Embark Student Foundation Grant

International interns contribute to AC research project for at-risk youth

Two international youth are interning at the Algonquin College Ottawa Campus through the Fall 2025 Term. Te-Jung Tsai and Tzu-Ming Lin are part of the Taiwanese Ministry of Education’s Taiwan Global Pathfinders Initiative, which encourages Taiwanese youth to work abroad, exchange ideas and build cross-cultural connections with the international community.

Five people pose in front of a red conference banner

(L-R): Te-Jung Tsai, Tzu-Ming Lin, Maria Montano (full-time research associate), Jed Looker, Danny Nhu (full-time research associate, TASTE team lead)

While at the College, Tsai and Lin are interning at the Human-Centred Design Lab under Principal Investigator Jed Looker, working on a community-based research project to address the challenge faced by Ottawa youth not in employment, education or training (NEET). In collaboration with Kevin Holmes in the Social Innovation Lab, the two-year project, titled Supporting Vulnerable Youth: A Transdisciplinary Approach to Service Transformation in NEET (TASTE), is funded by the Embark Student Foundation Grant in partnership with the Rideau-Rockcliffe Community Research Centre and aims to build pathways to post-secondary education by identifying the challenges faced by at-risk youth. Continue reading