SBL’s executive director honoured with Vital People grant
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on February 18, 2015 at 10:27 am
Working as the executive director of the North York-based Success Beyond Limits Education Program since it opened in 2010, Chris Penrose has grown in his passion to empower youth so they can complete their education and experience success in their lives.
For his efforts, Penrose was selected as one of 13 recipients this year of the Toronto Foundation’s Vital People grants that awards valued community leaders up to $5,000 to support them in their training and development opportunities.
“It’s a huge honour,” Penrose said. “I looked to so many of the people who received it before.”
Toronto Foundation, one of Canada’s largest community foundations, has now awarded 106 recipients with the Vital People grants since 2004 – an investment of nearly $510,000.
For Penrose, the grant will allow him to take a couple of courses including the Rotman School of Management finance and accounting for non-financial managers course, and Ryerson University’s social media for executives course.
But the more exciting opportunity afforded to him is an experiential learning trip to Chicago to see the progress of The Remix Project, which started in Toronto and expanded to the U.S. to help accelerate the careers of young artists.
Penrose hoped to build upon his knowledge and empower himself to continue helping high school youth and building up Success Beyond Limits.
“A big part of it is access whether it’s access to mentors, to strong social networks, to York University and post-secondary education, to employment, to training, and to life experiences,” Penrose said of the challenges to youth to be successful in high school and beyond.
Rahul K. Bhardwaj acknowledged Penrose and the 12 other recipients this year and stressed the importance of supporting leaders who make outstanding contributions working at not-for-profit organizations.
“In this milestone year for our Vital People grant program, we are very pleased with the diversity of leadership we were able to support,” said Bhardwah, Toronto Foundation president and CEO, in a statement. “We need leaders who understand the lived experiences of the communities they work in, who take initiative, and make innovative contributions that support our city’s well-being and vitality.”
For more information about the Vital People grant program, visit https://torontofoundation.ca/vital-people
Check out the full article here: http://www.insidetoronto.com/
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