There was a time when Steven Wang could barely open his mouth without going weak in the knees. He was eight years old when he immigrated from Zhengzhou, China, and when he first arrived in Canada, the native Mandarin speaker "was very, very shy," recalls Mr. Wang, now 17. "If I had to do a presentation, I would shake. Like, my legs would just go nuts."
But on Feb. 28, Mr. Wang spoke at Ryerson University before a room of about 50 people, navigating his second language with aplomb. He had just graduated from a program called LEAP, a joint initiative between Ryerson and Toronto's North York YMCA, which stands for "leadership through education, appreciation and participation."
Now in its ninth year, LEAP aims to help youth like Mr. Wang develop the tools for overcoming common workplace barriers facing Chinese-Canadians. Each year, the program accepts about 20 applicants between 16 and 20, teaching everything from conflict resolution to how to deliver that persuasive speech.
According to Statistics Canada, the Chinese population in Canada reached 1,216,565 in 2006, or 3.9 per cent of the total population. However, many Chinese still feel excluded from Canadian government and executive-level positions. Not helping matters is a Chinese tendency to avoid seeking positions of influence, said LEAP founding chair John Choy.
"Chinese tend to shy away from politics," he said.
With LEAP, Mr. Choy wants to change this mentality, and part of the program's mandate is linking students with Chinese mentors, like former Ontario cabinet minister Bob Wong, or Shirley Hoy, the former city manager of Toronto. At this year's graduation ceremony, the keynote speaker was Vivienne Poy, Canada's first senator of Asian descent.
Mr. Choy hopes LEAP will help young Chinese-Canadians find the voice they need to become future leaders. "My dream is that, 10 years from now, 20 years from now, all my graduates will come back as role models. They are Order of Canada laureates," Mr. Choy said. "I'd like them to be able to seen by other communities as an asset to the country."
Special to The Globe and Mail