Odette Student Foad Karimian receiving his award. Odette Student Foad Karimian receiving his award.

Odette Student wins Youth Volunteer Service Award

The Odette High School Leadership Initiative (OHLI) is a perfect starting point for high school students to develop skills needed for university, college and life in the real world, says fourth-year business student Foad Karimian.  

Karimian won the provincial Youth Volunteer Service Award in April for establishing and growing (OHLI), an international youth leadership initiative delivered to high school students by a volunteer team of Odette undergraduate students.

“Through OHLI, we aim to provide an environment where the youth of Windsor-Essex can learn core leadership competencies like presentation skills, problem solving and teamwork,” Karimian says.

Mentored by Dr. Martha Reavely, Professor Roger Bryan and Professor Joanne Ramsey, Karimian identified high school youth community needs and designed the OHLI as a 5-day initiative consisting of two workshops, a case analysis and a student contest.

To accommodate growing interest, the OHLI team has added 33 new members to its original team of three, reaching out to eight classes at six local high schools.  Led by current president Mike Ouellette, the group has also reached across the border to mentor Detroit area students, providing outreach to more than 500 students so far.

OHLI is supported by Odette faculty, and sponsored by Odette EPICentre, KPMG, and TLab, a Michigan-based leadership program.

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