1. Topic Idea

2. Key Points

Certain group have barriers to full participation as citizens including, but not limited to, youth in general, black youth in particular, people with mental and physical disabilities, poor people, homeless people, rurual and remote communities, aboriginal people, and new Canadians.

3. Takeaways

See "References" below.

4. Next Steps/Action Items

Each person was encouraged to take the insights they got from the session and take action approporiate to their sphere of concern and influence.

5. References

Canadian Immigrant Magazine cited as being successful at engaging immigrant communities by providing the form (a monthly paper and online magazine) and topic (stories about immigrants lives here in Canada as opposed to information from the homeland) that immigrants wanted.

Black Youth Conference Day, Feb, 15, 2008 - cited as an successful example of combining on the ground face-to-face community organizing and Facebook to get 350 black youth to attend. The lead organizer has been working with youth in the community for years so has huge credibility. and simply used Facebook to leverage it. Without the credibility no amount of social media tools would help.

Discovery University cited as succesful example of program teaching humanities to students ranging in age from 19 to 60 who may be homeless, suffering with mental or physical illness, struggling with addictions, or bringing in too low an income to afford costs typically associated with post-secondary education. Article on Discovery University on the Canadian Association of University Teachers website.

United States Social Forum cited as a successful example of included marginalized groups as leading, co-organizers from the very beginning. Most of the forum sessions were led by women of color, for example.

Dreamcatcher Mentoring  cited as succesful example of mentoring program that matches Yukon and Nunavut high school students with Canadian mentors who work in their aspired "dream careers".