United Way’s GenNext Council is a group of passionate young adults who want to make a difference in the community. They’re working to spark the same excitement among their friends and colleagues – their hope is to create a network of young leaders who are involved in creating opportunities for a better life for everyone.
“By investing time, skills, money and energy into our community and inspiring our peers to do the same, we can make a very real and lasting difference,” said Colin Ryan, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, BMO Nesbitt Burns and GenNext Chair.
During GenNext’s Red October event, which was attended by almost 200 young community leaders, dozens of people took the time to decorate a graffiti wall with their ideas for how to create a better life for everyone in Winnipeg. The result was a fantastic montage of thoughts, opinions, and concrete ideas.
One participant wrote: “We all need to work together and realize we share the same vision . . . a city for everyone!” Another suggested that we need to “take personal responsibility for the well-being of our children”, adding that it’s “important to take the time to invest in young lives – build relationships and create meaningful opportunities for kids to reach their potential!”
Naturally, some of the perennial favourites popped up on the graffiti wall – a couple of people mentioned bringing the NHL back to Winnipeg, and others wrote about bringing more people downtown at night.
For the most part, though, GenNext participants were focused on creating opportunities for youth. They’ll be acting on their ideas, too. Over the next several months, they’ll be helping out with the homework club at West Broadway Youth Outreach, fixing bikes and skateboards, and hosting a children’s holiday party.
Click here to read more about GenNext’s Red October event.
Leave a Reply