About Mike

Mike Des Jardins

Manager, Sustainability & Development – Communities Building Youth Futures

 
Remote Office: Hamilton, Ontario

About Mike

Mike is the Manager of Sustainability & Development for Communities Building Youth Futures. In this role, Mike is responsible for sustainability planning, researching and sharing best practices related to the sustainability and resilience of youth collective impact work, coaching CBYF communities on developing and implementing sustainability strategies, and measuring the impact and telling the story of social return on investment.

Mike is a certified teacher in the Province of Ontario and has worked directly with youth through program and service delivery and indirectly supporting youth by creating the system conditions to support their learning, development and well-being. Prior to joining Tamarack, Mike has held roles supporting community and youth with Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board, YMCA of Hamilton/Burlington/Brantford, Social Planning & Research Council of Hamilton, United Way of Halton & Hamilton, and he has taught community engagement in the Faculty of Health Sciences at McMaster University.

He is experienced in community engagement, partnership development and stewardship, youth empowerment and engagement, stakeholder management, neighbourhood community development, facilitating collaborative action, strategic planning, co-designing and implementing youth programming and services, and conducting community-based research.

Mike is a servant leader who is passionate about valuing youth as leaders of today based on their unique skills and assets and taking the time to establish and nurture trust between stakeholders to incubate innovative, community solutions for tackling complex issues.

After spending much of his career working with youth and vulnerable communities in Hamilton, Ontario, Mike is excited to support young people at a national level and to create the conditions for positive youth outcomes in communities across Canada.

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