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Everything you need to know about our programs, our approach, and how to bring YOU Power™ to your community or your child.
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The YOU Power Project™ is a youth entrepreneurship education program founded in 2021 in Collingwood, Ontario. We deliver early-stage entrepreneurial learning for young people ages 10–18, using our proprietary B.O.S.S.™ framework (Believe, Observe, Shape/Solve, Share) to build meta-skills like creativity, resilience, communication, and critical thinking. Our goal is not just to create businesses — it is to build young people who carry entrepreneurial thinking with them for life.
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We were founded in Collingwood, Ontario in 2021 and deliver programs across Ontario through regional collaborations with municipalities, SBECs, nonprofits, and community organizations.
Simcoe-Grey Region Simcoe County EDO, Community Futures SGB, Grey County, Business Enterprise Centre, SBC Barrie · Simcoe · Orillia, Invest Barrie, Bright Futures Barrie, GB Accelerator
Southern Georgian Bay Town of Collingwood, The Blue Mountains, Wasaga Beach, Clearview Township
Bruce Peninsula Saugeen Connects
The YOU Power Project™ holds status with Global Affairs Canada, reflecting our growing international reach through MOU partnerships.
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Several things set us apart. Our curriculum is built on a spiral competency model — not a one-time workshop — so skills deepen every time a student encounters the program. We are program-first, technology-second: we built our methodology in real classrooms before building software. Our B.O.S.S.™ framework, YPLI™, and spiral model are all proprietary. We serve diverse cohorts including at-risk youth with consistent, documented outcomes. And our Train-the-Trainer model builds lasting local capacity so the ripple continues long after the initial engagement ends.
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Our work directly supports four UN SDGs:
SDG 4 · Quality Education
SDG 8 · Decent Work & Economic Growth
SDG 10 · Reduced Inequalities
SDG 11 · Sustainable Communities
We expand access to entrepreneurship education for youth excluded by age, income, or geography — and we empower young people to contribute meaningfully to the places they live. -
For general inquiries, reach us at info@theyoupowerproject.com. For partnership inquiries, email partnerships@theyoupowerproject.com. We are based in Collingwood, Ontario, delivering programs across Ontario and growing globally.
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We offer four core programs:
1. Student Summer Ventures — An intensive summer cohort where young people build and launch real businesses.
2. School-Year Cohorts — Programs delivered during the academic year through partner organizations.
3. Train-the-Trainer — Our model for embedding YOU Power capacity locally so communities can sustain delivery long-term.
4. YPLS™ — YOU Power Learning Solution — Our proprietary software platform, currently in active development with our delivery network. -
B.O.S.S.™ stands for Believe, Observe, Shape/Solve, and Share. It is the four-pillar competency framework that anchors all YOU Power Project programming:
Believe — Building self-concept, resilience, confidence, and a growth mindset. Before a young person can build anything, they must believe they are capable.
Observe — Developing the habit of noticing patterns, problems, and possibilities. Observation is the precondition for every great idea.
Shape/Solve — Where ideas become real. Students design, test, fail, iterate, and launch.
Share — Building the capacity to communicate, pitch, advocate, and lead. -
Meta-skills are transferable, durable capabilities that underpin every domain of a young person's life. Unlike subject knowledge, they don't stay in school. Unlike technical skills, they don't expire. Through our programming, young people develop:
Creative Confidence
Resilience
Communication
Critical Thinking
Collaboration
Self-Efficacy
Digital Literacy
Financial Literacy
Empathy
Problem-Solving
Leadership
Community Mindedness
At The YOU Power Project™, meta-skills are not a module you complete — they are the outcome of the entire experience. -
Train-the-Trainer (ToT) equips local educators, coaches, and facilitators with the full YOU Power methodology — the B.O.S.S.™ framework, curriculum, facilitation tools, and competency assessment through YPLI™. Rather than a community relying on us to deliver indefinitely, ToT builds sustainable local capacity so the ripple keeps going long after the initial engagement ends. It is one of the most powerful ways a community organization or municipality can invest in lasting youth entrepreneurship infrastructure.
