About us
We Matter is an organization based on hope, and supporting youth in their dreams to strive for a better tomorrow, for themselves, for other youth, and for their communities.
We Matter was started by two Dene siblings, Kelvin and T’áncháy Redvers who saw a need to uplift youth who were feeling isolated or disconnected and give them connection, culture, and strength. It started off as a video campaign where Elders, artists, and leaders would deliver messages of hope. It transformed into an Indigenous-youth-led organization that delivers a message of “you are not alone,” and you matter. We Matter gives youth a community of support from coast to coast that they can access.
The organization takes youth perspectives on everything they do and supports them in ways meaningful to them. We Matter provides toolkits for youth that include cultural, resilience, and self-care activities. The organization also created toolkits for educators, kids 11 and under, and care providers. There are also mini-grants for Indigenous youth-led projects, where youth can apply for many different types of initiatives like environmental projects for a community-based river clean up, or cultural programming like organizing beading or quill working sessions in their communities. Last year, We Matter also had a call out for regalia-making and they had a tremendous amount of applicants.
We want youth to know:
- They carry their own strengths
- There are coping skills they can use during difficult times
- Being Indigenous is AWESOME and something to be proud of
- Taking action can improve their communities
- They have skills and knowledge that can help themselves and others
- They have the capacity to make change
This includes the Ambassador of Hope program, where youth would have a year full of training, workshops, and are provided with support. This can also include travel to communities in crisis. “When you are feeling down, or feeling lonely, or feeling isolated, it’s kind of like you are in a house but you are locked in,” Lisa Neault the Financial Operations and Granting Director of We Matter says passionately, and adds the Ambassador of Hope program give youth “the key to see there is something else.” Lisa adds that her favorite part of her job is “watching videos of Indigenous youth in the Ambassador program, and they say, ‘this is who I am, and this is who I want to be,’ and three years later, they are there.”
Mission + Vision + Values
Our mission is to communicate to Indigenous youth that they matter, and create spaces of support for those going through a hard time while fostering unity and resiliency. We provide a forum for people across the country to share messages of hope and positivity. By sharing our stories, our words of encouragement, and our authentic messages of hope and resilience, we help to make a community and nation stronger.
