This year’s group comes from the business, arts, health, non-profit and government sectors across the Toronto region and many hail from across Canada and around the world. While they were selected for their track records, over the course of the year, the Fellows will enhance skills critical to developing their leadership and will make connections to decision-makers and other rising city-builders. Ultimately, they will collaborate to jumpstart initiatives of their own design that will tackle an issue facing the city. “This is a group to watch,” says John Tory, Co-Chair of DiverseCity. “They’re bringing solutions and new perspectives to the increasingly complex issues facing our city region.”

When asked what they would like to see change in the city region, their responses are as diverse as the Fellows themselves. What emerges across geography, cultural backgrounds and professions, however, is the importance of collaboration. One 2012 Fellow, Noreen Javed, Manager of Stakeholder Relations at Purolator Inc., sees opportunities for businesses to work together to better the city region. “We should encourage businesses to harness their scale and intellectual capital to collaborate with each other to effect measurable social change.”

2012 DiverseCity Fellows

JENNIFER ARANGO, Administrative Coordinator, Toronto Women’s City Alliance

JONATHAN ASMIS, Business Analyst, Accenture, Inc.

JACKELINE BARRAGAN, Community Health Program Manager, Black Creek Community Health Centre

ORLANDO BOWEN, Executive Director, One Voice One Team

PEDRO CABEZAS, Project Manager, Casa Maiz Cultural Centre

BRENT CHAMBERLAIN, Executive Director, Pride at Work Canada

RAKHI HENDERSON, Senior Manager, ING DIRECT

JOE HENRY, Manager – Accessible Learning and Student Development, Sheridan College

NOREEN JAVED, Manager, Stakeholder Relations, Purolator Inc.

SEEMA JETHALAL, Managing Director – Regent Park Arts and Cultural Centre, Artscape

AHMAD KTAECH, Managing Director, K & Co.

OKEIMA LAWRENCE, Manager, Community Investment, United Way Toronto

MARIAH LEVIN, Senior Consultant, KPMG LLP

JABARI LINDSAY, Project Manager, City of Toronto

AGAPI MAVRIDIS, Executive Assistant and Senior Policy Advisor, Ministry of the Attorney General

CAITLIN McCLUNG, Senior Policy Advisor, Office of the Premier

JAMES GEN MEERS, Director of Programming/Co-Founder, Salon Camden Centre for Urban Dialogue

WILLIAM MENDES, Community Revitalization Consultant, Toronto Community Housing

TANZEEL MERCHANT, Manager, Growth Planning and Analysis, Ontario Growth Secretariat

RYAN PATERSON, Creative Director/Co-Founder, Manifesto Community Projects & Hightop Studio

SALIM RACHID, Chair, Conversations & Roundtables Committee, Couchiching Institute on Public Affairs

MELANIE A. REDMAN, Executive Director, Project Canoe

DIANE SALDANHA, Medical Sales Representative, AstraZeneca Canada

VIVEK SARMA, Manager, Corporate Development (Mergers & Acquisitions), Livingston International

KELLIE SAURIOL, Regional Vice President, RBC Royal Bank

RUTH JEAN SILVER, Independent Designer

ROMY THOMAS, Financial Analyst & Project Coordinator, Mount Sinai Hospital

LEONARDO ZUNIGA, Community Worker, Thorncliffe Neighbourhood Office

Additional quotes on ideas for change in the Toronto region available on request.  To learn more about the program and for Fellows profiles, please visit http://diversecitytoronto.ca/get-involved/become-city-builder/meetthefellows/.

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About DiverseCity Fellows: DiverseCity Fellows is part of DiverseCity: The Greater Toronto Leadership Project and is one of nine initiatives designed to diversify the Toronto region’s leadership landscape.  Co-chaired by John Tory and Ratna Omidvar, DiverseCity is a joint initiative of the Greater Toronto CivicAction Alliance and Maytree, funded in part by the Government of Ontario. DiverseCity Fellows also receives support from the Laidlaw Foundation and other sponsors. To learn more, visit www.diversecitytoronto.ca.

