Overview

In the northern Yukon and on the rugged Haida Gwaii coast, youth are shaping their own future through creativity, culture, and collaboration. Each year, Carleton students travel north to work with local schools and community partners on projects that grow from the communities’ own priorities — from building a youth-designed outdoor gathering space in Mayo, to launching a community-run skateboard company, to helping create digital tools for Indigenous language learning and storytelling.

This initiative is part of a long-standing partnership that brings together students from Carleton University’s Sprott School of Business and northern youth in hands-on, community-driven projects. Over the past five years, the program has supported initiatives such as a mural of youth self-portraits, a student-run radio station, and the Skate Project — now a registered non-profit where local youth design, produce, and sell their own skate decks.

This year, our students are returning to Mayo and Haida Gwaii to continue learning from community members, teachers, and youth. Together, we’ll co-develop entrepreneurial and cultural projects that celebrate local knowledge, creativity, and resilience, and contribute to language preservation and revitalization.

Your support will help cover airfare, accommodations, local transportation, and materials that make these collaborations possible. Every contribution helps build lasting relationships between Carleton students and northern communities — where learning happens through shared work, respect, and creativity.

The Background

Empowering youth in remote northern communities through creative, community-driven projects that celebrate culture, entrepreneurship, and learning.

The Rollout

Every dollar raised directly supports the students and communities who make this learning partnership possible. Our goal is to ensure that travel, materials, and project costs never become barriers to collaboration.

Your contribution will help fund:

• Airfare and transportation: Getting Carleton students to Mayo, Yukon, and Masset, Haida Gwaii — two remote locations over 5,000 km from campus.

• Accommodations and meals: Allowing students to stay in the community for a full week of hands-on work with local youth and mentors.

• Community project materials: Art, design, and construction supplies for youth-led initiatives such as mural making, outdoor space design, radio programming, and language digitization.

• Workshop and technology support: Tools, recording equipment, and software for projects in digital storytelling, entrepreneurship, and language revitalization.

This trip is not a volunteer excursion — it is a learning partnership built on mutual respect and long-term relationships. The communities identify the projects; our students bring energy, curiosity, and skills to help make them real.

Your generosity helps sustain a model of education rooted in collaboration, creativity, and cultural respect — and ensures that this five-year partnership continues to grow for years to come.

The Impact

The impact of this initiative is felt on many levels — in the communities, among the students, and within Carleton University itself.

Community Impact:

In Mayo and Haida Gwaii, local youth gain opportunities to shape and lead creative projects that reflect their culture and aspirations — from skate deck design and online sales to recording elders’ stories and building shared spaces. These collaborations strengthen local initiatives, celebrate youth leadership, and build lasting connections between communities and the university.

Student Impact:

Carleton students experience what it means to apply business, design, and leadership skills in a real-world, cross-cultural context. They learn by doing — working side by side with peers and mentors who challenge them to listen deeply, think creatively, and lead collaboratively.

University Impact:

This partnership expands the reach of experiential learning at Carleton, showing how academic study can meaningfully connect with communities beyond the campus. The projects model how education can create social value, cultural understanding, and sustainable innovation.

Together, these experiences transform classrooms into shared spaces of creativity and respect — where everyone learns from one another.