When Zenovya Hanson-Herbert first joined Career Trek as a Grade 9 participant, she couldn’t have predicted that her journey would evolve into something much bigger: a pathway from exploration to employment, and now, into a career in healthcare.Today, Zenovya is a Program Assistant with Career Trek and is preparing to enter the Licensed Practical Nursing program at Assiniboine College.
Her story is more than personal success, it reflects how Career Trek serves as a training ground for Manitoba’s future workforce.
A STRONG FOUNDATION
Zenovya began her journey through the CRAVE (Your Future Is Now) program, after being introduced to Career Trek through her family. Over the next several years, she progressed through multiple programs, including Your Future Is Now (YFIN) and eventually the Junior Staff Mentorship Program (JSMP).
It was through JSMP that Zenovya gained her first real job experience.
Career Trek’s JSMP is designed to prepare youth for their first job. Equipping them with practical, transferable skills that apply across any career path. Participants develop communication, teamwork, problem-solving, and professionalism through hands-on experience supporting program delivery.
For Zenovya, that experience was foundational. “I’ve been involved in all of the high school programs in Brandon,” she shares, adding that the experience “really helped set me up for where I am now, and gave me many valuable skills.”, she shared. Through JSMP, she learned to communicate effectively with a wide range of people: staff, peers, and younger participants, adapting her approach to meet different needs and levels of understanding. “I had to communicate with the staff, with the junior staff, with the participants, and kind of change what I was saying based off their understanding. Learn how to communicate clear with everybody.”
TAKING ON A BIGGER ROLE
Her growth did not go unnoticed. After completing the program, Zenovya was hired as a Program Assistant, demonstrating Career Trek’s role not only as a youth program, but as a talent pipeline that nurtures and retains emerging leaders. Mentorship also played an important role. Zenovya credits Maddy Kilburn, West Region Program Coordinator at the time, as a source of guidance throughout her time in the program.
“If I had any questions or concerns, I could come to her, and she’d be like, ‘This is how I would deal with this. Here’s some ideas.’ And just help me get through anything.”
Now working as a Program Assistant in the West region, Zenovya has taken on greater responsibility, including communicating regularly with parents; many of whom are newcomers to Canada. That experience has strengthened both her clarity and empathy. “I had to take my time explaining things in the simplest way possible. That has just really stuck with me.”, Zenovya shared.
Working with children has further developed her patience, adaptability, and problem-solving skills she recognizes as essential in healthcare. According to Zenovya, “I’ve developed a lot of important skills… I’ve also built strong patience and adaptability since working with kids, because, as you know, things don’t always go as planned, and I feel like that is also something that happens a lot in the healthcare field.”
Zenovya is now pursuing nursing at a time when Manitoba is facing a critical shortage of healthcare professionals, particularly nurses. Her journey highlights how early exposure, mentorship, and employment opportunities can play a meaningful role in building the province’s future workforce. Career Trek’s impact extends beyond career awareness. It creates real pathways into employment and post-secondary education. By equipping young people with foundational job skills and confidence early on, programs like JSMP help bridge the gap between education and the labour market.
Looking back, Zenovya reflects on how far she has come. “My advice to my younger self… would definitely be to take more initiative, because when I was a participant, I would say I was pretty shy.”
As she prepares to begin her nursing program, she plans to continue working part-time with Career Trek, a place she says she has “grown up.”
Today, when she sees participants gaining confidence and stepping into leadership, she recognizes her own journey in them.
Zenovya’s story is a powerful example of what’s possible when young people are given the opportunity to explore, build skills, and access meaningful work experience early. It also underscores the role organizations like Career Trek play in developing the next generation of professionals, those who will go on to fill critical workforce gaps and strengthen communities across Manitoba.
To learn more about Career Trek’s programs or to support opportunities like these for youth across Manitoba, contact us at [email protected] or you can make a donation at www.careertrek.ca/be-one-of-30