Trampoline: Ideas into Action! is a free 12 week program for people who have an idea for a collective, business or non-profit that will address problems faced by refugee and migrant communities in Surrey. People with lived experience of forced migration or displacement and/or with deep networks in these communities are welcome to apply.
Your ideas matter. Join a group of people helping to move your ideas into action through building networks, connecting you to resources, asking tough questions, and celebrating your vision. Please reach out to us if you have any questions!
Trampoline: Ideas Into Action! is part of RADIUS’ Refugee Livelihood Lab, which uses a community learning process that generates new insights to barriers and opportunities for thriving refugee livelihoods in Surrey.
In the program, we do this through:
We are looking for people who have ideas for addressing problems faced by refugee and migrant communities. We invite you to apply if…
You want to:
You have:
You would like:
Refugee Livelihood Lab Trampoline: Ideas Into Action! focuses on providing individuals a safe place to test three critical success factors:
The Problem: Are you addressing a real and impactful problem?
The Solution: Is your potential solution viable and effective?
The Team: Are you the right team, and ready to move this project forward now?
This program emphasizes the importance of learning from the people engaging with your venture. Participants will conduct weekly interviews to test their assumptions, shape their product or service offering based on feedback. We will work on communications best practices to reach the population you serve, determine the most appropriate finance methods, and assess the market to see if there is demand for your offering. We will also examine the project through a migrant justice lens – asking about models that support democratic ownership, profit-sharing, and freedom from exploitation.
Through this 12-week community building and business model validation program you will have:
Refugee Livelihood Lab Trampoline: Ideas Into Action! will dive into their chosen topic areas by asking:
In addition to the focuses above, the program emphasizes and helps with personal and team leadership, community building, and supporting a critical analysis of how to address social and economic barriers faced by migrant communities.
12 weeks, 3 hour weekly, plus (approximately) 5 hours per week of take-home work.
Program Start: March 3rd, 2020
Program End: May 20th, 2020
Session 1 – Wed March 4
Session 2 – Wed March 11
Session 3 – Wed March 18
Session 4 – Wed March 25
Session 5 – Wed April 1st
Session 6 – Tues April 7
Session 7 – Wed April 15
Session 8 – Wed April 22
Session 9 – Wed April 29
Session 10 – Wed May 6
Session 11 – Wed May 13
Session 12 – Wed May 20
Time: 5:30pm—8:30pm
Location: Surrey Central Library, room TBD
Cohort: Limited to 15 people
Cost: Thanks to the generous support of The Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction, and the Mowafaghian Foundation, there is no cost to participate in this experience.
The Refugee Livelihood Lab Trampoline: Ideas Into Action! will be stewarded by the following team of individuals. This team will also invite in a variety of guests from the local community.
Nada El Masry
Project Manager
Nada is a Libyan-born Palestinian who came to the unceded land of the Coast Salish peoples just over 10 years ago. Due to her life experiences and education, Nada has fostered a deep passion for social justice and has shaped her life goals around values rooted in that field. She has been working with and engaging newcomers for several years, and is currently the project manager at RADIUS Refugee Livelihood Lab, which aims to build social, economic, and political capital for racialized refugee and migrant communities.
In addition to working with RADIUS, Nada is also involved in other programs and initiatives including the Inner Activist, World University Services of Canada, SFU CCMS Muslim Fellowship and the Fresh Voices Initiative.Nada is also pursuing a Master’s in Equity Studies in Education at SFU. In her free time, Nada enjoys playing, watching and talking about soccer.
Camille Dumond
Program Manager
Camille manages and co-designed the Refugee Livelihood Lab at RADIUS. The lab aims to increase the social, political and economic capital of diverse racialized migrant communities. Camille’s role includes using the lab’s resources to amplify initiatives emerging from communities with lived experience of forced displacement and migration. She also works with an incredible team to surface systemic patterns that cause harm, and support new patterns which value the dignity, experiences, skills, and dreams of racialized migrants. She brings 18+ years experience in community-based facilitation, program design, conflict mediation and healing centered engagement.
In addition to her work at RADIUS, Camille practices somatic therapy. She has a rich connection to the dreaming world, loves poetry, spontaneous dance parties and her two sisters.
Ayan Mohamud Ismail
Evaluations Research Assistant, Refugee Livelihood Lab
Ayan is a Black, African, Muslim woman who is grateful to live, learn, and work on the Unceded territories of the Coast Salish Peoples. She works directly with the Refugee Livelihood Lab and is responsible for conducting interviews with participants of the Beyond Borders Program and collecting feedback and evaluations regarding the program. She is also involved with supporting different Lab workshops and gatherings along with events associated with the Lab.
Ayan is a third-year SFU student pursuing a major in International Studies and a minor in Sociology. Her passion of wanting to see and bring change to her immediate community and the larger global community made her pursue this field. She is also invested in facilitation and programs that support meaningful youth engagement, specifically racialized voices.
When not deeply intrigued in decolonial poetry and African literature books, you can find Ayan gushing about basketball, acting + filmmaking, and organizing the Afrocentrism Conference 2019!
Alia Sunderji
Activator
Alia is a social entrepreneur and lecturer at Simon Fraser University where she teaches Sustainable Innovation and Introduction to Entrepreneurship and Innovation. Passionate about the fields of sustainability, poverty alleviation and impact investing, Alia is the Founder of Luv The Grub an emerging social enterprise that operates at a number of levels in the food system by capturing produce seconds that would otherwise go to waste, hires newcomer refugees and immigrants through a paid employment training program and produces delicious chutneys and spreads for the local market. In addition, Alia is also the Co-Founder of Liv & Lola; a fair trade home decor business which works with artisans in rural areas of Nicaragua, Guatemala and Thailand where employment opportunities are scarce in an effort to lift them, their families and their communities out of poverty.
If you have any questions, please email Project Manager, Refugee Livelihood Lab, Nada El Masry at nelmasry@radiussfu.com