About CivicAction: CivicAction is a multi-sectoral coalition of thousands of civic leaders committed to acting collectively to tackle tough issues and big opportunities facing the Toronto region. CivicAction’s Greater Toronto Summits bring leaders from all walks of life together to assess the region’s strengths and challenges and to identify priority areas and opportunities for attention. In the periods between Summits, CivicAction takes a role in incubating innovative initiatives designed to galvanize action in these priority areas. To learn more, visit www.civicaction.ca

About Maytree: Established in 1982, Maytree promotes equity and prosperity through its policy insights, grants and programs. The organization has gained recognition for its expertise in developing, testing and implementing programs and policy solutions related to immigration, integration and diversity. www.maytree.com

Media Contacts:

Rebecca Geller, Communications and Events Officer, CivicAction

T: (416) 309-4480 x509 (work)

T: (416) 992-4966 (cell)

rebecca.geller@civicaction.ca

Tina Edan, Maytree

T: (416) 944-2627 x245

tedan@maytree.com

We think this is a great opportunity to reflect on some of Ratna’s recent thoughts and insights about her experience coming to Canada, and her hopes and dreams for our country.

According to the UNAOC, “This award represents a new kind of partnership between the private sector and the UN system, aiming to select highly innovative projects that promote dialogue and inter-cultural understanding and to make a vital contribution to safety and peace in societies around the world.”

DiverseCity onBoard connects qualified candidates from racially and ethnically diverse communities with governance positions in agencies, boards, commissions and nonprofit organizations across the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). The project works to ensure that regional governance bodies reflect the diversity of the people who live and work in the GTA.

“We are extremely honoured to receive this award,” says Ratna Omidvar, co-chair of DiverseCity and President of Maytree. “Agencies, boards and commissions and voluntary organizations deliver a wide range of essential services and programs to local residents. Yet there is a disconnect between the leadership of these organizations and institutions and the population of the region. DiverseCity onBoard was created to directly address this challenge.”

While some progress has been made in the GTA, the annual DiverseCity Counts report in 2011 found that visible minorities in the GTA are still under-represented in leadership positions. According to the report, only 14.5 per cent of leaders in the GTA are visible minorities relative to 49.5 per cent of the population studied.

“DiverseCity onBoard brings local governance closer to the demographics of people who live in the city” adds Ms. Omidvar. “It connects boards looking for people with real qualifications, with real capacity to provide value, but a different point of view and a different perspective. We have seen incremental change in the GTA and we are excited about the possibilities of bringing this project to the attention of global partners working towards similar goals in civil society. Through our replication toolkit, we encourage all of them to look at DiverseCity onBoard as something they can introduce to their communities.”

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About DiverseCity: The Greater Toronto Leadership Project
DiverseCity is a joint project of Maytree and the Greater Toronto CivicAction Alliance, co-chaired by Ratna Omidvar and John Tory, and funded in part by the government of Ontario. With its nine initiatives, the project is changing the face of our region’s leadership. It is expanding our networks, strengthening our private and public institutions, advancing our knowledge on the role of diversity in leadership and tracking our progress. For more information, visit www.diversecitytoronto.ca.

Media Contacts:
Markus Stadelmann-Elder, Communications Manager, Maytree, 416-944-2627 x284, mselder@maytree.com

Tina Edan, Manager, Leadership Programs, Maytree, 416-944-2627 x245, tedan@maytree.com

Watch video of Cathy Winter, DiverseCity onBoard Manager, receiving the award:

According to the UNAOC: “This award represents a new kind of partnership between the private sector and the UN system, aiming to select highly innovative projects that promote dialogue and inter-cultural understanding and to make a vital contribution to safety and peace in societies around the world.”

“We are extremely honoured to receive this award,” says Ratna Omidvar, co-chair of DiverseCity and President of Maytree, “but also excited about the possibilities of bringing this project to the attention of global partners working towards similar goals in civil society. We encourage all of them to look at DiverseCity onBoard as something they can replicate in their communities.”

More about DiverseCity onBoard with Cathy Winter:

Replication information for the project can be found on our site.

Complete video of the award ceremony

The DiverseCity onBoard project is a partnership of Maytree and the Greater Toronto CivicAction Alliance, with funding support from the Province of Ontario.