Our Work
At the Children and Youth Planning Table, all our work is centred around increasing children and youth’s sense of belonging and well-being. Our work is guided by our 2024-2027 Strategic Plan and has four pillars: Research, Knowledge Mobilization and Influence, Community Coordination, and Organizational Excellence.
Research
Collecting data directly from and with children and youth across Waterloo Region. Analyzing data to uncover key insights.
Knowledge Mobilization
Sharing our knowledge with the community. Sharing data and other prioritized information about child and youth well-being with key audiences.
Influence
Using our relationships and key platforms to convey the importance of what CYPT knows to be critical for children and youth.
Community Coordination
Convening key audiences for meaningful action. Connecting people, organizations and causes to reduce siloed efforts.
Our Strategic Plan
2024-2027 Strategic Plan
In August 2024, CYPT Voting Members endorsed our 2024-2027 Strategic Plan. This new plan outlines our vision, mission, goals, and priorities for the next three years.
This plan was developed in consultation with the CYPT Voting Members, CYPT Steering Committee, and the CYPT Backbone Team – with support from Rebecca Sutherns and Jim Moss.
Belonging
Our Shared Goals
In 2019, CYPT Voting Members decided to evolve the Shared Goals for Child and Youth Well-being to include UNICEF’s Canadian Index of Child and Youth Well-being. This shared measurement evolution was officially implemented in January 2020.
Members were excited to see so much alignment between what CYPT members had established locally with what children and youth across Canada said mattered to their well-being. The evolved framework benefits from the considerable research done by UNICEF Canada into the well-being of children and youth, as defined by children and youth themselves.
Nine dimensions of child and youth well-being
- We are happy and respected.
- We are connected to our environment.
- We are secure.
- We belong.
- We are participating.
- We are learning.
- We are healthy.
- We are free to play.
- We are protected.
Together, we are working to improve the well-being of children and youth in Waterloo Region and to move the needle on these nine dimensions of child and youth well-being. We believe, as a collective, that these focus areas are key to the well-being of children and youth.
Collective Impact
When we come together as a collaborative, we use the collective impact model. Collective impact is a collaborative working style that brings together different organizations to solve large complex problems. In our case, that big problem is child and youth well-being.
Collective impact is built on five interconnected components to strengthen alignment and lead to large scale results:
- Common agenda
- Shared measurement
- Mutual reinforcing activities
- Continuous communication
- Backbone support
Our Annual Reports
Our Charter
In 2018, Voting Members endorsed our charter document that outlines how we work, the roles and responsibilities for our members, and our governance structure. Our charter includes:
- An at-a-glance infographic
- The full-length Charter document
- Our governance structure
- Our Theory of Change