• entrepreneurship • leadership • adventures
Real impact.
A place for teens ages 12–15 to build, create, earn, and belong.
Wayfinders Club is an in-person entrepreneurship and leadership program where teens turn ideas into real projects, develop practical business skills, earn real money, and build meaningful friendships with other like-minded teens in Toronto.
Our mission is to nurture entrepreneurial thinking, personal growth, build real-world cognitive skills, emotional intelligence and deep, face-to-face friendships that extend far beyond screens.
At the Wayfinders Club teens develop confidence, stronger social connections, and real-world experience they can't get from a classroom alone.
Location: Waterfront Neighbourhood Centre, Downtown Toronto - 627 Queens Q, Assembly A
Program at a Glance
*Donations or passive funding for the trip are not allowed.
Whether your teen wants to bring their own big idea to life, launch a business or team up on a group project, this club is where they build essential life skills while building friendships in a supportive environment with peers who share their drive.
That’s not a youth program. That’s a turning point.
See Wayfinders Club Curriculum -->>
Registration is open for 2026-2027 sessions
Waterfront Neighbourhood Centre, Toronto
Weekly meetings: THU, 5 PM to 7 PM
Not sure if Wayfinders Club is the right fit for your teen? Try it for a month—no commitment, just $35!
*Register TODAY, spaces are limited!
The Basics
This is not a typical after-school or extracurricular program. Wayfinders Club is a business accelerator, leadership program, and supportive community for teens aged 12-15 who want to earn real money, discover their strengths, and build friendships along the way.
Wayfinders Club runs from September to May, and is divided into three sessions: Fall, Winter, and Spring. Each session has its own learning journey, experiences, and projects.
Weekly 2-hour meetings on Thursdays, from 5 pm to 7 pm, snacks provided.
The program starts on September 17th and will be delivered in downtown Toronto at Waterfront Neighbourhood Centre, Assembly A.
Wayfinders Choose Their Path
The Startup Track:
Bring their own idea to life, launch a business, and start earning their first income.
Teens launch or grow their own venture independently or as part of a team, whether it's a local service like babysitting or landscaping, a handcrafted product business, or an online venture.
The Commercial Project Track:
Join a team and work on a high-impact, Wayfinders-run commercial project for the community. Teens will gain hands-on experience in pitching, event planning, marketing, financial decision-making, and business planning. Each project involves many different roles, so every teen can find a role that suits their interests and strengths.
The earnings generated through Wayfinders-run projects are distributed according to the program’s funding model.
A Combination of both.
Wayfinders learn how to identify opportunities, test ideas, attract customers, and build a business from the ground up.
Key Program Pillars:
- Flexible Hands-on Learning: Teens can build their own startup or drive a team-based commercial project.
- Essential Life Skills: Practical, active training in financial literacy, budgeting, and corporate communication.
- Character Development: Focused growth in critical thinking, rapid adaptability, and complex problem-solving.
- Community & Adventure: An inclusive environment of like-minded peers, enriched by group travel and collaborative challenges.
That’s not a youth program. That’s a turning point.
The Destination
Teens pitch and vote on where they want to go — choosing a Plan A and Plan B to ensure the trip is realistic and achievable. Then they plan the logistics, set the budget, and work collaboratively to make it happen. The trip is the finish line they build themselves.
The Community
Every session starts with something fun — team building, games, and activities that make Thursday the best day of the week. Add Halloween and Christmas parties, birthday celebrations, and field trips. Teens build real friendships with like-minded peers working toward the same goal. Because who you grow with matters as much as what you learn.
The Travel
Teens travel together during a school break to a destination they chose and planned. The destinations may include trips to Ottawa, Canadian Rockies, group camping, and more. Teens vote for what motivates them most.
The Icing on the Cake *
A limited number of participants may receive a Kindraza travel grant of up to one-third (1/3) of the trip cost based on their commitment, attendance, leadership, and contribution to group fundraising.
A tween finishes a babysitting course, gets the certificate, feels excited. And then… The certificate sits in a drawer and the kid is back on the phone scrolling.
Another story: two friends decide to shovel driveways together. They write a flyer, print it out, walk the neighbourhood, tape it to every lamppost. Crickets. After months they finally land one job — and immediately argue about who does what, who gets paid how much, and who’s actually responsible for showing up.
Neither story ends with a business. Both end with frustration.
These are real stories. And they happen because having a skill is not the same as knowing how to turn it into something.
Knowing how to shovel snow doesn’t mean you know how to build a snow-shoveling business.
That's when the mentorship is necessary.
Our mentors are experienced entrepreneurs who teach teens how to find their niche, identify their target audience, price their services, split responsibilities, and pivot if necessary — turning a good idea into something that actually works. They also lead group fundraising projects, help teens acquire the skills their venture needs to be viable, and create an environment where initiative is celebrated and independence is built on purpose.
We also bring in guest speakers — entrepreneurs, creatives, artists, and accomplished individuals with real stories worth hearing — to expose teens to bigger possibilities and expand how they think about their future.
Earning money is good, but knowing how to create opportunities for yourself and act on them is what matters the most.
Examples of our team entrepreneurship projects include a youth-run sports tournament in the fall, the Toronto Kidpreneur Magazine in the winter, and a Community Carnival in the spring. These projects give participants the opportunity to develop entrepreneurial, leadership, and teamwork skills while contributing to a shared goal.
What matters most is consistent leadership, initiative, teamwork, community involvement, and active contribution to all group fundraising efforts.
