SFSP Annual Awards

2025 Highlights

2025 - International

2025 - National

The SFSP Awards Ceremony serves as a platform to extend recognition and appreciation to the brilliant students whose creative work fostered meaningful engagement on how to give and receive Black experience. Due to the setup of the program we have both regional and national celebrations. The ceremony is also a chance to network and exchange ideas with peers, partners and other thought leaders in the ecosystem.

Thank you to our 2025 attendess both in BC and Toronto. Over the years we have hosted this event in edmonton and other cities. We're thankful to the community we have built. For recaps of past events below.

The SFSP Awards

2025 is the year we’re taking our annual SFSP Awards to a whole new level. In addition to the customary awards that honour youth participants, teachers, and their communities, we’re asking this year’s participants to ‘Bring Your A-game.’ With the growth in participation and impact, we expect an increase in attendance and therefore believe this event will be a truly unmissable opportunity to connect, celebrate, and be inspired.

Our 2025 Vendors

Check out their profiles

What to expect

ABEEL Annual SFSP Awards

The key participants are creative high school students, educators, and communities whose ideas tackle the underlying issues of systemic racism in new and innovative ways. In ways that allow everyone to better embrace the Black Experience. The breakout of these customary awards are directly communicated to the focused schools.

A bring your A-Game activity

2025 we did a business pitch.

Silent Auction

This exciting event will showcase a stunning collection of creatives or services by the ABEEL Family (specifically current high schoolers, alumni, and members of their social circle); each piece reflecting unique perspectives and artistic expressions. Participants will have the opportunity to place bids on various pieces, both virtually and in person, making it accessible to a wide audience. Whether you’re an enthusiast or a casual admirer, this event promises a vibrant atmosphere filled with creativity, connection, and the thrill of competition.

ABEEL Alumni Awards

This segment will provide an opportunity to recognize former ABEEL SFSP participants, now in post-secondary careers, for the innovative ways they continue to spread love by embracing the Black experience along their journeys. The top three applicants will each receive bursaries of up to $1000 toward their education.

Shaping the Future Sponsorship Program

The SFSP is an ABEEL initiative developed to encourage students to take an active role in creating a world that holistically and sustainably embraces the Black Experience.

Our mission with the Shaping the Future Sponsorship Program is to dismantle racial barriers and empower youth by nurturing a sense of belonging and equal access to status. We aim to provide access to opportunities that may otherwise be out of reach, fostering a fundamental transformation for personal and professional growth.

Students are given the opportunity to imagine the world anew- a world in which there is equity for every member of an underserved community, and thereafter through youth advocacy, employability, and mental health access, they are given the tools to turn that dream into reality.

The Shaping the Future Sponsorship Program offers support to its participants by:

Providing bursaries and other forms of financial assistance to youths (particularly Black youths in Canadian high schools or those seeking equivalent educational certificates in Canada) for use in post-secondary education.
Providing youth mentorship, work placements, training programs, and access to networking opportunities with leading organisations.
Providing youth access to psychosocial and life skills programs (including financial literacy and mental health awareness programs).
Empowering youth participants (specifically Canadian high school students or those seeking equivalent educational certificates in Canada). We support Black and Non-Black youths who desire to take intentional steps in embracing the Black experience.