2016 Challenge focus is tackling youth unemployment in Ottawa.

Nov. 7, 2016 (Ottawa, ON) – In 2014, the Ottawa Community Foundation launched the New Leaf Community Challenge as a special grants initiative to inspire and support innovative, collaborative approaches to addressing critical issues in Ottawa. With a focus in the first two years on food security and local food systems, the New Leaf Community Challenge provided a total of $250,000 in funding to MarketMobile and the Deep Roots Food Hub. These projects have instigated powerful approaches to improving access to healthy affordable food, and to building longer-term food sustainability for Ottawa.

The Foundation has now invited proposals for groundbreaking, unique approaches to tackling the issue of youth unemployment in Ottawa. “While the city-wide unemployment rate was 6.4% in 2015, Ottawa’s youth unemployment rate was 15.3%,” said Marco Pagani, President & CEO of the Ottawa Community Foundation. “That is the highest it’s been in over a decade, and the highest rate among Canada’s six largest cities. That’s why this year’s Challenge is focused on demonstrably improving the employment situation for local young adults – which, in turn, is critical to the city’s long-term economic outlook and overall wellbeing.”

Please join us for this year’s live, juried Challenge event at Saint Paul University. The top three projects to be presented include a social enterprise collaborative for youth-delivered IT services, an employment task force for young people with intellectual disabilities, and a collective impact initiative to improve the employment outlook of local youths living in disadvantaged neighbourhoods. The jury’s selection will receive a $125,000 grant to deliver their project.

New Leaf Community Challenge
Wed., Nov. 9, 2016
9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Saint Paul University, Amphitheatre
223 Main Street, Ottawa

The New Leaf Community Challenge has attracted a wide range of local champions and supporters. The 2016 Challenge jury is made up of such notable local leaders and experts as Saad Bashir, Tim Brodhead, Lauri Cabral, Cheryl Jensen, Kathleen Kemp, Jack McCarthy, Paul Steeves, and Stephen Willis.

For more information about the New Leaf Community Challenge and the top three project submissions, visit https://www.ocf-fco.ca/new-leaf-community-challenge-2016/.

Established in 1987, the Ottawa Community Foundation is a public, non-profit organization created by and for the people of Ottawa. Working directly with its community of donors, partners and stakeholders, the Foundation is committed to acting as a catalyst for positive, systemic and sustainable change in Ottawa and beyond. Priding itself on enabling generous citizens to enhance the quality of life in their community while achieving their own charitable objectives, the Community Foundation currently manages assets worth almost $120-million, and has provided close to $100-million in grants to the community since its inception. For more information about the Ottawa Community Foundation, visit www.cfo-fco.ca.

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For further information or to schedule an interview, please contact:

Iona Green
Manager, Marketing and Communications
Ottawa Community Foundation
(B) 613-236-1616 X 232
(C) 613-408-1616
igreen@cfo-fco.ca