Co-Founder of Yalla! Let’s Talk reflects on ECC event ― CAI Academy

By Hani-Al Dajani, Co-Founder of Yalla! Let’s Talk

Canadian Arab Institute's (CAI) support to Canadian-Arab Youth and Yalla! Let's Talk. (YLT) has been unparalleled. CAI is not only our first champion as a youth-led organization, it has been continuously supporting us and providing opportunities for our youth leaders to develop personally and professionally. For example, most recently, CAI was kind enough to invite some of the youth leaders from our organization to attend an Economic Club of Canada's event with the Former President of the United States of America, Barack Obama.

Major Takeaways:

1) The importance of creating a culture of respect in organizations  

2) The power to be seen means people can see themselves.

3) There is a culture of toxic masculinity that we need to learn more about and how its translated into the workforce.

4) Barack Obama's favourite thing about Canadians is us being reasonable. “Although there are political divisions in Canada, this is still a society where you can have a reasoned argument and facts still matter — this is something you should preserve.” - Barack Obama

Events like these help us become more informed leaders in our community, and the inclusivity of the forum itself, really provides us the representation and narratives to hear different perspectives and grow together.

It is refreshing to know that there are people who understand us and believe in us, and in turn, it helps us believe in ourselves.  Thank you to the CAI Academy, and thank you to the Executive Director of CAI, Shireen Salti, for always being there in supporting us.