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Cinthuja Leon, Apprentice, Resilient & Diverse Communities By Design.
Capacity Canada’s Apprenticeship Program, Resilient and Diverse Communities By Design, has been developed in partnership with the Suncor Energy Foundation (SEF). Through partnerships and relationships with those who are courageously seeking solutions, the Suncor Energy Foundation helps spark change and propel progress for generations ahead. Capacity Canada is grateful to the Suncor Energy Foundation for generously providing the resources to build resilient communities across the country through its Apprenticeship Program.
The nine-month Program is intended for individuals who want to learn the foundational elements of human-centred design to bring professional skills back to their communities to drive meaningful change toward more regenerative approaches.
Cultural diversity and inclusion are at the heart of Cinthuja Leon’s work. Working to promote cultural diversity and inclusion and for the global communities to stay connected through engagement, education and expressions, Cinthuja believes human-centred design thinking is the future.
“Many programs are created for our communities without engaging the beneficiaries from the beginning. That is one of the reasons why most community projects receive great involvement initially, but the interest depletes after a while. I believe human-centred design thinking will counter that challenge,” says Cinthuja.
Cinthuja is one of the four apprentices selected as part of Capacity Canada’s nine-month paid Apprenticeship Program – Resilient and Diverse Communities By Design. The program is generously supported by Suncor Energy Foundation. The SEF believes in sharing power and co-creating sustainable solutions to complex challenges and contributing to the development of the social innovation sector to develop programs.
In March this year, Capacity Canada invited young changemakers from diverse communities across Canada to apply for its program. “We encouraged people from under-represented groups to apply as we feel the spirit of human-centred design is well suited to addressing many of the challenges faced by our diverse communities,” said Cathy Brothers, CEO of Capacity Canada.
Human-centred design is an approach to problem-solving that begins with a deep understanding of and empathy with the people you’re trying to reach — and then designing and testing solutions from their perspective. By including key stakeholders throughout the process, the solutions generated are more likely to be accepted and embraced.
“I have worked in several international development projects in Asia where community-based program ideas are developed without engaging the community members prior to its inception. These are projects that are developed by external experts with their own understanding and observation of the needs of the community, instead of engaging the community to understand its actual needs,” adds Cinthuja. “There were so many instances where the developed projects were of little to no use to the community. Human-centred design thinking develops programs that are based on the needs of the community and, therefore, have a higher potential to be beneficial.”
Talking about her experience with the design-thinking program, Cinthuja shared how much she appreciates her mentors. “Both Liz Dennis and Hugh Munro are so knowledgeable and still so approachable. I continue to learn from their rich academic and real-life experiences. They have helped me at every step in making valuable decisions as I run my own non-profit organization,” she added.
Cinthuja has extensive international development experience in Asia. Having worked, lived in, and travelled to over 20 countries, she has gained over 25 years of global experience in human resources development, training, and community capacity development. Cinthuja hopes to bring her life experiences and new skills in human-centred design thinking to promote cultural diversity and inclusion in the Guelph community through unique and creative community-based initiatives. “I am already creating a group to engage different communities and test a few ideas, and I am excited and well prepared for the next phase to begin.”
The apprenticeship program builds on the work of Capacity Canada and the Suncor Energy Foundation to build and support resilient individuals, organizations and communities across Canada. In the next phase, apprentices will work on a virtual design project related to their connected communities. The project will be completed in the next few months with coaching and mentoring support from the Capacity Canada Design Team.
Learn more about the apprenticeship program on Capacity Canada’s website.
