News releases

Toronto, January 19, 2012: Twenty-eight rising leaders have been selected as the new cohort of DiverseCity Fellows. Fellows is a one-year leadership development and network-building program that aims to harness the potential of a diverse cross-section of leaders so that they can address the challenges that lie ahead for the greater Toronto region.

December 13, 2011: This week at the fourth UN Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) Forum in Doha, Qatar, DiverseCity onBoard was awarded second prize in the Intercultural Innovation Awards. The program was selected from over 400 proposals submitted from 70 countries.

November 8, 2011: A new research report released today examines the diversity of those who ran as candidates and those elected in recent federal, provincial and municipal elections in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).

October 20, 2011: Twenty-five GTA leaders were introduced today as part of the launch of a new training program in civic engagement. DiverseCity Building Blocks is the ninth in the collection of DiverseCity initiatives designed to accelerate prosperity in the GTA by enabling diverse leaders to assume leadership positions.

August 30, 2011: The DiverseCity Fellows, a group of 25 rising leaders from across the public, private and non-profit sectors, have announced this year's six collaborative city-building projects addressing a range of social and economic issues in the Toronto region.

June 7, 2011: The leadership of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) is more diverse than it was three years ago, reveals a new research report released today. The third annual DiverseCity Counts report, produced by the Diversity Institute at Ryerson University on behalf of DiverseCity: The Greater Toronto Leadership Project, finds that 14.5 per cent of leaders in the GTA are visible minorities (relative to 49.5 per cent of the population studied) which is an overall increase of eight percent from 13.4 per cent in 2009.

June 7, 2011: Just 6.8% of leaders in the GTA legal sector are visible minorities, relative to 49.5% of the population studied, reveals a new report released today. The third annual DiverseCity Counts report, produced by the Diversity Institute at Ryerson University on behalf of DiverseCity: The Greater Toronto Leadership Project, tracked 3,330 leaders across the corporate, public, elected, education and nonprofit sectors. Also included in this year’s report is a first-ever look at visible minority leadership in the legal sector. While previous research has studied diversity among lawyers exclusively, the Counts report tracked 2,410 leaders in the field including judges, justices of the peace, governing bodies, law school leaders, partners in the top 20 law firms and crown attorneys.

May 9, 2011: At an awards ceremony on Monday evening at Cisco Canada’s head office, DiverseCity onBoard recognized Peel Children’s Aid, The Redwood and the Town of Richmond Hill for embracing diversity in board governance and making it a priority to recruit board members from diverse backgrounds. A new corporate award, presented by the Canadian Board Diversity Council, recognized TD Bank Group.

February 4, 2010: At an awards ceremony on Thursday night, DiverseCity onBoard recognized United Way Toronto and Women’s College Hospital for embracing diversity in board governance and making it a priority to seek out board members from diverse backgrounds. This year’s winners of the third annual Diversity in Governance Awards stand as models. Their deliberate strategies have enriched their own boards, and their example is changing the face of leadership across the GTA.

February 7, 2011: DiverseCity: The Greater Toronto Leadership Project, in partnership with the Canadian Club of Toronto, will feature a keynote presentation by His Worship Mayor Naheed Nenshi. Mayor Nenshi will share with political, community and business leaders his vision for a great Canadian city where pluralism transforms urban centres into magnets for talent and engines of development.

June 10, 2010: Just 14 per cent of leaders in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) are visible minorities (relative to 49.5 per cent of the population studied), up marginally from last year’s 13.5 per cent, finds a research report which measures diversity in leadership released today by Ryerson University’s Diversity Institute on behalf of DiverseCity: The Greater Toronto Leadership Project. DiverseCity Counts: A Snapshot of Diverse Leadership in the Greater Toronto Area tracks 3,348 leaders across the corporate, public, elected, education and nonprofit sectors. Findings from this second annual report continue to point to a serious lack of visible minority leaders. Building on last year’s baseline results, this year’s report reveals new insights that can help expedite progress.

On June 10, 2010, DiverseCity: The Greater Toronto Leadership Project and the Diversity Institute at Ryerson University will release the second DiverseCity Counts Report, highlighting the number of visible minorities in senior leadership roles across the corporate, public and nonprofit sectors in the GTA. For the first time the report also includes a review of the news media.

May 10, 2010: Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, Governor General of Canada, delivered today the opening address at a DiverseCity event hosted by the Canadian Club of Toronto. In her address entitled “Corporate Engagement and the Drive to Inspire: Empowering New Leaders in 21st Century Canada,” the Governor General spoke about the key role the business community can play to help create a stronger, more prosperous and harmonious Canada.

May 5, 2010: DiverseCity: The Greater Toronto Leadership Project returns to the Canadian Club of Toronto with a luncheon featuring a keynote presentation by Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, Governor General of Canada. Her Excellency will address business leaders on the importance of cultivating diverse leadership for Canada to remain prosperous in an ever-changing global economy.

