EMSB cooking teacher to speak at Forum for Youth Insights

Alexandra Faraci, a cooking teacher at St Pius X Career Centre,   is scheduled to be a keynote speaker at the virtual event, “Forum for Youth Insights.

On Sunday, October 25, Ms. Faraci, along with several other industry experts from the fields of the Arts, Health, Technology and Vocational Education, will share their insights to help students and other youth make informed decisions about their career choices and their education paths while facing challenges during a pandemic.

Ms. Faraci was born in an Italian family and raised in Montreal. “Food has always represented family, traditions, laughter and community,” she said. “Vocational education is important because it enables me to help adults acquire, perfect and practice skills that further their learning, passion.”

The free online event takes places between 1 pm and 4 pm. Registration can be accessed here: https://sites.events.concordia.ca/sites/quescren/en/fyi2020/register.

Youth participants are invited to attend collaborative workshops on the sector of their choice. Places for each are limited in order to give participants a friendly space to encourage discussions, exchanges and the opportunity to network. The guest expert will give a short presentation about their career, the challenges they faced and how COVID-19 may affect careers in their field. Participants then divide into smaller discussion groups in “breakout rooms,” which the expert will move between to provide further insights.

Participants can connect with one another by using the Grenadine Event Guide app, available via Google Play or the App Store.

The other workshop hosts are Quincy Armorer, director of the Black Theatre Workshop (Arts); Khan Bouba-Dalambaye, leading expert in Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) programs and a guidance counsellor at Lester B. Pearson School Board (Health); Samantha Bizimungu, fourth-year medical student at Université de Montréal and president of the Quebec Black Medical Association Youth Initiative (Health); and Jake Hirsch-Allen, North America Workforce Development and Higher Ed System Lead, LinkedIn (Technology).

Opening keynote talks will be delivered by Natasha Blanchet-Cohen, Concordia University Associate Professor in the Department of Applied Human Sciences; and Madeleine Lawler, a civil law student at Université de Montréal.

The Forum for Youth Insights is a Concordia University initiative in collaboration with Youth4Youth Quebec and the Black Community Resource Centre.