In celebration of the National Indigenous Peoples’ Day, the Community Housing Transformation Centre is introducing its Indigenous Internship Program.
Across Canada, the Indigenous community housing sector faces the daily challenge of finding Indigenous individuals with the leadership training to work as managers, directors, and executives. These individuals are responsible for moving their organizations forward by improving relevant management, financial, asset and tenant management activities.
This lack of human resource capacity with appropriate cultural and technical knowledge is a significant obstacle to growing and maintaining Indigenous community housing. This situation, for example, limits Indigenous housing providers’ ability to fully access several National Housing Strategy programs or forces them to hire external consultants to define and lead their projects.
This internship program is aimed directly at alleviating this situation. It will increase access to financial resources and support services.
Also, through its Indigenous Internship Program, the Centre will increase its engagement with Indigenous housing groups, leading to more project proposals and more funds allocated.
Interns Wanted
The Indigenous Internship Program is aimed at refining skills, professional development, and knowledge of the community housing sector among early career professionals who identify as Indigenous. Its objective is to encourage and nurture future Indigenous leaders in the community housing sector.
Applications will be sought from recent university or college graduates interested in a career in the community housing sector and from young Indigenous already working in the sector. The interns will be provided with guidance and support from a full-time Indigenous coach and will also be paired with one of the Centre’s Program Managers to gain work experience assessing and overseeing project granting.
Special attention will be given to making sure each intern has numerous opportunities to engage directly with Indigenous-led community housing providers and organizations associated with other fields (social and economic development, human rights, political representations, etc.), as well as Indigenous-directed services, agencies, and governments at the federal, provincial, and territorial level. They will also be provided with opportunities to travel to different parts of the country, allowing them to familiarize themselves with local Indigenous housing circumstances.
At the end of the internship, interns will bring new skills, education, and perspective back to their host organization or be equipped to seek out leadership opportunities in the sector. The Centre is also committed to opening at least one position within its own operations at the end of the first year of the program.
To learn more about the internship and to apply, click here.
Coach Wanted
Coaching and support are critical components of the project. A full-time Indigenous coach with expertise in community-based housing will be responsible for implementing the program at the Centre. The coach will be available to provide culturally appropriate guidance to interns and will serve as a reference to help interns establish and achieve their individual professional development goals throughout the internship.
To learn more about the Indigenous Intern Coach position and to apply, click here.
Partnership Opportunities
The Centre is actively seeking partners to sponsor interns as well as the program for their own organizations and/or communities. Governments and funding agencies interested in sponsoring interns (as part of their staff or to support the sector generally) are welcome to contact the Centre to discuss opportunities.
Sponsors will have the opportunity to nominate an intern and ask for the Centre to tailoring part of the training to a specific jurisdiction’s needs. To learn more about the sponsorship opportunities, contact us at info@centre.support
