When Amira first started attending programs at the Jean Augustine Centre, she was just 11 years old. Now in her final year of high school, Amira is a two-time camp counsellor and dedicated member of the 'Youth Visionaries' program, where she serves as a role model and leader to younger participants. As she prepares to graduate and sets her sights on pursuing a career in law and politics, Amira credits her time at the Jean Augustine Centre for giving her the opportunity to step out of her comfort zone and try new things. In Canada, women (especially women of colour) continue to be underrepresented in leadership positions. According to the Prosperity Project, only 6.2 % of Black and racialized women held "board, executive, senior management and pipeline-to-senior-management" positions.

In the summer of 2024, Gabi started attending the Jean Augustine Centre as a summer camp participant. Since then, Gabi has become an enthusiastic member of our after-school program roster, participating in programs like CashApp Queens, Craftastic, and the Look Up! Lift Up! Peer Mentorship Program. As a Look Up! Lift Up! participant, Gabi was paired with a mentor named Liz, who taught Gabi about the importance of “believing in yourself and caring about yourself and others.” This Spring, Gabi was also a part of the first cohort of participants who successfully completed the Jean Augustine Centre’s CashApp Queens financial resilience program. This program teaches girls about financial concepts like budgeting in a fun and interactive way.

Deki’s journey at the Jean Augustine Centre started in 2014, when she was just 7 years old. An active participant in programs like Reader to Reader and JAC Genius, Deki was even featured on our very first brochure (pictured on the first slide). Fast forward to 2025, Deki’s impressive resume of achievements allowed her to receive the $5,000 ‘Women in STEM’ Scholarship (presented by the Jean Augustine Centre in partnership with CIBC) which she says will help reduce the financial burden of her post-secondary studies in health sciences at the University of Western Ontario. The scholarship, Deki says, will encourage more young women to pursue STEM, a field in which women make up only 30% of those employed according to Statistics Canada.