NEWS / MEDIA

Toronto, ON. October 10, 2018. Rise Asset Development is pleased to announce an enhanced partnership with Citi Foundation to help Canadian youth explore the option of entrepreneurship as a route to meaningful employment.

In 2017, Citi Foundation helped Rise build and launch the EnterpRISEing Youth Hub in Toronto, an interactive, gamified digital platform designed to empower young people with a history of mental health or addiction challenges to connect and gain knowledge and experience about entrepreneurship. Today’s announcement builds on this investment with funding for Rise to bring EnterpRISEing Youth Plus to four new communities across Canada in 2018/2019: Ottawa, Nova Scotia, Alberta and British Columbia.

“Citi’s success is linked to our ability to enable progress and create positive outcomes for our clients and in the communities where we live and work,” said John Hastings, CEO of Citibank Canada. “A key element in creating pathways to progress for years to come is our focus on providing urban youth with the tools and opportunities they need to thrive in tomorrow’s economy.  This is why Citi Canada and the Citi Foundation are proud to partner with Rise Asset Development to deliver such critical programs.”

‘EnterpRISEing Youth Plus provides the next level of support to users, through online learning combined with in-person workshops, resulting in an actionable, realistic plan to launch a business,” says Lori Smith, CEO of Rise.  ‘This program brings Rise’s experience in design-thinking based teaching to a broader geographical community and builds capacity through local partnerships.”

One of the top four priorities identified by the Mental Health Commission of Canada’s Youth Strategy is to remove barriers to full participation of people living with mental health problems or illnesses in workplaces, schools (including postsecondary institutions), and other settings.  As a national charity Rise is uniquely positioned to reduce those barriers by providing youth with the services they need to explore self-employment as an option for improving quality of life and social inclusion.

To access EnterpRISEing Youth, visit www.enterpriseingyouth.ca