Welcome to Yute.fyi

Back in February of 2021, I was helping the Canadian Association of Black Journalists with their online J-School Noire program. Every weekend, Black journalists from around the country led introduction to journalism workshops and studio tours to help Black youth across the country see a future for themselves in journalism.

What struck me, despite the quality of the programming and facilitators, was the low turnout we had for some of our workshops. Our instructors were reporters you'd recognize on local and national television.

The problem was awareness and I've seen this happen over and over again with other organizations too.

We're dealing with two big problems:

1. Many nonprofit and community organizations doing work to help upskill and support Black youth have their own silos. Their own followings on social media, their own mailing lists and their own networks of people who know about what they're doing.

2. Many Black youth and their families don't come across the resources and opportunities available to help them thrive. Well, unless they're keeping up with specific group chats or have strong personal or community networks.

What happens to the others and why does this matter? My friend Russell Mair shared this paper (summary) with me years ago that has lived rent free in my head ever since.

Here's a personal example:

In 2021, I participated in, and later ended up running, Black Boys Code's Black Youth Reskilling Program. At the time, the organization had funding to put 100 Black youth in Ontario through a full-time 3-month web development program with Lighthouse Labs, paid portfolio projects with Riipen, and wraparound support to help them us get our foot in the door with our first tech jobs.

At the time, the program cost over $13,000. A jaw-dropping figure to most of us. I'm very thankful, but going back to my earlier point, I only knew about this program because I'd been volunteering with the organization and saw an internal email blast about it.

I needed to desperately raise awareness about the opportunity we had on our hands.

This led to my most far-reaching LinkedIn post ever, basically begging the community to share the opportunity before time ran out.

As a result, we got as many applications that fall than in the spring and summer combined.

That's the power of community.

We made it. Thankfully. And many of the program's participants have completely transformed their career prospects. A few have even gone on to start their own companies. Shameless plug ;)

By the time I finished bootcamp, I wanted to build something to continue bringing relevant opportunities to the Black Youth who'd likely otherwise miss out.

I wanted to build a platform based on three core principles:

1. Representation Matters. (I'm borrowing this phrase from Phil G. Joseph.)
2. Opportunities need to be accessible. Very easy to find, and even easier to share.
3. We should lean on community to curate relevant resources.

Years, and many similar conversations later, I'm proud to relaunch Yute.fyi, a free directory of resources and opportunities for Black Youth in Toronto. More cities soon?

As you can see, the site is pretty empty right now. That's because I'm asking for your help.

Here's how you can contribute:

1. Share Free Programs and Activities.
2. Share Helpful Scholarships.
3. Share Your Professional Journey (like Angela did).
4. Spread the word in your group chats, on social media, and with your friends.
5. Get in Touch or Get Involved

Every opportunity shared could be the one that changes someone's path - just like mine did.

Thank you in advance!