February 18, 2010: This evening, DiverseCity Fellows will announce the 27 rising leaders selected to participate in the 2010 DiverseCity Fellows program. These rising city-builders will take part in a one-year leadership program that aims to harness the potential of diverse promising leaders so that they can address the challenges that lie ahead for the greater Toronto region.

February 9, 2010: Well-known radio host and city builder John Tory recently accepted the role of co-chair of DiverseCity, joining Ratna Omidvar who founded the initiative with the late David Pecaut.

On Thursday, February 4, DiverseCity onBoard will recognize the winners of the third annual Diversity in Governance Awards - United Way Toronto (nonprofit board category) and Women’s College Hospital (public board category). This year’s winners are recognized for being well ahead of the curve in embracing diversity at the highest levels of their organizations. They exemplify good practices in building and benefiting from racially and ethnically diverse boards of governance. The two organizations understand that since the GTA is one of the most culturally diverse regions in the world, organizations and institutions should reflect the people they serve.

December 14, 2009: This week we lost a great Torontonian and a great Canadian. Many are calling him the best mayor Toronto never had. His accomplishments are many, his range of interests and depth of engagement in these were outstanding. He made an art and a science out of problem-solving in a uniquely collective manner. He never took no for an answer; there was no problem that he could not imagine some way out of. But I think his greatest accomplishments were those that brought him into contact with people on the margins. He understood intuitively and completely that Toronto would never prosper if its newest residents did not have a share in that prosperity. He also understood that a city region as diverse as Toronto needed to go beyond celebrating diversity by making it part and parcel of our DNA.

November 16, 2009: It's been one year since DiverseCity announced its bold and detailed plan to change the face of leadership in the Toronto region. The three-year project launched in 2008 with a Conference Board of Canada report linking diverse leadership with economic growth and social cohesion. With this evidence in hand, project leads the Toronto City Summit Alliance (TCSA) and Maytree released an eight-point plan to accelerate prosperity in the Toronto region by enabling a more diverse leadership to emerge.

November 12, 2009: It's been one year since DiverseCity launched with a bold and detailed plan to transform the leadership landscape. On Monday, November 16, 2009, we will be releasing a report to our partners - a growing group of multi-sectoral organizations that have signed on to the DiverseCity movement.

September 25, 2009: Local community, business and government leaders gathered today at the Varley Art Gallery of Markham in support of a GTA-wide movement to make the region's leadership landscape more diverse. DiverseCity: The Greater Toronto Leadership Project is working to accelerate regional prosperity by changing the face of leadership. Recent research showed that a meager 13% of those heading up GTA organizations and institutions are visible minorities versus 49.5% of the population under study. According to the Conference Board of Canada, diverse leadership leads to better financial performance and social cohesion, among other benefits.

September 18, 2009: It's the start of something exciting in York Region, and on September 25 we want you to be there. Maytree and the Toronto City Summit Alliance are proud to announce the York Region launch of DiverseCity: The Greater Toronto Leadership Project. Combining eight separate initiatives, this important new project will diversify York Region's leadership landscape.

May 27, 2009: Just 13 per cent of Greater Toronto Area (GTA) leaders are visible minorities, relative to 49.5 per cent of the population studied in the region, finds a report released today by Ryerson University's Diversity Institute on behalf of DiverseCity: The Greater Toronto Leadership Project. DiverseCity Counts: A Snapshot of Diversity in the Greater Toronto Area looked at 3257 leaders in the GTA across the corporate, public, not-for-profit and education sectors. The report is the first to look across sectors and to provide a benchmark of how well our region's visible minorities are reflected in its senior leadership roles.

May 23, 2009: DiverseCity: The Greater Toronto Leadership Project and the Diversity Institute at Ryerson University will release the inaugural DiverseCity Counts Report, highlighting the number of visible minorities in senior leadership roles across the corporate, public and voluntary sectors in the GTA. It is the first time that research has been done GTA-wide on this important issue.

April 1, 2009: GTA journalists looking for diverse perspectives in their reporting now have a new online rolodex to source subject-matter experts. Together with the Toronto City Summit Alliance (TCSA), Maytree has just launched DiverseCity Voices, a free online rolodex listing diverse experts who can speak on issues ranging from human rights to the economy.

January 26, 2009: Over 100 partners announce their support for DiverseCity project. Private, public and non-profit partners commit to taking Toronto from a “diversity deficit” to a “diversity dividend”: Maytree and the Toronto City Summit Alliance today announced the first wave of over 100 partners that have committed their support to “DiverseCity: The Greater Toronto Leadership Project”.

November 26, 2008: Maytree and Toronto City Summit Alliance unveil "DiverseCity." Project addresses striking lack of diversity in Toronto's top organizations; Conference Board of Canada research demonstrates value of diversity. Maytree and The Toronto City Summit Alliance (Alliance) launched "DiverseCity: The Greater Toronto Leadership Project," an eight-program initiative that aims to build a more diverse leadership in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).