No. The trip is optional. Throughout the Wayfinders program, teens earn funds through their businesses and group fundraising projects. At the end of the program, they can choose to use their earnings toward the group trip or use them for other goals, such as growing their business, saving for the future, or funding another project. Our goal is to help teens learn how to create opportunities for themselves and make confident decisions with the money they earn.
First Month (4 Weeks): $35
No commitment to any project. Trial phase.
First month of Wayfinders Club: September 17–October 8
This trial phase gives teens an opportunity to experience the core Wayfinders experience before committing to the full program. During these four weeks, they learn how the program operates, participate in group activities, meet mentors, and explore entrepreneurship.
Wayfinders works best when every teen actively participates, contributes ideas, and takes responsibility within the group. The buy-in and commitment of each teen are essential to the Wayfinders experience. By the end of the trial, teens and parents will have a clear understanding of the program and whether it is the right fit for them.
After the trial phase, the program moves into deeper business development, project execution, and group trip planning.
Winter Session: January 7th - March 4th
Spring Session: March 25th - May 20th
Many parents worry:
- My teen doesn’t have close friends.
- My teen lacks confidence.
- My teen spends too much time online.
- My teen needs positive environment and good influence.
- Will my teen be ready for a world where AI is changing how everything works?
Wayfinders is here to address all of those concerns naturally.
Wayfinders Club 2026-2027
Thursdays · 5pm - 7 pm
Waterfront Neighbourhood Centre, Toronto
Spots are limited and filled in the order families complete enrolment.
— Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd U.S. President
They earn it.
Donations or passive funding are not allowed to cover a teen’s share of the trip cost.
Over eight months, teens earn funds and develop real skills in business, teamwork, and execution through activities like:
- Their own business (working independently or as part of a team)
- Market booths and fairs
- Commercial projects within the Wayfinders Club (organizing a sports tournament, the Toronto Kidpreneur Magazine, a community carnival)
- Babysitting and local service offerings
By the end of the program, participants don’t just earn a trip—they prove they can set a meaningful goal and create the value needed to achieve it.
All mentors are carefully vetted and have the required police checks. We take the responsibility of working with young people seriously, and our team is selected for both their professional experience and their ability to work effectively with teens.
The Program Director brings 20+ years of business development and entrepreneurial experience, a decade of teaching experience, and specialized education in teen development and mental health.
Throughout the year, Wayfinders also brings in guest entrepreneurs, creatives, artists, and other accomplished professionals whose real-life experiences can expose teens to careers, possibilities, and perspectives they may not encounter at school.
The goal is to give teens access to adults who can teach them, challenge their thinking, guide their work, and expand their view of what's possible.
- start their own business;
- grow an existing business if they've already launched one; or
- take part in our community fundraising and social enterprise projects.
Examples of community projects include:
- Fall Session: organizing a youth-run sports tournament (there are many roles within the project, from marketing and event planning to sponsorships, finance, and operations, so everyone can participate);
- Winter Session: the Toronto Kidpreneur Magazine; and
- Spring Session: a weekend community Carnival event in a Toronto park.
Kindraza may provide a travel grant of up to one-third of the cost of a planned group trip.
To ensure the trip remains accessible and achievable regardless of fundraising outcomes, we prepare multiple destination options together:
Plan A: The dream trip — usually the most costly and ambitious option.
Plan B: A more affordable 1–3 day trip or a day trip.
Plan C: A local outdoor or camping experience.
Ultimately, it all depends on what the group chooses and how much money they earn during the session, with everyone pitching ideas and voting on the destination.
At the end of each session, participants will have three options for how to use their earned funds:
- Use them toward the group trip: Apply their earned funds toward the travel experience chosen by the group.
- Carry them forward: Save their funds for a future session to accumulate a larger amount for a “dream trip” or a more expensive personal purchase.
- Use them toward personal goals: Put their funds toward other personal goals, such as investing in their business or supporting their education.
Destinations could include a multi-day trip to Banff, Quebec City, or Ottawa; surfing in Tofino as a dream trip; or an overnight camp of their choice that they attend together.
For a more affordable and realistic option, teens might choose a day trip to Niagara Falls, skiing at Blue Mountain, tent camping, or even a trip to an amusement park.
Regardless of the destination, the goal is to provide teens with a positive, meaningful, memorable, and well-earned group travel experience within a community of like-minded peers.
• Leadership and initiative
• Teamwork
• Attendance
• Community involvement
• Contribution to the fundrazing efforts
Scholarships are awarded at Kindraza’s discretion and are not guaranteed for all participants. The final decision is based on your teen’s overall performance, commitment, and the availability of organizational funding resources. If Kindraza secures additional sponsorship or funding, more scholarship opportunities may become available.
Teens who do not receive funding support will be responsible for covering the full cost of their trip. We strive to provide all teens with equal opportunities to participate in the program, including the travel/adventure experiences, and we are committed to ensuring that hard work and dedication are recognized and supported whenever possible.
If your teen is launching or growing their own business, any of the sessions can be beneficial to them. Wayfinders is not a traditional class or lecture-based program. Instead, it is built around experiential learning, live mentorship, and a supportive community of like-minded young people who share one thing: an entrepreneurial drive.
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.
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 head on, turning setbacks into opportunities, and standing out as a leader among their peers!
Join Wayfinders Club today!
Waterfront Neighbourhood Centre, Toronto
Program Start Date: September 17th
Toronto · Every Thursday · Sept 2026 — May 2027
We cap enrolment at 15 teens to protect the quality and community of the program.
Spots are filled in the order families complete enrolment.
Registered Toronto Non-Profit Organization
18 King Street E, Suite 1400, Toronto, ON M5C 1C4
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