Media

OTTAWA, November 30, 2011  —  The University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Social Sciences is pleased to announce a new partnership with the Canadian Future Achievers (CFA) program, which aims to encourage and reward minority youth who demonstrate potential for positive self-fulfillment and who are committed to Canada’s sustenance and development.

Retired professors Yves and Cynthia Bled, who founded the CFA program in 2008, generously donated $500,000 to the University of Ottawa so that the institution may, from now on, administer and promote the program and ensure its continued success. Since it was first established, the CFA leadership program has touched the lives of dozens of minority youth, often making the difference between a decision to drop out of school and a decision to stay the course. The program reaches out specifically to First Nation, Inuit and youth of Caribbean ancestry. This new affiliation between uOttawa and the CFA will, in time, increase the program’s outreach, offering consistency and stability to an even greater number of high-achieving youths who are selected from across Canada to become our country’s Future Achievers.

Schools and communities nominate young individuals between the ages of 9 and 16 who have distinguished themselves as leaders among their peers and in their respective communities. The program supports these successful candidates as they make their way through high school and to college or university. All the while, the program encourages the emergence and awareness of local role models for young minorities.

“This program complements the initiatives of numerous teachers and of many existing programs by supporting the efforts of conscientious youths, the leaders of tomorrow. Too often, young students are discouraged from continuing their education; this collaboration, however, will help numerous students stay the course,” says CFA co-founder Cynthia Bled.

Marcel Mérette, dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, is very enthusiastic about the new partnership: “We are honoured to have the opportunity to partner with the CFA and to continue the important work of its founders. We must all take responsibility for ensuring that minority youth flourish in Canada. If leadership is the challenge to be something more than average, and if education is the mother of leadership, then this new venture between the CFA and our university is a perfect match indeed.”