黑人青年发展指导计划向高中生讲话

A mentorship program aimed at getting more young Black people employed in the provincial government is entering its second year this summer.

黑人青年发展指导计划（BYDMP）为省政府各个部门的11年级和12年级的全职夏季工作提供了学生。每个学生在其部门内与非洲血统的导师配对。

“I wanted to be involved because it’s a great opportunity to get involved in government, learn some different skills that help me not only in the workplace, but outside of the workplace as well such as communication, and organization,” said Alissa Provo, who started her second year of the program last week.

Provo returned to the program this year after completing her first year at the University of Ottawa where she’s studying biomedical science.

“It’s long term as well. It’s not just one summer,” Provo said. “You’re able to come back for up to four summers, so your position is there, and it’s secure.”

扩展程序

Provo recently spoke to a group of Black high school students at Lockview High School in Fall River about her experience in the BYDMP program.

She was joined by her mentor, Jessica Quillan, who is also the project lead for BYDMP in her position as diversity coordinator for the Department of Public Works.

Quillan说，该计划于2020年10月发生，当时公共工程的高级领导人在黑人生活问题运动后与该部门的黑人雇员会面。

Quillan说：“工作人员对部门缺乏可见的多样性以及缺乏可见的代表以及在上班时如何影响他们以及他们所做的工作有所担忧。”

最初，该计划应该限制在公共工程中与非洲血统的导师一起工作的20名学生。

After receiving 55 applications, however, the program was extended to include other departments to accommodate all of the students who applied. This included the Department of Health and Wellness where Quillan was working at the time. She joined the program as a mentor and ended up mentoring Provo in the program’s inaugural year.

该计划于去年结束后，提出了一份摘要报告，并表示该计划将需要领先。Quillan申请了该职位并获得了工作。

“Jessica was a great mentor, I was very lucky to have her,” Provo said. “She was one of the very few mentors of colour in the Department of Health and Wellness, so I was very lucky to have somebody who looks like me guide me around the different systems in government.”

With Quillan now in charge of the BYDMP program itself, Provo is now tasked with helping her get the word out about it to Black high school students across the province.

During her chat with students at Lockview High School, Provo said the full-time position gives her “a sense of independence.” Through the BYDMP program she said she’s able to develop new skills, as well as network and make new friends with other Black students in the program.

Last year, due to COVID, the program operated on a hybrid system where Provo would work from home some days and would go into the office on other days and meet one-on-one with Quillan.

除了学习奎兰（Quillan）的工作外，普罗沃（Provo）还负责寻找使该省811网站更加多样化和包含在非洲血统的人的方法。其中包括使用非洲血统的一词，而不是非洲新闻斯科舍省人。

“Visually, looking at the page, there wasn’t much that made somebody of colour want to continue reading through it,” Provo said. “It was very plain, the only photo that was shown was like a white male. And the language that was used was a bit confusing … with certain words and medical terms they use.”

她说：“我认为，如果它能够简化一些单词，它将到达更多的人。”

Quillan表示，今年大约有30名学生返回BYDMP计划，正式为希望申请的新学生官方40个职位。Quillan说，当在线申请流程在周六关闭时，她想容纳任何想要伸出援手的黑人高中生。

Students can go online and review the different positions available and must then go through an interview and hiring process. To be successful, applicants be able to able to work from July 4 to August 26.

**与公共工程部联系，click here。

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