APF Canada and AIESEC Canada: Building Asia Skills & Knowledge Among Young Canadians
Final Report 2015 - 2016
TABLE OF CONTENTS Opening Remarks
2
Key Objectives
3
Building Asian Competencies Through Internships
4
Priority Partnerships
6
Some Testimonials About the Experiences
8
Marketing Asia
10
Key Players
11
Building Awareness and Engaging Youth
12
Closing Remarks: President’s Letter
13
Appendix A: Financial Report July 31, 2016
14
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OPENING REMARKS The partnership between AIESEC Canada and the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada was founded in 2015 through the awarding of a monetary grant to further Asia-related knowledge among Canadian youth. The purpose of this partnership was to establish partnerships with companies in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, India, and Indonesia. In order to give more young Canadians on the ground experience n the world’s most dynamic region. At the same time, APF Canada had the opportunity to attend several AIESEC Canada engagements across the country where Canadian youth leaders were exposed to the importance of having Asia-competencies and its necessity towards connecting Canadian businesses to Asia. Overall, this collaboration has furthered APF Canada’s vision of being a catalyst for connecting Canada and Asia together as many youth within Canada have been exposed to Asia and its culture. In return, AIESEC Canada was able to impact Canadian youth by sending record numbers of youth to professional and volunteer internships to Asia-Pacific countries. This initiative solidified the need for further collaboration between the two organizations. As a result, APF Canada provided some further funds to AIESEC Canada to continue encouraging more Canadian youth to pursue their professional careers in China, India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and Thailand. This report outlines the success we have gained through this partnership as well as key learnings from our initiatives. AIESEC Canada shares these successes with your organization as we continue moving forward in the future.
2
Sheila Yue Vice President , Business Development AIESEC Canada 2016-2017
KEY OBJECTIVES
The $50,000 grant awarded to AIESEC Canada for the period 2015-2016 was to promote Asia skills and knowledge among young Canadians. The partnership had the following key objectives:
1.
Build awareness in young leaders of the need for Asia competencies in Canada
2.
Develop and execute a marketing strategy towards youth to encourage insight on Asian culture and experience
3.
Create and develop partnerships in China and India, to provide experiences for young Canadians
3
BUILDING COMPETENCIES THROUGH INTERNSHIPS APF Canada’s dedication towards building Asian competence inspired AIESEC Canada to prioritize selling internships to Asian markets in 2015. APF Canada’s research indicated that Canadians are more resistant to working and living in the Asia-Pacific region. This same data has been reflected in the placement choices of AIESEC Canada’s customers in the past five years. Over the past five years, AIESEC Canada has sent a majority of our exchange participants to Brazil, Poland, Taiwan, Greece and Mainland of China. Although participation in select Asian countries has always been high, AIESEC Canada‘s partnership with APF Canada was instrumental in amplifying the number of internship participants in the Asia region. Prior to this partnership, AIESEC Canada sent 238 youth to work abroad in Asia. In the 15-16 year, our focus on opportunities in this region helped AIESEC Canada send 357 youth on professional internships1 in Asia. This partnership has increased the number of participants working in Asia by 50%. Furthermore, AIESEC’s mission to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals has been amplified within communities across the Asia-Pacific. With 39% of professional internships focusing on teaching and 33% of volunteer experiences increasing literacy for youth during students’ placements, our cooperation with APF Canada shows a measurable impact in this region for Quality Education. With the largest portion of volunteer internships2 in Asia-Pacific focusing on the environment, APF Canada has enabled Canadian youth to contribute to Climate Action within the Asia-Pacific. Lastly, with nearly 80% of participants completing internships between the ages of 18-21(which is prior to the average age for completing undergraduate education), this partnership enabled AIESEC Canada to impact youth by providing them with a challenging internship experiences likely to shape their future paths and work within the Asia-Pacific region beyond university.
1. Professional internship - a long term internship, lasting between 3 to 18 months long. 90% of internships are paid terms focusing on building relevant skills to propel personal careers. 2. Volunteer experience - a short term exchange, lasting between 6 - 8 weeks focusing on social causes within a country.
