About Project Acorn

Project Acorn is a leadership retreat for youth from LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, two-spirit, and queer) communities. The Ten Oaks Project plans to launch the program in the summer of 2009. The program framework represents the culmination of a significant effort on the part of the Board of Directors of the Ten Oaks Project to liaise with broader communities to identify a model and framework for this new and exciting program. At the core of the effort to establish a program framework was the establishment of a Youth Advisory Committee (YAC), reflecting a solid belief that youth should be principally involved in identifying their needs and highlighting how a program would best serve them. The continued participation of the YAC, and the unique perspective of each of its members, in planning and model development have been critical in establishing a model that reflects the aspirations and capacities of the youth from LGBTQ communities.

In the development of this model, the Ten Oaks Project has also engaged in community consultation, both with experts and stakeholders across the spectrum of LGBTQ/leadership/youth service providers and with focus groups of other community youth. These consultations have netted valuable feedback on some of our early thoughts, as well as unique and thoughtful ideas on program format, delivery, and content. In short, this is a collaborative effort.

The Ten Oaks Project - How We Come to Project Acorn

Project Acorn, while informed and improved by community and youth consultation, is very much a product of the Ten Oaks Project. We come to this program with five years of understanding program development and delivery, through the strong and successful delivery of Camp Ten Oaks. We also come to this program with a firm sense of who we are and what we want to be as an organization. Our mission, vision, and values are well-established – we believe in social justice, collaboration and innovation, empowerment through play, people, and learning by doing. We are committed to not reinventing the wheel, and we know that what we do, we want to do well. All of this informs the development of this new program, as we aspire to having Project Acorn be unique amongst leadership opportunities for youth, and draw on our commitment to recognizing youth leadership and engaging future leaders for our communities.