cohort 2026-2027 • Sept 2026 • 918 BATHURST

Wayfinders

In a world reshaped by AI, the most valuable thing your child can develop is the ability to think, adapt, and figure things out.
That's what this program is built to do.
“

You can't predict their future.

But you can shape who they become

before they get there.

WHY WAYFINDERS EXISTS

The world your teen is entering looks nothing like the one you prepared for.

These are not skills you can download. They can't be taught through a lecture or a worksheet. They have to be practiced — through real situations, real challenges, real stakes.

That's what Wayfinders is. Not a class. Not a camp. A real experience, eight months long, where your teenager earns their way to a real trip by building the skills that no algorithm can replace, all in a fun and supportive environment among motivated peers.

  • 8
    MONTHS TOGETHER
  • 20
    TEENS PER COHORT
  • 2/3
    OF TRIP COST EARNED BY TEENS
  • 1
    REAL TRIP AT THE END
WHAT THE PROGRAM ACTUALLY LOOKS LIKE
Three hours every Thursday.
A whole lot more in between.
Wayfinders isn't a weekend workshop or a one-off event. It's eight months of consistent work — planning, building, fundraising, and growing together as a group.
  • Thursday Sessions
    Every Thursday follows a structure that moves from energy to action. We open with a team-building activity, then move into a recap of what was committed to, what got done, and what’s still needed. From there, the group brainstorms together — pitching ideas, pushing back, building on each other’s thinking.
    Then we get into the hard stuff: business planning, strategies, or a decision the group has been avoiding. Some sessions flow easily. Others surface real disagreement and uncertainty — exactly where mentors step in to teach teens how to work through it, not just past it.
  • Personal Business Activity
    Each teen also builds their own income — babysitting, services, small ventures, whatever matches their skills and interests. Mentors help with business planning and turning ideas into something real. In December, teens showcase and sell at our Children's Business Fair, a community event where their entrepreneurship goes public.
  • Group Fundraising Events
    The group organizes and runs real fundraising events together — carnival booths, tables at local markets and fairs, community events. They plan them, staff them, count what comes in, and figure out what to do differently next time. This isn't simulated. The money is real. And when strangers buy something at their booth, the feeling of we built that is something no classroom can manufacture.
  • Team Building & Community
    Beyond Thursdays, the group comes together for movie outings, team activities, and shared experiences. These lighter moments are deliberate — they build the trust and friendship that holds a group together when the work gets hard. Before teens can collaborate under pressure, they have to actually know and care about each other.
  • Mentor Guidance
    Our mentors are lifelong entrepreneurs — people who have built businesses, hit real walls, and figured their way through. They don’t just sit beside teens and observe. They actively teach, guide, and invest in each young person in the room.
    Every week, they bring real business knowledge into the sessions: business planning, pricing, understanding costs, helping teens to identify a target audience and understand how to reach them. When a teen is stuck, the mentor doesn’t hand them the answer — they help them find it.
  • The Trip
    After eight months of planning, earning, and building — the group travels. Together. On a trip they made possible through their own effort. The destination is domestic or international, chosen and planned by the teens themselves, from the itinerary to the logistics.
    The goal is to provide teens with a meaningful, memorable, and well-earned group experience.
    That moment of arrival, knowing you earned it, is something that stays.
    That’s the win.
THE EIGHT MONTH JOURNEY

A season of real work,

real growth, real reward.

PHASE 01
September — October
Bond & Begin
The group forms, builds trust, and starts planning. First fundraising event within the first six weeks — small but real, designed to create an early win and make the trip feel possible.
PHASE 02
November — December
Build Momentum
Group fundraising events ramp up. Teens launch personal business activity. December brings the Children's Business Fair — a public showcase where teens sell their own products and services to the community.
PHASE 03
January — February
The Middle Miles
The hardest stretch — novelty has worn off, the trip still feels distant. We mark the halfway point with a milestone event: a dinner, a parent showcase, a celebration of how far the group has come. Teens take on specific ownership roles in the group.
PHASE 04
March — May
Final Push & Departure
The trip gets booked. Fundraising reaches its goal. The group reflects on what they've built and what they've learned. And then — they go. On a trip they chose, planned, funded, and made happen themselves.
ENTREPRENEURSHIP AT THE CORE
They don't just plan the trip.
They earn it.
This is what makes Wayfinders different. Most programs charge a fee and hand teens an experience. Wayfinders asks teens to build toward it — through real business activity, real fundraising, and real earned income.

Over eight months, teens work toward covering ⅔ of their trip cost themselves. Our organization subsidizes the remaining third. The path there includes group fundraising events, personal business ventures, business planning support from mentors, and the December Children's Business Fair.

By the time they board that plane, they won't just have a trip. They'll have proof that they can set a big goal and do what it takes to reach it.


