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Meet Illinoy, our student from The Mainstream Bursary Program and the designer of our 3rd You(th) Lead Conference T-shirt! "The design's inspiration is that in everyone's life, there are three moments represented by mountains. Childhood, manhood, and retirement. The PCF help set up your life, which covers the 'We will make it.' - Illinoy Farquharson 💙

The federal government has set aside $24 million to help reduce the risk of violence in schools and to promote the safety of students and we have partnered with One Voice One Team to be a part of this initiative. We have been awarded two years of funding to provide programming for youth who are feeling disconnected as the pandemic took a toll on their sense of value, purpose and belonging. Click to learn more about the steps the Ontario Government is taking to help combat ag

Written By: Paul VanderGriendt, Event Management Coordinator Mentorship Session Diary. Entry 17 Being planful and organized does not come naturally to everyone, but it can be helpful to everyone. Some of us avoid too much planning and scheduling because it may seem too tedious, we just want to go with the flow or it makes us feel restricted. If we can learn to do it in a way that works for each of us, it shouldn’t mean any of these things. Planning ahead should never feel lik

On Saturday, April 22nd, 2023, we had our 3rd You(th) Lead Conference at Hotel X Toronto. This amazing event brought together industry executives to empower future leaders. 100 post-secondary students received valuable career advice from 80 executives from 53 companies. The day started with a warm welcome by our founders, Diane and Michael ‘Pinball’ Clemons, followed by a speed networking session. Throughout 6 rounds of speed mentorship, executive mentors shared their experie

Written By: Paul VanderGriendt, Event Management Coordinator Mentorship Session Diary. Entry 16 Conflict and disagreement are unavoidable in our daily lives. Some of us may be collaborators, which allows us to work together to find the best solution for everyone. Some may be competitors or compromisers, while others may look to avoid or accommodate. Everyone approaches conflict differently and by being aware of our own tendencies, we can learn to grow and approach difficult s

"The Pinball Clemons Foundations has opened me up to a world that I never knew existed. A world filled with opportunities, positivity and determination - not just wishful thinking. I grew up around a community that often did not get to see the light at the end of the tunnel, so did not have all the right advice on how I could find it myself. We knew the light was there, but it more so existed in our dreams than our reality (wishful thinking). Now the light is very near and cl

Written By: Paul VanderGriendt, Event Management Coordinator Mentorship Session Diary. Entry 15 How we approach and deal with conflict is such an important conversation, that is ongoing as we grow and learn about ourselves. Who we are and where we came from create the filters through which we see the world and the situations we find ourselves in. We bring these filters into our interactions with others, but it’s important to remind ourselves everyone has their own filters and

Today is #BellLetsTalk Day! This mental health initiative has been happening since 2010 to spread mental health acceptance and awareness. Funds from Bell Let’s Talk Day support important mental health strategies on anti-stigma, care and access, research, and workplace leadership. Read one of our students testimonials about Education and Mental health! “Education has always been of fundamental importance for my family and me because we strongly believe in improving ourselves t

Written By: Paul VanderGriendt, Event Management Coordinator Mentorship Session Diary. Entry 14. What do you do for play? When we have important commitments and aspirations for our professional life, it can be easy to narrow our focus and lose perspective on the bigger picture. Incorporating play and leisure into our lifestyle is so important for creating balance. Work and school deserve proper focus and attention, but we also should remember to take time to unwind and relax.

Happy International Women’s Day! To celebrate, we will be having a Fireside Chat for our students featuring two amazing Women Leaders. America Liliana Ibarra, CFO, Amex Bank of Canada and Chair of Amex Canada’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council, and Katherine Aikenhead, Vice President of Legal Affairs at BarBurrito Restaurants Inc. will be joining us for a night of intimate conversations with our students from the Mainstream Bursary program. We are excited to celebrate

To celebrate International Women's Day, we asked our mentors these questions: How do you empower yourself and the women around you? What makes you a strong woman? And here are their answers: 1. Diane Clemons, Co-Founder. How do you inspire yourself and other women? "First by realizing that who I am is good enough and understanding that my ability is greater than my inability! I know without a shadow of a doubt that my purpose does not depend on my status. Every morning I a

Written By: Paul VanderGriendt, Event Management Coordinator Mentorship Session Diary. Entry 13 The importance of setting goals may not be apparent, until we make the commitment to do it. Setting goals for ourselves is a way to set ourselves up for success by keeping us focused, on track and prepared to take next steps. We may have grand goals about who we want to be and where we want to go in the future. It’s important to remember that we can also use goals in our everyday l

