Scotiabank
On October 8, 2024, SOS Children’s Villages Canada and Scotiabank announced the launch of YouthRISE, a three-year project to support vulnerable children and youth in Jamaica and Mexico.
Funded by Scotiabank’s ScotiaRISE, the Bank’s $500 million commitment and social impact strategy to support educational participation, career development, and the removal of hurdles to fully participating in the economy, YouthRISE will reach nearly 800 children and young people, equipping them with the essential support and opportunities they need to overcome barriers to education, post-secondary participation, and workforce integration. The project will help them transition into independent, self-reliant, thriving adults.
YouthRISE will focus on the most disadvantaged young people in Jamaica and Mexico, including youth who have lost parental care, live in extreme poverty, experience abuse or neglect, or belong to marginalized groups such as youth with special needs.
The project is designed to address the local needs in some of Jamaica and Mexico’s most impoverished communities with three areas of focus:
- Remove barriers to career entry, employment and entrepreneurship, and career advancement for disadvantaged youth.
- Improve education and increase digital skills for emerging career opportunities.
- Advance community-based social awareness and action towards addressing discriminatory practices and climate change.
Through 2027, YouthRISE will provide nearly 800 young people access to essential learning tools, digital technology and employability resources. This includes individualized career coaching and mentorship, skills-building and entrepreneurship training, access to unique networking tools, and internship opportunities.
Scotiabank employees will volunteer their time and expertise, supporting participants on their career journeys through employability training and mentorship, helping them navigate career entry and advancement.
The YouthRISE project is primarily facilitated by YouthCan!, a global youth employability and entrepreneurship program launched in 2017 by SOS Children’s Villages in collaboration with private-sector partners. YouthCan! promotes decent work for young people without parental care or at risk of losing it. In 2023 alone, 17,800 youth across 50 countries received holistic support through the initiative.
Working together to remove barriers to advancement and increase access to opportunities, we can create a more inclusive and resilient world.
About ScotiaRISE
ScotiaRISE is Scotiabank's ten-year, $500 million commitment and social impact strategy aimed at improving high school and post-secondary participation and removing career barriers. ScotiaRISE also invests in programs that address newcomer economic inclusion, Indigenous culture and language reclamation, and urgent and basic needs, such as improving access to basic supports like food and water, shelter and medical care. Since the program's inception in 2021, ScotiaRISE has invested $102 million in funding globally for 200 organizations, helping individuals and disadvantaged groups at 1.6 million critical moments in time1.
Read the ScotiaRISE Social Impact Report to learn how ScotiaRISE helps individuals, families and communities become economically resilient:
About Scotiabank
Scotiabank's vision is to be our clients' most trusted financial partner, to deliver sustainable, profitable growth and maximize total shareholder return. Guided by our purpose: "for every future," we help our clients, their families and their communities achieve success through a broad range of advice, products and services, including personal and commercial banking, wealth management and private banking, corporate and investment banking, and capital markets. With assets of approximately $1.4 trillion (as at July 31, 2024), Scotiabank trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: BNS) and New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: BNS). For more information, please visit www.scotiabank.com and follow us on X @Scotiabank.
References
1 Critical moments in time are instances where an individual or group received support, training and/or resources through a program supported by a ScotiaRISE investment. Critical moments are reported proportionate to the funding provided by ScotiaRISE for the specified period of time, program or total investment received to date, as applicable.