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As has always been her wont, Marina Boulos-Winton has hit the ground running — sprinting, more likely — in her new position as acting executive director of YES Employment + Entrepreneurship, which serves young unemployed and underemployed anglos in Quebec.

Boulos-Winton, who was executive director of Chez Doris from 2014 to this year, is expected to bring the same high energy level to YES as she did to her previous posting. She was credited with helping to transform Chez Doris, which serves vulnerable women in Montreal, from a single day shelter to a round-the-clock operation with additional locations.

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While her focus has shifted, the goal remains the same: creating awareness and raising funds for an under-represented group, in this case anglos between 18 and 39 years old.

In what may come as a shock to some, young anglos, be they locals or immigrants, must deal with higher levels of unemployment and poverty than their franco counterparts in general. Those in the artistic community are even harder hit.

YES, which was founded in 1995, is holding a series of events in the next week to help address those issues, and to provide counsel for those seeking assistance. YES helps over 3,000 job seekers, entrepreneurs and artists every year, and has helped launch more than 500 businesses annually.

On Thursday, YES holds its annual artists’ conference at Centre St Jax, with the theme Business Skills for Creative Souls, offering tools to help artists monetize their skills. It is hosted by the CBC’s Sonali Karnick and features a keynote address by Segal Centre executive and artistic director Lisa Rubin.

On Friday and Saturday at St Jax, the pop-up exhibition What the Pop! will showcase the works of more than 40 emerging talents from across the artistic spectrum, with live music and other performances. The event is free and open to the public, with all proceeds from sales going directly to the artists.

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In light of the politics as well as the economics here, Boulos-Winton notes that the immigration of young anglos from other parts of Canada and the rest of the world is unabated, certainly in the artistic sector.

“What attracts artists to Montreal are the world-class cultural activities,” Boulos-Winton says in YES’s downtown offices.

About one-third of YES’s clients are immigrants, while the rest are mostly bilingual Montrealers. To help acclimatize anglo immigrants, YES offers French classes. And its employment program offers individual counselling and drop-in sessions; workshops, seminars and networking activities; work placement for at-risk youth; and a graphic design internship.

YES credits its job-search program for 80 per cent of its clients successfully integrating into the local economy.

“We’re not a job placement service,” says Boulos-Winton. “What we do is give young people assistance in finding jobs. It is about providing them the opportunity to pursue their career paths and instructing them on how to network, how to market themselves, how to have a proper online profile, how to have their CVs bilingual and how to prepare them with French for the workforce.”

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This may be a new chapter for Boulos-Winton, but it follows the path of her commitment to social services. Prior to Chez Doris, she served as executive director of Dans la Rue and Tel-Aide. Even between leaving Chez Doris and coming to YES, she assisted Logifem with fundraising for a new residence in St-Henri for formerly unhoused women and children, set to open in the fall.

“My career was at a crossroads after Chez Doris and I had to move on,” she says. “But my passion has always been in dealing with services for the vulnerable, and YES provided me an excellent opportunity. What I really like about this work now is that it also has an entrepreneurial aspect, allowing me on yet another level to help people solve social and economic problems.”

Boulos-Winton points to another reason why YES was created.

“It was also to prevent the brain drain of anglophones leaving the province. We want to encourage young people to stay and to contribute to Quebec society.

“It’s such a worthy cause on that front because it can prevent people from becoming vulnerable. As I can speak from my Chez Doris experience, when someone is unemployed, their mental health really suffers. And if it’s chronic, then there’s no going back.”

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It doesn’t help, Boulos-Winton adds, that Quebec anglos are more affected by unemployment and poverty, according to studies by the Provincial Employment Roundtable.

“The thinking in some quarters is that all anglos are living the good life, which is not quite the case,” she says. “Also, the same studies show that the median income is $5,200 less for anglophones than for francophones.”

For anglos seeking to make it in the arts, the situation is even more dire.

“You’re beyond being a starving artist for most anglos in that field,” Boulos-Winton says. “This is why we really want to promote our What the Pop! event, to showcase the talent of so many of our emerging artists.

“This is a real challenge in that apart from dealing with employment issues, YES doesn’t have deep pockets,” she says of her new job. “My goal now is to help fundraise on the private-sector side and try to change the tide on that front.”

AT A GLANCE

YES Employment + Entrepreneurship holds the artists’ conference Business Skills for Creative Souls on Thursday starting at 12:30 p.m. and the free What the Pop! talent showcase Friday (3 to 7 p.m.) and Saturday (noon to 6 p.m.) at Centre St Jax, 1439 Ste-Catherine St. W. To register for Thursday’s conference and for more information, visit yesmontreal.ca.

The website also includes information about YES’s entrepreneurship open house on Sept. 17 and job seekers’ open house on Sept. 26, as well as the Tune in to YES casino fundraiser Oct. 17 at Théâtre Beanfield, 2490 Notre-Dame St. W. Tickets for the fundraiser can be purchased at tuneintoyes.com.

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