over a two-year period. They also receive mentoring in business plan development, marketing and finance. To be eligible, applicants must be aged between 18 and 30, Canadian citizens or permanent residents, and have experience working in an arts-related field.

To access the application form and detailed criteria, please visit: http://www.fmjf.ca/what-we-do/young-arts-entrepreneur/. April 17, 2015 is the deadline for applications. 

“Hundreds of young people in Canada have the passion and drive to become entrepreneurs, but unfortunately they lack access to collateral or a network of mentors that can help them,” said the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean and Jean-Daniel Lafond, Co-Founders and Co-Chairs of the Michaëlle Jean Foundation. “This program is helping to level the playing field by giving marginalized youth a unique opportunity to transform their dream of creating a business into reality.”

The first cohort (2014) of young arts entrepreneur is already pursuing business ventures in such areas as multimedia, photography, pottery, and event planning, in Alberta, Quebec, and Ontario. Award-winning director of Breathe in Poetry (Edmonton) Ahmed Mahmoud describes the program’s impact by stating, “It was a blessing to find out that the Michaëlle Jean Foundation had included mentoring in its entrepreneurship program. My business now has a model and a structure that gives clarity as to what direction I should take.”

About the Young Arts Entrepreneur Program

The program was designed in 2013 with the assistance of youth business organization Futurpreneur Canada to fill a gap identified by grassroots youth and arts organizations across the country. It aims to provide participants with the tools, experience and connections in the financial world they need to “graduate” to other ongoing opportunities to build their businesses. To learn more about the 2014 young arts entrepreneurs, please visit: http://www.fmjf.ca/en/programs/young-arts-entrepreneur-2/2014-young-arts-entrepreneurs/.

About the Michaëlle Jean Foundation

We support youth arts initiatives that transform young lives and revitalize underserved communities across Canada. Through our programs, underprivileged youth are using their creativity to build new solutions to pressing social issues, like poverty, social exclusion and mental health. In so doing, they are catalyzing innovative community renewal projects, driving Aboriginal cultural resurgence, and kick-starting cutting-edge business ventures, all over the country. For more info: www.fmjf.ca.

About Futurpreneur Canada

Futurpreneur Canada (formerly the Canadian Youth Business Foundation, or CYBF) has been fueling the entrepreneurial passions of Canada’s young enterprise for nearly two decades. We are the only national, non-profit organization that provides financing, mentoring and support tools to aspiring business owners aged 18-39. Our internationally recognized mentoring program hand matches young entrepreneurs with a business expert from a network of more than 2,800 volunteer mentors. Futurpreneur Canada is a founding member of the G20 Young Entrepreneurs’ Alliance, the Canadian member of The Prince’s Youth Business International, and the Canadian host of Global Entrepreneurship Week. www.futurpreneur.ca. Facebook: Futurpreneur Twitter: @Futurpreneur

For more information, please contact:  Peter Flegel, Director of Communications and Programs, Michaëlle Jean Foundation, 613.562.5468, pflegel@fmjf.ca »

-posted with permission from Peter Flegel, Michaëlle Jean Foundation