Carnival Booths..

Market & Fair Tables...

Children's Business Fair....

Personal Business Ventures.....

Community Events......

Babysitting & Services.......

HOW THE TRIP COST WORKS

Kindraza pays one third.

Your teen earns the rest.

⅓ — Organization Subsidy
1/3 of the trip cost will be covered by Kindraza through our organization’s funding support for teens who consistently:
  • Demonstrate leadership, initiative, and positive influence among peers
  • Work well collaboratively with others
  • Maintain strong attendance and community involvement
  • Participate in all group fundraising efforts
⅔ — Teen Earned
2/3 of the trip cost teens earn through 8 months of activity
PROGRAM FEE
Built to be accessible.
Priced to be sustainable.
We believe every teen who wants to be here should be able to be here. Wayfinders offers three fee tiers, and we trust families to choose what's right for them.
Reduced Rate
$75
/mo
For families where the standard rate would be a meaningful stretch. 
Standard
$150
/mo
Our program rate.
Scholarship
$0-30
/mo
For families where cost is a genuine barrier. A limited number of full scholarship could be available.

WHAT PARENTS ASK

Questions we hear

most often.

"How do I know my teen will stay motivated for 8 months?"
Honestly, motivation comes and goes — that's part of what the program teaches. We engineer early wins, make progress visible every week, and build a peer community strong enough to carry teens through the harder stretches. And when motivation dips, the mentors help teens find their way back.
"What if my teen doesn't raise enough for the trip?"
We track earning progress every week and catch struggling teens early. Mentors help them find new opportunities and adapt their plan. The goal is always to get every teen to the trip — we build the program around that outcome.
"How much time commitment is realistic?"
Three hours every Thursday is the core. Add occasional group outings and events, plus whatever time your teen puts into their personal business activity. Motivated teens who want to earn more will do more — the program scales with effort.
"What do the mentors actually do?"
Our mentors are lifelong entrepreneurs, not instructors. They sit alongside teens, help them think through problems, share what they've learned from their own failures, and ask better questions. They step in when teens are stuck and step back when teens are ready to lead.

We’re also bringing in inspiring guest speakers and mentors that teens will genuinely be excited to meet and learn from — including entrepreneurs, creatives, artists, and other accomplished individuals with powerful real-life stories and experiences to share.
The goal is to expose teens to bigger possibilities, meaningful conversations, and people who can expand the way they think about their future.
"Where does the trip go?"
The destination is chosen and researched by the teens themselves, guided by their collective fundraising goal and the mentors' experience. It can be domestic or international — the journey of choosing it together is part of the program.
To ensure the trip remains accessible and achievable regardless of fundraising outcomes, we prepare multiple destination options:
  • Plan A: an out-of-province (BC, AB, NS) or international trip
  • Plan B: a trip within Ontario or neighbouring provinces such as Quebec
  • Plan C: a local outdoor or camping experience
Regardless of the destination, the goal is to provide teens with a positive, meaningful, memorable, and well-earned group travel experience.
"Is this right for my teen specifically?"
Wayfinders works best for teens who are ready to be challenged — not necessarily confident, not necessarily high-achieving, but willing to show up and do something real. The program meets teens where they are and builds from there.
JOIN COHORT 2026-2027
Unlock Your Teen’s Potential with Wayfinders
Give your teen a head start with Wayfinders, a program for teens aged 12-15 who want to start earning money but don’t know where to begin. We're here to help them turn their interests into real-world opportunities. Whether they want to start a small service, explore creative work, or build early entrepreneurial skills, they’ll learn practical tools to get started with confidence.
Beyond the fun and practical know-how, this program nurtures mental well-being and helps teens grow into confident, capable, well-rounded adults ready to thrive in any future they choose.
JOIN WAYFINDERS
Lifelong Skills That Open Doors
We believe teens are capable of more than just waiting for opportunities. They can create them!
This youth entrepreneurship program goes far beyond the basics, it teaches teens how to think creatively, solve problems, and take charge of their ideas. From managing money and marketing themselves to communicating with confidence and planning projects, they’ll build a toolkit of real-world skills. These aren’t just for now, they’re the building blocks for college, careers, and whatever passions they pursue down the road. Imagine your teen handling challenges with ease, turning setbacks into opportunities, and standing out as a leader among their peers!

Join Cohort 2026-2027

Program Start Date: September 17th

918 Bathurst St, Toronto · Every Thursday · Sept 2025 — May 2026

RESERVE YOUR TEEN'S SPOT
PARENT INFO SESSION

We cap enrolment at 20 teens to protect the quality and community of the program.

Spots are filled in the order families complete enrolment.

Kindraza Youth Network
Registered Toronto Non-Profit Organization
18 King Street E, Suite 1400, Toronto, ON M5C 1C4

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