YLT Conference 2020
Over 400 Arab-Canadian youth came together on February 22, 2020 to share their stories around the theme Rethinking Tomorrow.
A place for inspiration and empowerment, the YLT Conference brings life-changing stories and thought-provoking insights from Arab-Canadian innovators and pioneers of change. Journalists, explorers, performers, entrepreneurs, and public figures shared their ideas to empower and inspire youth to take charge of their future and re-think tomorrow in areas of gender quality, civic engagement, community development, mental health and more.
The Yalla! Let’s Talk (YLT) Conference is a day-long event filled with acclaimed speakers, live performances, and great conversations.
The conference was held at the Daniels Spectrum Theatre in Toronto, Ontario and included a fast-paced 10+ talks format over the course of 8 hours (10 am - 5pm), as well as networking components.
“It was inspiring to see Arab-Canadian youth get excited about the importance of civic engagement. The three main priorities of our community are integration, discrimination, and foreign credential problem — which are all intertwined in so many ways. The data presented by the Canadian Arab Institute gave a perspective on where the community stands and put emphasis on getting out to vote and staying engaged in the political process. We were thrilled to see the presence of Arab-Canadian Members of Parliament — MP Ahmad Hussen and MP Omar Al Ghabra — supporting this community’s achievements and empowering them to continue being engaged in all aspects of Canadian society.” - Shireen Salti, Interim Executive Director, Canadian Arab Institute
This idea stemmed from noticeable recurring conversations that were taking place among Arab-Canadian youth - the challenges we face as a community in the media, workplace and society. The YLT Conference aimed to present a platform for people to share their stories and vision for the future.
Numbers Don’t Lie: Empowering Youth through Civic Engagement at YLT Conference 2020
About Yalla! Let’s Talk
Yalla! Let’s Talk is a rapidly expanding, global non-profit organization founded by Arab youth for Arab youth to empower and educate through conversations about stigmatized, taboo and overlooked topics. We offer monthly community events called YLT cafés and we just launched our first online show, called The Yalla Show, where we discuss stigmatized topics with Arab youth in the form of casual discussions.
Program Brochure and Speakers
The program included talks by many inspiring speakers such as Shireen Salti, Ahmed Shihab El Din, Rami Helali.
Gallery
Youth Professional Development Conference 2014
Small, Professional Steps for a Better, Bigger Tomorrow
The Canadian Arab institute successfully held its Second Annual Professional Development Conference for Canadian Arab Youth on September 27th, with over 200 participants and 40 panellists, spread over 12 panels that focused on careers in various fields such as Politics and the Public Sector, Arts, Civil Society, Media and Communication, Engineering, Law, and Entrepreneurship.
The day started with CAI’s president and co-founder Raja Khouri’s welcoming speech, followed by some hopeful and practical advice from Dalal Al-Waheidi on starting out. The participants then dispersed, attending any of the 12 panels throughout the day. Each panel started with a conversation with the panellists, and was later followed by a Q&A session.
Lunch break was quite busy with people exchanging ideas, backgrounds, names, and business cards. Both official and custom-made cards. Yes, there were blank business cards for attendees to write their names and profession on them, courtesy of the Canadian Arab Institute.
The day ended with the young members of the Arab Development Initiative (ADI) sharing their (on-going) story of the highs and lows of founding and maintaining an organization, insisting that it is their passion for the cause, respect for each other, and the open, non-hierarchical communication between them that keeps them, and the organization, going. They also welcomed anyone with new ideas and initiatives, encouraging them to get on board with any vision that could help create a better Arab world.
Dalal Al-Waheidi
Keynote Speaker
Youth Professional Development Conference 2013
CAI provided a forum for discussion of challenges facing Canadian Arab youth in the professional marketplace and the development of professional skills of Canadian Arab youth through mentoring by successful Canadian Arabs. Over 200 attendees and 50 Canadian Arab professionals from 10 different fields shared their experiences.
Khaled Al Sabawi
Keynote Speaker
