“Your ability to figure out what it is that drives you and then transfer that into something that you can have an impact on in the world around you becomes the most important thing.”

-Justin Trudeau, MP, Past Impact Gala Keynote

To kick off the exciting progress of the I Am My Ambition video campaign, IAMA will be connecting over 100 youth leaders, media personalities, industry professionals, and world class entrepreneurs, with a launch event hosted by the Centre for Social Innovation. The event, which aims to help people transform their passion into an impact on the world, will be taking place on August 16th, from 7:00PM to 9:30PM.

This invitation-only event features keynote speeches by Mark Evans, social media guru, and Jeff Adams, Paralympian and entrepreneur. Jeff Adams (who was filmed for the IAMA campaign) previously spoke at the 2009 Impact National Conference where he entertained audience members young and old with his inspirational story and great insight into the world of entrepreneurship. Attendees will enjoy the comfortable atmosphere of the Centre for Social Innovation while eating delicious hors d’oeuvres graciously provided by Vert Catering.

Interested in attending? Please contact sonya.jain (at) impact.org.

Held at Waterloo-Kitchener’s most fabulous venue, Communitech’s signature event took place in the early morning of Wednesday, July 14^th. Eight of us had the opportunity to be part of this high-profile conference, and were able to walk away with a set of fresh ideas.

Kicking off by keynote Clay Christensen, bestselling author of The Innovator’s Dilemma, the conference raised the energy of the attendance by Christensen’s unique theory about disruption.

The other two keynotes did not disappoint either. Bill Taylor, the co-founder of Fast Company, invited us to rethink about the differences between individuals. Noel Biderman, President of Avid Life Media, challenged our perspectives on social entertainment by confronting us with one of the most controversial websites.

Aside from the innovative speeches, we also took part in Communitech’s annual tech expo, and interacted with regional’s leading firms and high potential startups.

We felt applied to the HR team and Impact in general from matters such as being innovative and accepting ideas (from Noel’s speech) to understanding that we need to distinguish ourselves. – Macro Yim

I loved the conference for its great organization, high delegate moral and quality, and wonderful keynote. – Yue Liu

These take-aways, I’m sure, will spur us as we take on more future challenges to grow Impact bigger and better.

A huge thank you to Communitech for inviting us to this amazing conference and great job on all of our Impact ambassadors: Oleg Kostour, Nikhita Singh, Yong Gi Lim, Eric Ho, Susan Wang, Yue Liu, Marco Yim, and Scott Toldsdorf. Loved all your enthusiasm and professionalism!

Image courtesy of Communitech at http://www.communitech.ca/en/special_events/index.shtml

UNITY Charity, a youth-led organization dedicated to helping youth make positive life choices through artistic expression, is hosting the Kickoff 2010.  The Kickoff 2010, in support of UNITY Charity, will be Toronto’s biggest youth urban arts event of the year. Taking place on Saturday July 24th at Yonge-Dundas Square, the event is also UNITY Charity’s largest fundraiser of the year.

The Kickoff is a free all-day event, featuring live performances by youth and professional artists, urban art classes, break dance battles, public art spaces, and much more. The Kickoff 2010 hopes to entertain both youth and people of all ages, allowing them to experience the energy and passion of the city’s young performers. Please visit www.unitykickoff.com for more event details.

Get Involved!

Here are some amazing opportunities for youth:

CommUNITY Gallery – The gallery section of this year’s Kickoff will exhibit some of the top graffiti artwork by the city’s and UNITY’s youth artists. Many of these masterpieces will be auctioned to the public with proceeds going back to both student artists and UNITY. If you would like to have your artwork displayed at the Square AND earn some money, this is your chance! Please visit the Kickoff website to find out how to submit your pieces to the CommUNITY Gallery. Deadline July 19th.

YouTube Contest – Have you ever wanted to show everyone your hidden talent? How about performing to a huge audience at Toronto’s most popular street corner? If you have the skills, we want to see them! Watch the video on the Kickoff website to find out how you can win a spot to display your art as a Kickoff Main Stage Performer!

As the Impact Apprentice Competition draws near, our team is beginning to finalize the final 32 competitors. We are in our 2nd round of selections where candidates are submitting 1-2 minute videos on a variety of topics we provided to them.

We need YOUR help in spreading the word about the video competition (this will really help us build up a stronger brand for Impact) by sharing the news on your social media channels. You could also choose who should be selected to compete in the competition. All videos have been posted at www.impactapprentice.ca. Visit the website to view all the submitted videos and vote for your favorites. Encourage your friends and fellow Impact members to visit the website and vote as well. Check back frequently as we will be approving a lot more videos as the deadline approaches (July 11th). These votes will be taken into account when the applicants are selected for the final round of selections. Videos combine business and marketing with creativity, comedy and everything in between so vote now!

How to Vote:

1. Go to www.impactapprentice.ca
2. Use the options in the top left corner to “Login with Facebook” or create your own account using your email with the “Register” option and login through that.
3. Select the videos of your choosing and click on the “Vote for this Entry” button below the video.

You can vote for as many videos as you like so feel free to choose more than one! You can vote for each video once per day until midnight of July 11, 2010.

On Wednesday, June 9, SiG@MaRS, in collaboration with MobileActive.org, hjc New Media, Toronto Public Health and the Mobile Giving Foundation, will be hosting Ontario’s first MT4SC Toronto as part of Net Change Week 2010.

MT4SC Toronto features interactive discussions, hands-on-demos, as well as collaborative planning about ways to use, develop, and deploy mobile technologies in areas such as health, advocacy, economic development, environment, human rights, and citizen media.  Click here to see the full schedule.

The event’s featured keynote speaker is Professor Iqbal Z. Quadir, who is the Founder and Director of Grameenphone and the Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship at MIT, as well as a former TEDTalks speaker. Grameenphone is the pioneer of the Village Phone model in Bangladesh, which changed the way low income communities access connectivity.  Quadir now supports students and professionals starting initiatives at the intersection of entrepreneurship and technology in developing countries. He will be discussing how he started this enterprise, and where he sees the opportunities in developing countries for entrepreneurial technology start-ups using mobile.

A 65% discount is offered to students to attend Professor Quadir’s evening keynote.  Use the discount code ncwk_student for a $10 ticket to the event! Click here for more information and to register for MT4SC Toronto.