Foundation in the News

Published on CBCWritten by Haweya Fadal Five hundred people from various sectors will converge on the Art Gallery of Ontario Monday to look for solutions to some of the biggest urban challenges facing the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area. Rising and established leaders from the business, government, academic and community sectors will attend Canvas, CivicAction’s 2019 Summit. […]

Published on LocalLove by Charlotte D’arcy By Charlotte D’arcy When she was just a teenager, Rupal Shah decided she was going to have a career in the theatre. “It just brought me so much joy and motivation—I couldn’t imagine doing anything else,” she says. “When I look back on it, it was about making something […]

By Jason MillerPublished in the Toronto Star Biju Pappachan is focused on breaking down the barriers stymieing diversity in Toronto boardrooms and government, and a civic engagement organization is bringing him together with 29 others on a mission to do just that. “This program is trying to bring those diverse voices to the decision-making and […]

Published in The Hamilton Spectator  “Hamilton’s own Daniel Lynn is among this year’s 30 hand-picked members of the DiverseCity Fellows cohort who will be working on a unique “civic MBA” to change the shape and face of leadership, to more fairly reflect the diversity of our cities. The DiverseCity Fellows cohort is an initiative of […]

Published in Toronto Business Daily by City of Toronto This morning, Councillor Michael Thompson (Ward 37 Scarborough-Centre), Chair of the Economic Development Committee, presented the Partnership to Advance Youth Employment (PAYE) Leadership Awards at the Economic Development Committee meeting. […] 2017 PAYE Leadership Award for Impact Presented to Youth Connect, CivicAction Leadership Foundation and LinkedIn […]

Published in The Globe and Mail By Sevaun Palvetzian CEO, CivicAction Most skilled painters choose to harness the power of the entire colour spectrum to create compelling masterpieces. If all artists chose instead to only use one brush and one colour, our art galleries would be filled with flat, monochromatic paintings lacking vibrancy and movement. […]

Eva Wong, is a member of our Emerging Leaders Network (ELN) and a co-founder of Borrowell. During her time as an ELN member she met Andrew Graham and together they went on to create and build Borrowell. Hear her chat with Matt Galloway about her experiences and give him the details of Startup and Slay, […]

Published in FLARE Magazine By Jay Pitter Writer and placemaker Jay Pitter profiles six city builders from across Canada who are creating inspired public spaces and doing exceptional work. […] Today, I’m sitting at more tables with women and people from racialized backgrounds. A small, but growing number of these professionals actually look like me. […]

Published in Toronto Star By Carola Vyhnak On International Women’s Day, leaders share their advice after lessons learned in what was once a man’s world. […] Salima Rawji, 38, vice-president, development, CreateTO No woman is an island. That, in a nutshell, is Salima Rawji’s philosophy behind helping the sisterhood advance in their profession. Rawji, who holds a […]

Published in Ron Fanfair By Ron Fanfair Staff   As a 2018 DiverseCity Fellow cohort, she is among 25 emerging leaders poised to take action on issues critical to the health and prosperity of Toronto. […] “We are facing increasingly difficult urban challenges that require an all-hands on deck approach,” said CivicAction chief executive officer […]

Published on How to Reach Your Potential By Alex Rascanu   Toota Nihal Hassanien, program manager for CivicAction’s Emerging Leaders Network, took part in the “How to Reach Your Potential” initiative, a series of 100 interviews with leaders who inspire Alex Rascanu and whose insights can help you reach your potential. About Toota: Toota Nihal […]

DiverseCity Fellow Gabrielle Scrimshaw delivered the third annual Vancouver Island University Indigenous Speaker Series this past November. After what was a powerful talk, she sat down on CBC Ideas with host Paul Kennedy to talk about ways to make the idea, and the ideal, of reconciliation more than just a noble sentiment. Listen to both her conversation with […]

25 Torontonians with ideas for improving our city will have the chance to build on those ideas, through CivicAction’s DiverseCity Fellowship program. Matt Galloway speaks to one of them, lawyer Naseem Mithoowani. Hear the conversation and find out more about Naseem.

Published in the Star By Sabrina Nanji Democracy Reporter A new report suggests Toronto isn’t living up to its motto that diversity is our strength — and 25 budding civic leaders were recruited Tuesday to help turn that around. They’re part of Civic Action’s Diverse City Fellows program, which the non-profit has run in the Greater […]

Published in Hamilton Spectator By Alyssa Lai and Kate Whelan   Hamilton prides itself on being a diverse and inclusive community and we can all identify many areas where successes can be celebrated. How inclusive is our region when it comes to diversity and leadership? Not as much as we would hope. A survey by […]

Written by David Rider  Published in the Toronto Star  Mala Dorai was working late, heading downstairs to find food, when she instead stumbled on an opportunity to improve our region’s mental health. The India-born neuroscientist saw a CivicAction session, was invited into it and now is one of the city-building agency’s 25 “DiverseCity Fellows” with a year-long opportunity […]

By Kaitlyn Kochany Published in Yonge Street Media  On Saturday November 7, over 200 emerging leaders, community builders, and public space enthusiasts gathered on the University of Toronto campus to discuss the future of the GTHA’s public spaces. As part of CivicAction’s ELNstudio event, Globe and Mail Focus Editor Hamutal Dotan moderated a panel discussion […]

Published on DurhamRegion.com Imanzi Kayitare was pleasantly surprised on a recent tour of the Abilities Centre in Whitby. “I never would have thought there would be a centre like this out here,” said the Mississauga resident. Mr. Kayitare was one of more than 30 rising leaders from CivicAction’s Emerging Leaders Network and DiverseCity Fellows program […]

Written by Kaitlyn Kochany Published in Yonge Street Media On May 5, five promising new start-ups had the opportunity to pitch their ideas in front of a panel of judges and a crowd of supporters. From two park-related apps, to an online platform aimed at educating newcomers to Canada about sexual health, to a pilot […]

Written by Amoryn Engel Published in National Post CivicAction recently hosted “MetroNext: A Celebration of Civic Leaders” for a night to celebrate some of the brightest leaders in the Great Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA). Now in its second year, the event shined a spotlight on both rising and established leaders in the community who […]

Written by Arthur Kaptainis Published in U of T News “We gave them a time crunch,”Edwin White Chacon, one of the founders of CivicSpark, said at the conclusion of its first Undergraduate Public Policy Case Competition. Yes, they did. Thirty minutes of prep time? Ten minutes to present your ideas on revitalizing the famously inadequate […]

Written by Kaitlyn Kochany  Published in YongeStreet Media On February 23, CivicAction presented two awards celebrating leaders, both established and emerging, in the GTA and Hamilton area. CivicAction recognized Ratna Omidvar with the Lifetime Achievement Award for Civic Leadership for her work on inclusion and diversity in the area. Omidvar is the Executive Director of […]

Written by Dylan Reid Published in Spacing Toronto It was great to see 200 talented young people in their twenties and thirties gathered together to talk about public space. Earlier this month, I was invited to attend CivicAction‘s Emerging Leaders Network (ELN) annual studio. CivicAction had polled their network about what subject they’d like to focus on, and […]

Written by Alan Christie Published in University of Toronto News Urban experts, activists, scholars and young leaders turned out for CivicAction’s seventh annual Emerging Leaders Network(ELN) Studio conference held in partnership with U of T on Nov. 7. “The University of Toronto has a true commitment to its engagement with the city,” Professor Charlie Keil said, as he […]