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BUILDING COMPETENCIES THROUGH INTERNSHIPS Demographics Volunteer vs. Professional Internships
Professional Internships
Professional Internships Volunteer Internships
5%
Teaching Marketing & Business IT & Engineering
32% 39%
68%
56%
Volunteer Experiences
8% 21% 33%
38%
Participants by Region
Culture Literacy Entrepreneurship Environment
Age of Participants AGE
# OF PARTICIPANTS
REGION
#
British Columbia
68
Alberta
31
Saskatchewan
6
Manitoba
9
18 – 19
53
Ontario
195
20 – 21
138
Quebec
70
22 – 25
36
Nova Scotia
4
26 – 30
16
Newfoundland
2
As displayed by the demographics, a large majority of the participants completed internships prior to graduation. This shows that AIESEC should continue to invest its efforts in undergraduate youth. Moreover, a great proportion of completed experiences in the Asia-Pacific were volunteer internships, thereby indicating that the focus of the partnership should expand to include these opportunities. The data at the same time shows that there is further room to grow in entrepreneurship and business-related experiences for exchange participants.
5
PRIORITY PARTNERSHIPS China, India, and Indonesia Partnerships With the recommendation of APF Canada, AIESEC Canada focused its efforts on emerging marketing within China, India, and Indonesia to build sustainable partnerships and supported by the targeted marketing campaigns. Here is the impact we had.
# of students sent to Asia prior to APF initiative
# of students sent to Asia during APF initiative
China
50
81
India
35
38
Indonesia
13
22
Country
The table above illustrates the number of students sent on exchange to the three priority countries over a 16 month period. With the involvement of APF Canada in 2015 and onward, the number of students sent on internships to these priority markets increased across the board. One key highlight of the table is the growth in interest to Indonesia over the duration of the project. Before APF Canada’s involvement, Indonesia had the lowest number of students sent in the 2013-14 year among the three focus countries. With 22 students having been sent to Indonesia in the 2015-16 term, this partnership has experienced a 69% growth, compared to 62% with China, and 8% in India. Additional demographic data about the students sent to each of the countries follows.
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PRIORITY PARTNERSHIPS CHINA
Consistent trends that can be seen from the three priority countries are as follows: - A larger portion of students choose to participate in volunteer experiences rather than professional internships, with the volunteer experiences focusing heavily on culture whereas the professional internships are teaching centric.
INDIA
- Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia had the highest number of participants
INDONESIA
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SOME TESTIMONIALS ABOUT THE EXPERIENCES “I was actually scared to go to China before my exchange. I expected China to be unsafe especially for a girl. But that was not true. The people were really nice and curious about my culture. I also had the chance to stay with an awesome host family.
Maria Bencheikh McGill Univeristy Exchange in China
During my exchange, I had to face a lot of challenges and most of them were caused by the language barrier. But I am really glad that this exchange forced me to get out of my comfort zone and I managed to connect with a lot of people from all around the world. I also learned that the only barrier is the one that we create to surround ourselves and the world has really no boundaries.”
“I didn't know much about Indonesia before I travelled there, however my exchange changed this perception. Witnessing the poverty and environmental issues first hand has allowed me to discover my passion towards a career related to sustainable development. Throughout this exchange and as a member of AIESEC, I have grown to love different cultures and customs as my passion for learning more about the world. I hope to work for an international organization in the future to promote sustainable development and help resolve environmental issues that are happening in the world.”
