Newcomer Leadership Group

The Newcomer Leadership Group is a leadership training program that supports newcomers in developing their capacity and confidence to engage in the community.

The Newcomer Leadership Group seeks to:

• provide support to newcomers who are looking to engage as volunteers and participate in decision-making processes in the Peterborough community, and
• expand the capacity for community organisations to include and integrate diverse perspectives in their practice.

For the first 3 cohorts, training was facilitated by Jenn Harrington and Lauren Hunter of Arising Collective. Training topics included:

• Opportunities for Community Engagement
• Telling my Story: Building Confidence in Public Speaking
• Introduction to Not-For-Profit Governance
• Leadership Competencies
• Non-Profit Finance 101 - Board Responsibilities
• Chairing a Meeting
• Managing Conflict
• Panel Discussion: My Road to Engagement

After the formal learning series, group members continue to meet informally and many work on collaborative group projects.

• The first cohort developed the "Newcomers In Peterborough" Facebook group in the spring of 2021. They serve as moderators of the group to support others in the community.
• The second cohort put together food packages for One City Peterborough to support people experiencing homelessness in the fall of 2021.
• The third cohort worked in pairs to research the significance of land acknowledgements and presented them at each meeting in the fall of 2022.

The Winter 2024 cohort was part of the "Journeys to Active Citizenship" project. The topics addressed include:

• Belonging in our community
• My community through my lens
• Focused listening
• Combatting misinformation & disinformation
• Skills for community involvement