The Launchpad Curriculum

Communication can be viewed as a black or white concept: passive or aggressive; kind or mean. In reality, communication exists on a spectrum.

In this workshop, we focus on the individuality of assertive communication (that it looks, sounds and feels different for different people), and that it plays a critical role in creating a healthy balance of empathetic understanding for others and valuing our own needs.

The ability to self-advocate has both immediate and long-term implications for youth; the literature indicates that youth who are able to advocate on their own behalf experience greater levels of self-confidence, self-worth and self-efficacy (the belief that one can achieve and overcome).

This workshop examines the roles that responsibility and accountability play in self-advocacy, and creates space for youth to work through tricky, real-life situations using self-advocacy tips and tricks.

Youth are faced with hundreds of decisions a day; at times, they may be unaware of how these decisions impact those around them, and the weight of these decisions. Providing youth with a plan to independently work through decisions in an intentional and thoughtful way prepares them to make difficult decisions, recognize how these decisions impact others, and take accountability for their actions.

Accountability is a major component of this workshop; it is explored as a lifelong practice that requires self-reflection, responsibility, and sometimes, behaviour change.

This topic often makes adults run for the hills, so it’s easy to understand how painfully difficult giving and receiving feedback can be for youth. Their experience with criticism up to this point may have skewed their idea of what criticism really is: an avenue for learning more about ourselves, others, and how we show up in the world.

This workshop explores the truth: that criticism and feedback is hard no matter which way you slice it, and it will be a part of our lives forever. Importantly however, it is a skill that can be developed and practiced.

Informational interviews are an out-of-this-world, phenomenal tool for youth to use as they navigate their early employment journey. Unfortunately, the concept of informational interviews isn’t widely known or discussed (even for adults!).

This workshop takes participants through what informational interviews are, how they have the potential to positively shape a person’s employment journey, and provides a thorough, step-by-step process for how to make an informational interview happen.

When youth allow mentorship into their lives, they learn more about themselves, who they want to be, and what they may want to pursue in the future. This workshop takes a personal approach to mentorship in order to increase accessibility around this concept, asking participants to reflect on how they have already acted as both a mentor and mentee in their own lives to date.

We explore mentorship as a reciprocally beneficial relationship that importantly provides individuals the opportunity to ask questions, self-reflect, and get the encouragement that they might not find in other places.

This is a homerun of a workshop (but we’re not biased!). At Launchpad, we receive some raised eyebrows around teaching wage negotiation to youth; it can feel like a process that is too far in the distance, only relevant when employment is well established. However, wage negotiation is a prime example of self-advocacy that can be, and should be, practiced (in a well-researched and intentional way) early in the workplace journey.

What better way to reiterate the power of workplace self-advocacy than encouraging youth that their talents, efforts and skills are worth compensating appropriately. In this workshop, we explore common misconceptions and barriers relating to wage negotiation, gender-related data, and a step-by-step process for how to do it with a focus on research, accountability, and an employer/employee collaborative approach.