International Indigenous Mentorship Program (IIMP)

The International Indigenous Mentorship Program (IIMP) will co-create a culturally safe mentorship program to support Indigenous Youth researchers to achieve their maximum potential without losing their Indigenous roots, where Indigenous and non-Indigenous mentoring approaches contribute substantially to improving the lives of Indigenous youth.  IIMP has two main objectives: 1) to strengthen the cultural identity of youth researchers with an emphasis on Indigenous knowledges and experiences of the connections between food, health, and wellbeing in a rapidly changing climate; 2) to provide practical research skills including writing scientific papers, policy briefs, proposals etc, and to facilitate national and international networking with decision makers including the UN system.

Impact

IIMP will magnify the impact of University of Leeds research on transforming the way society understands mentorship programs and Indigenous participation by favouring the narrative of Indigenous worldviews. We will build expertise, competency, skills, and networks for understanding and responding to climate change; invest in transdisciplinary training, mentorship, and co-learning; foster cross-cultural dialogue for responding to environmental crisis; and establish networks for global impact and cross-cultural learning.