Honoured by the 2026 KYAC Youth Awards

There is something deeply meaningful about being seen by your community. Not just for what you have accomplished, but for the values you have tried to carry and pass forward. Receiving the Intergenerational Award at the 2026 KYAC Youth Awards in Kitchener was one of those rare moments where the work you believe in gets reflected back to you in a way that reminds you why you started.

To the Kitchener Youth Action Council led by Valerie Lafave, thank you. And to all 58 nominees and award recipients who were recognized that evening, congratulations on being recognized.

What the Intergenerational Award Actually Means

Awards carry weight when the values behind them are real. As I received my nomination, I learnt that the Intergenerational Award is not just about age or seniority. It is about the understanding that learning from those who came before us makes it easier to walk the path we have set out for ourselves.

The greatest growth does not happen in isolation. It happens when generations genuinely listen to each other, when experience meets ambition and when wisdom is not simply a lecture but a guide. That is the philosophy behind so much of the work at Young Eye International and the Young Eye Foundation, and it is the reason this award lands with such significance.

We do not grow by dismissing what came before us. We grow by building on it.

A Community That Shows Up

None of this happens without people who believe in the work before the results are visible.

A special thank you to Erin Hogan from GreenHouse for receiving the award on my behalf.

To Mayor Berry Vrbanovic and the entire City of Kitchener team, including city councillors like Stephanie Stretch, thank you for continuously holding space for youth voices and initiatives in this city. The Mayor’s confidence in what young people are building from the first time we met in 2023 at our Sustainable Impact Summit showed me his committment to youth in the region. It is a testament to the leadership that continues to emerge from our communities every single day.

And to Valerie Lafave, whose work organizing and leading the evening made the whole celebration possible. Thank you for leading the Kitchener Youth Action Council and providing a space for young people to be recognized.

The Work Behind the Recognition

Recognition is only meaningful when there is real work underneath it. At Young Eye International, the mission has always been rooted in creating access, building bridges, and empowering young people to lead with intention. The Young Eye Foundation and the IWIP App (Inspired Work In Progress) extend that mission into tools and structures that create lasting impact rather than temporary moments.

Inspired Work In Progress is not just a phrase. It is a posture. It means showing up even when the path is not fully clear, committing to growth before the outcome is guaranteed, and trusting that consistent effort in the right direction compounds over time.

That posture is what intergenerational leadership looks like in practice. It is the mentor who does not wait for the perfect moment to pour into someone. The young person who does not wait for permission to lead. It is a community that creates the conditions for both to thrive at the same time.

Why Youth Leadership Cannot Wait

From the moment I stept into Kitchener, I quickly realised; Kitchener is not waiting. The 58 nominees recognized at the KYAC Youth Awards are proof that the next generation of leaders is not a future promise. They are a present reality.

When a city invests in youth voices, when councils and mayors actively create seats at the table, and when organizations like KYAC take the time to celebrate emerging impact, something shifts in the culture. Young people begin to understand that their ideas are not too early. Their ambition is not too large. Their leadership is not something to earn later.

That is the environment that this work has always been built around. Not waiting for the world to be ready, but helping build the conditions where readiness becomes irrelevant because the work is already happening.

What Comes Next

To everyone who has supported this journey across Young Eye International, the Young Eye Foundation, and the IWIP App, thank you. The recognition from the Kitchener community is a reminder that the work matters and that it is resonating beyond the rooms where it begins.

This award is a marker on a longer path, a moment to pause, acknowledge the people who made it possible, and then keep going.

Because the future is bright. Not as a slogan, but as a provable, observable truth. It is bright because of the 58 nominees in that room. It is bright because of a city that genuinely believes in what young people are building.

And it is bright because generations, when they lead together, are unstoppable.