Written By: Paul VanderGriendt, Event Management Coordinator Mentorship Session Diary. Entry 12 A new year is a chance for a fresh start. It is a chance to look forward to new things and exciting experiences. But it’s also a chance to reflect and move on from what’s holding us back. Becoming a better person may mean breaking bad habits or stopping ourselves from making excuses. Overextending ourselves can lead to fatigue and losing motivation for the things we want to accompl

Written By: Paul VanderGriendt, Event Management Coordinator Mentorship Session Diary. Entry 11 Discovering what brings us joy and making an effort to capture that in our lives is key to finding success. We can sometimes be weighed down by the struggle and the negativity that we encounter along our journey. Life will always have ups and downs, but it can be easy to hold ourselves back by focusing on how the worst parts of life affect us. By being intentional about staying pos

We are so happy to have this amazing partnership with Giant Tiger for Black History Month! From the 11th of February until the 26th, Giant Tiger shoppers can donate $2 or more in support of our youth. Check out this video of the PCF team visiting Giant Tiger yesterday to do some grocery shopping for our youth at Youth Without Shelter. We are beyond grateful for this amazing opportunity. Thank you so much Giant Tiger for your generosity and kindness! Make sure to check out you

CF’s multi-year commitment of $100,000 over five years will help support underrepresented youth across Ontario. Toronto, ON (February 1, 2023) - Led by the belief that Community and Partners are key to unlocking the future potential of youth in Canada, Cadillac Fairview (CF) is thrilled to announce a new partnership with The Pinball Clemons Foundation (PCF). Committing $100,000 over the next five years, the collaboration supports CF’s philanthropic commitment to making a posi

Join the Pinball Clemons Foundation as we celebrate Black History Month by honouring 30 past and present Black Legends who have made amazing accomplishments for the Black community and Canada as a whole. We will be highlighting the 30 honourees with named bursaries for new students entering the Mainstream Bursary Program in 2023. Stay tuned until the end of the month and help us honour all our legends. pinballfoundation.ca/legends

Much like a pinball in a pinball machine, marginalized youth can feel like they’re bounced around with no real sense of order or structure. PCF helps provide that stability to every aspect of their life, to help give marginalized youth the direction they so desperately need. Thanks to the support of our donors, we’re able to #changethenarrative for youth like Mercy. The ultimate goal is to see youth successfully entering the workforce, gainfully employed in careers they desir

Written By: Paul VanderGriendt, Event Management Coordinator Mentorship Session Diary. Entry 10 We can easily get lost trying to figure out where we will be going in our lives when we don’t focus on the “why.” What we want to do should always be motivated by our why, because that is what drives us to be passionate. Finding your why can be a journey. Think about what inspires you every day, what makes you who you are and drives you forward in life. Influential people and major

"I have just attended a Deloitte mentorship zoom (Power of Mentoring with Deloitte | Impact Day 2022) event using my new laptop and have gotten good feedback and insight from fellow Deloitte employees, managers and HR managers who were all present at the event. I was able to succeed with the laptop provided. Although I do have a computer, it is situated in the middle of the bedroom with bad camera placement and is not always suitable for business or professional setting. Than

Amex commits $1 million in grants over three years to two nonprofit organizations to help back equal futures for underrepresented communities and help them thrive. American Express is thrilled to announce it has committed $1 million CAD in grants over three years to the Pinball Clemons Foundation and Pathways to Education to back underrepresented students in communities in Canada. These initiatives, funded through American Express’ Backing Equal Futures community giving pilla

"My experience at the You(th) Lead Conference was eye-opening. It served as a powerful reminder of the importance to make the most of every opportunity given to me and not taking them for granted. I am grateful for the speakers who were honest, and authentic when talking about their journey's to success. Thank you Pinball Clemons Foundation and all the inspiring Mentors!" *The student's image was changed to protect the identity of our youth.

Written By: Paul VanderGriendt, Event Management Coordinator Mentorship Session Diary. Entry 09 Life isn’t complete without challenges and setbacks. How we approach these situations and how we are able to learn and grow from our experiences can define us as individuals. A growth mindset is something we can use to set ourselves up for success and allow us to seize opportunities. A growth mindset means that we are open minded about the perspectives of others. It means that we p

Written By: Paul VanderGriendt, Event Management Coordinator Mentorship Session Diary. Entry 08 Integration into the workforce will inevitably come with its challenges and obstacles. Every workplace has its own culture and leadership style, but that does not always mean it is good. A toxic work environment or poor leader can be demotivating and stressful, while building the confidence and resilience to overcome barriers at work takes time and effort. We all want to find succe