At a glance:
- Inequitable access to STEAM education and opportunities is a complex problem – it requires a sophisticated approach to achieve meaningful change for individuals and communities.
- That’s why Ampere has a Lifecycle composed of six key areas – education, resources, mentorship, employment, production and advocacy.
- It’s the opposite of a “one and done” approach to learning – our Lifecycle ensures that we’re there with support at every age, and every stage of life.
- The Lifecycle also ensures that our approach is built around community-led, sustainable change.
The history of Canadian Government intervention in equity-seeking communities is one of bandages—quick fixes with end dates tied to fiscal years and specific spend categories. This is an inherent byproduct of a Western funding model, inadvertently preferencing performative impact rather than long-term benefit.
How do you address a challenge like inequitable access to STEAM opportunities in rural, remote, and Indigenous communities when inequity is tied into complex, systemic issues that bridge more than one single grant, or donation could ever fix? It’s more than just education; learners need to have access to resources, mentors to look up to, employment to look forward to, tools to assist them along the way, and more.
Adopting a methodology rooted in the teachings of the Seventh Generation Principle, we seek to foster decision-making that will benefit seven generations into the future. One way we hold ourselves to that commitment is with the Ampere Lifecycle.
Our Lifecycle is our sophisticated approach to providing STEAM education and opportunities at every age and every stage of life for our learners and their communities. It’s nonlinear – you don’t have to access the elements in order. And it’s “learner guided” – matching need, with opportunities in STEAM. Whether learning to code, communicating safely online, building digital skills for a career, or “creating” purely for the pleasure of doing so.
The Lifecycle came about organically, says founder and CEO Ryan Oliver.
“With each session, I ran through what was previously called the te(a)ch program, we would realize another hole in our delivery plan and adjust accordingly,” he says.
As a result, the Lifecycle was born, highlighting six areas of focus for Ampere as we work with various communities: advocacy, mentorship, production, education, resources, and employment.
- Advocacy: We believe that promoting equal access to technology and the development of digital skills in rural and remote communities will build a more connected and equal world.
- Mentorship: We believe that mentoring will build capacity by amplifying voices, projects, and ideas and create mutually beneficial opportunities.
- Production: We believe that supporting learners to become active innovators, creators, and leaders in the use of technology will lead to community growth and sustainability.
- Education: We believe that delivering interactive, educational experiences that push the limits of technology and cultural expression fosters learning and agency.
- Resources: We believe that providing access to technology will disrupt the inequitable innovation flow between urban and rural and remote communities.
- Employment: We believe that gaining digital skills will provide sustainable, local careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math (STEAM) fields.
It comes down to sustainability, Oliver continues. Rather than take a one-size-fits-all approach or simply go into a community and run a program for a week before leaving, never to return, Ampere realized the commitment – for equity seeking communities – must extend beyond a fiscal year or funding cycle.
“It is one thing for us to provide education in the community, but if we don’t provide resources – that education is over when we leave. It is one thing to make employment opportunities available, but if people don’t see and hear themselves already in those opportunities, there is minimal value. Hence, mentorship as a key piece. If those same people don’t have the education and resources – they can’t get those opportunities in the first place.”
Oliver says it’s about leveling the playing field, and the lifecycle emphasizes that our approach is built around community-led sustainability.
“Surrounding the entire thing is advocacy, because such a big part of our job is sharing this with funders and partners. Sharing that temporary funding – that fiscal-year dependent funding is good but can only go so far. We are taking on lifelong commitments to work with and boost up the communities we serve.”
Lifecycle Superstars
What is a Lifecycle Superstar? Ampere’s work is based on our Lifecycle model, and designed to engage learners at multiple stages in their personal growth and success. People connect with Ampere in multiple ways, including as program participants, as Interns, and as staff creating projects and programs. They are Superstars, and we are excited to share their stories.
Some of our Lifecycle Superstars include Tanner Big Canoe, Alyssa Rowe, Hailey Bennett, and Emily Puckrin.