New Podcast Features Young Indigenous Leaders Sharing Insights on Strengthening Organizations in Canada

Today the Mastercard Foundation and Good Influence Films released Young People Know, a five-part podcast series featuring the voices and experiences of young Indigenous leaders.

Hosted by Sam Bird, a citizen of Peguis First Nation and Program Partner at the Mastercard Foundation, Canada Programs, the podcast explores the principles of effective, meaningful, and genuine youth engagement.

“Indigenous youth know better than anyone how to meet challenges and harness the opportunities in their lives and communities,” says Bird. “The purpose of making this podcast is to provide young Indigenous leaders with a platform for their experiences, ideas, and innovations. Now, our job is to share these insights widely. Each episode contains actionable suggestions – changes that public, private, and non-profit sector organizations can make today to become truly youth-led.”

In conversation with Indigenous young people from across Canada, the series shares the challenges, benefits, and opportunities they face in serving on advisory councils while working to create transformative change that embeds Indigenous values, priorities and protocols into the organizations and systems that affect their lives.

“Having in place policies and people who promote youth advocates coming together and bringing their full selves is super important. There needs to be both good people and good policies. It can’t be one or the other,” says Darian Baskatawang, who is featured on the podcast. An Associate at OKT Law, Darian Baskatawang has extensive experience in advocacy and advisory roles at all levels of government in Canada, including in the Office of the Prime Minister and former Premier of Ontario Kathleen Wynne.

Providing practical steps that organizations can take to strengthen youth leadership within their governance structures, the podcast series touches on many important themes including identity, community building, creating safe spaces, youth-led policy change, compensation, and leadership development.

“Indigenous young people are powerful agents of change in their communities, across Canada, and around the world,” says Jennifer Brennan, Director of Canada Programs at the Mastercard Foundation. “This podcast centres and amplifies the voices of Indigenous youth who are experienced leaders with clear ideas on effective ways to engage Indigenous youth in the policies, practices, and work of organizations. Our responsibility is to listen and support their initiatives for transformative change.”

Co-created and co-produced by the Mastercard Foundation EleV Program and Good Influence Films, Young People Know is distributed through EleV: Taking Flight Together and Indigenous 150+. The series will be available on all major podcast platforms including Spotify, Apple, Google, Amazon, and more.

“For the last few years, we’ve had the pleasure of putting microphones into the hands of young people to help amplify the things they are passionate about and the things they care about. The title of the series takes after what we’ve seen and learned. ‘Young People Know’ what they need to excel,” says JoAnne Fishburn, Executive Producer and Co-Founder at Indigenous 150+.