8
Joelle Pang McMaster University Exchange in Indonesia
TESTIMONIALS “I had originally planned to travel to Spain for a 3 month internship, however a friend of mine made the convincing argument that Spain might not offer as big of a challenge as India. He made the point that, as a Canadian, the chances that I might one day live and work in Spain are much higher than India. Convinced that India would challenge me in ways that Spain would not, I decided to take a leap of faith and jump blindly into a country and culture I knew little about. Looking back on my exchange I am confident I had made the right choice. My exchange challenged me in ways like never before. The culture was entirely different - the sights, the sounds, everything was different from my life in Canada, and I loved it. I learned fast how best to communicate despite language barriers, I created lesson plans and was even given the opportunity to design my own courses. Personally, my exchange offered me much more. Gurgaon, like many of the major cities in India, is at a time of incredible economic growth. However, like many nations in a boom, this sudden growth has created a deep divide highlighted by income disparity, Gurgaon was different. My exchange gave me an incredible look at life in Southeast Asia, beyond the headlines. My time in India, and at MISAO, has solidified my desire to pursue a career focused around international relations, business and governance. I have decided that my grand goal will be to one day be Minister of Foreign Affairs. Though it may be a pipedream for now, I plan to shape my career in a way that gets me as much experience dealing with international relations as possible - be it consulting and communications, business or public service I plan to make an impact internationally, and develop my understanding of the world beyond my local or national community. My exchange has taught me that the world is a smaller place than we may think, and I plan to become a leader who helps to shape it.�
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Mike Sandare University of Alberta Exchange in India
MARKETING ASIA The partnership with APF Canada was assigned to create awareness regarding Asian internships and Asian culture. The support of APF Canada allowed AIESEC Canada to launch its first-ever Asia Pacific campaign to attract students and recent graduates to internships across the region. Prior to this campaign, AIESEC Canada had not emphasized the region particularly in communications, however, historical data suggested the students interest in China and India was the most popular in Asian destinations. The campaign focused on highlighting additional regions in Asia that had not been identified in the list of top countries. Part of the campaign involved building a social media ad campaign, which reached over 500,000 individuals over a four month period. This campaign revealed that there was a strong interest in Hong Kong and Thailand. Capitalizing on this information, videos were created that showcased these two countries alongside the China and India video campaigns. This ad campaign led to over 1000 clicks and a click to lead ratio of 29%. In addition to a video campaign, specific blog content and testimonials about Asia were produced and released. As a result of these efforts, AIESEC Canada was able to build a strong brand for Canadian talent within international AIESEC network. Through these efforts, AIESEC Canada managed to become the #1 supplier of interns for AIESEC in Taiwan, contributing to 12% of their total internship participants.
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KEY PLAYERS Shawn Fulham established long term partnerships with companies in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, India, and Indonesia to provide paid short term internships to Canadian students. Over a 4-month period he created 70 paid internships in three countries and 7 major cities in Asia for Canadian students. Additionally, he created various blogs and Youtube videos to attract more youth to work and travel to Asia. “I also got first hand experience on the ways business is conducted in these countries, and how variations in values resulted in unique business cultures. If an opportunity comes up that requires to relocate to a city in Asia I would be more willing to take on that challenge.”
Shawn Fulham Regional Asia Director Global Internship Program, AIESEC Canada
Winshi Wong worked towards increasing Canadian students' awareness about the importance of working with Asia and sending students through AIESEC to work in Asia-Pacific. Over a 4-month period, Wong generated over 1000 student leads through social media paid advertising. Additionally, Wong was the lead on creating and distributing all marketing materials and provide assistance to Local Committees involved in the project.
Win Shi Wong Marketing Manager Global Internship Program AIESEC Canada
“Being born and raised in Asia and having studied in Canada as an international student, I had advantages developing this project. I was able to apply my Asia experiences and new knowledge gained from Canada on campaigns to attract and educate Canadian students on Asia-Pacific. It was a wonderful experience to be a part of the movement to close the gap between Asia and Canada.”