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Our programs are designed for young people ages 10 to 18. But we don't differentiate by age alone — we teach and progress by stage.
Think of it like learning to play the piano. You don't start with Beethoven. You start with scales — building hand coordination, learning to read music, developing feel. Then, over time, the pieces get harder. And you get better. That's how we approach entrepreneurial learning.
Early-stage participants build self-belief, curiosity, and a first sense of what's possible. As they progress through the program, they take on bigger challenges, build real things, and develop the kind of leadership identity that lasts a lifetime. It's not about how old you are — it's about where you are in your journey.
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If they want to, yes — and 89% of them do. Building a business is never a requirement, but here's what we've found: when young people feel equipped, empowered, inspired, and supported, they build. Spontaneously.
Past student ventures have included organic skincare lines, pet sitting services with booking systems, artisan food businesses, social enterprises, digital services, sports coaching, and more.
The venture is not the point — the person is. But real things have a way of happening when the conditions are right. -
When young people show up, they get a lot: real tools, real coaching, a community of peers, and an environment designed to make them feel capable.
Past students have built brands, launched services, discovered financial literacy, found their voice in a pitch, and left with confidence they didn't walk in with. Here's what the data tells us:100% Learned a New Skill
99% Would Recommend
92% Completion Rate
9/10 Parents Noticed a Shift
What a young person takes from the experience depends on what they bring to it — and we are committed to making sure every student leaves with more than they arrived with. -
Yes, and our outcomes hold. We have delivered programs across diverse cohorts including at-risk youth, with and without stipends, in summer and school-year formats. Our 92% completion rate is maintained across all student populations — a signal that the content resonates at an identity level, not just a curriculum level.
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Enrolment is available through our Student Summer Ventures program and through school-year cohorts delivered by our partner organizations. Visit our Summer Ventures page to learn about upcoming cohorts and secure a spot for your child.
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We partner with municipalities, Small Business Enterprise Centres (SBECs), nonprofits, educational institutions, and government funders. Partnership pathways include:
Co-Deliver a Cohort
Train-the-Trainer
YPLS™ Access
International MOU
We provide funder-ready impact reports, ministry-level data, and full program infrastructure. Reach out at partnerships@theyoupowerproject.com to start the conversation. -
Partners receive more than a program — they receive infrastructure that proves it works. This includes full curriculum delivery and facilitation, funder-ready impact reports with quantified outcomes, ministry-level data through YPLS™, live coaching and community pitch events for students, co-branding and community recognition, and access to the Train-the-Trainer pathway to build long-term local capacity. As one partner noted: "We would not have been able to exceed our delivery outcomes without their involvement."
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Yes. The YOU Power Project™ holds status with Global Affairs Canada, and we are growing internationally through Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) with partners around the world. If you represent an organization, school board, or government body outside Canada and want to bring YOU Power programming to your community, reach out at partnerships@theyoupowerproject.com.
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YPLS™ stands for YOU Power Learning Solution. It is our proprietary software platform being built intentionally in active partnership with our delivery network — real educators, real students, and real partners. YPLS™ includes YPLI™ (YOU Power Learning Index) competency tracking, ministry-level reporting for government and funder partners, and AI-assisted coaching tools. It was built because funders and government partners needed more than anecdotal outcomes — they needed a measurement system rooted in our own methodology, not retrofitted from someone else's platform.
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YPLS™ is being built intentionally and is currently in active development. Train-the-Trainer is live and scaling. The platform is being co-designed with our delivery network to ensure it truly reflects how our programs are delivered on the ground. If you are a partner organization interested in early access or in shaping the development, contact us at partnerships@theyoupowerproject.com.
STILL HAVE QUESTIONS?
Every community has young people with the spark. Let's talk about what's possible — for them, and for you.