Ruth Fothergill and Peter Sutherland acted as business advisors for the project in order to provide information and business connections relevant to this project in Canada and abroad. They provided advice regarding marketing strategies to promote opportunities and targeted markets within Canada and Asia. “Both Peter Sutherland and I have seen over the years, based on our Ruth Fothergill work for Global Affairs Canada and Export Development Canada (retired) respectively, a serious and growing need to encourage better Director, Stakeholder knowledge and more experience of Asian markets and culture among Engagement Canadian businesses and institutions in order to benefit from the Export Development opportunities for Canadians which abound in these markets. What Canada better way than to target and promote on-the-ground exchange and job opportunities in these markets for Canadian university students! More Asian-qualified Canadian youth available as new employees across Canada to Canadian businesses is an ideal outcome of the inmarket experience to be gained from this propitious initiative of APF Canada” 11
Peter Sutherland Senior Business Advisor Asia Aird & Berlis LLP
BUILDING AWARENESS AND ENGAGING YOUTH Youth to Business Forum - The AIESEC Canada Youth to Business Forum is a conference where partners truly tap into the entrepreneurial spirit and boundless energy of over 500 future le aders from across Canada. At the end of the day we bring together key stakeholders within the Canadian community and bridge the gap between youth and business, driving Canada forward by exploring different perspectives, sharing ideas, and building a better future together. APF Canada participated in two of the recent annual Youth to Business Forums and Breakfasts for the past few years and engaged with over 800 youth participants and 20 corporate partners through the Youth to Business events. APF Canada provided the delegates with knowledge regarding Asian skills and competencies through workshops, keynotes and panels. The content and information was well-received from the participants and were transferrable in their experience working and volunteering abroad. The focus and theme of the Youth to Business events were surrounded by identifying and developing key competencies and skills for youth when entering the workforce. The participation of APF Canada at the Youth to Business events exposed our delegates and partners to the importance of Asian competencies within Canada and why they are needed within the workforce. “We learned a great deal on how previous exchange participants that completed internships in the Asia-Pacific could highlight what they learned by working abroad - such as how a workplace's view of structure and organizational "frame" can be affected by the Asia-Pacific culture.” – Gillian Jose-Riz, Vice President, Organizational Development, AIESEC Canada
Kasi Rao Vice-President and Director, Toronto Office at the Youth to Business Forum 2016 in Toronto
Erin Williams Program Manager at the Youth to Business Forum 2015 in Calgary
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Eva Busza Vice-President Research and Programs at the Youth to Business Breakfast 2016 in Vancouver
CLOSING REMARKS: PRESIDENT’S LETTER On behalf of AIESEC Canada, I would like to acknowledge the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada for your generous support and collaboration over the last three years. This partnership provided AIESEC Canada with greater access to developing the leadership of young individuals with the facilitation and participation in professional internships to Asia. In line with your themes of Building Skills and Competencies and Understanding Asia Now, AIESEC Canada was able to commit to these aspects through increasing the awareness among youth across the country on becoming Asia-competent, engaging in discussions with business and government through our Youth to Business Series, and working closely with AIESEC in Mainland of China, AIESEC in India, and AIESEC in Indonesia through sending Canadian youth to these countries for their professional development. Working with your organization has also contributed greatly to AIESEC Canada’s 2020 strategic plan in Accelerating the Creation of Canadian Global Leaders through International Exchange and becoming the Leading Youth Voice to Business in the country throughout the various engagement touch points both organizations shared. Indeed, this enabled our organizations to take our mandates further and better serve the communities around them for years to come. Together, we have impacted the lives of over 500 Canadians and have shaped their perceptions about why being Asiacompetent is integral in their professional journey and how this can make a positive difference in the society in which they are a part of. What more if we are able to send more and more Canadians to Asia! Truly, this partnership is the beginning of a prosperous and impactful relationship. We look forward to continue working with you in strengthening Asia’s bridge to Canada.
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Joaquim Sanvictores President of AIESEC Canada 2016-2017
APPENDIX A: FINANCIAL REPORT Financial Report July 31, 2016 Actual (CAD$)
Budget (CAD$)
Variance (CAD$)
Youth to Business - Theme Partner
15,000.00
15,000.00
0.00
Campaign Manager
3,200.00
3,200.00
0.00
Partnership Launch
87.30
500.00
412.70
Youth to Business Breakfast
544.71
800.00
255.29
10,000.00
10,000.00
0.00
259.96
704.00
444.04
Per Diem
6,100.00
6,100.00
0.00
Travel
9,154.92
8,760.00
(394.92)
International Congress Fees
708.50
500.00
(208.50)
Promotions - Website Development
3,445.64
3,500.00
54.36
Travel Insurance
327.50
0.00
(327.50)
Vaccinations and Visa
834.10
0.00
(834.10)
Miscellaneous
28.50
0.00
(28.50)
Contingency
0.00
936.00
936.00
49,691.13
50,000.00
308.87
Stipend - Salary Employee Related Expenses
Total
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