01/2018
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 Toronto and Hamilton Area for almost a decade. Over the next year, the 25 “civic-minded rising leaders” will get a free crash course in leadership development with an eye to amplifying diverse voices — something they think the local decision-making table lacks, according to a recent survey of Civic Action’s leaders.
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In the GTA, where nearly half of residents identify as a visible minority, “shrinking the sidelines of the leadership playing field has never been more important,” said Sevaun Palvetzian, Civic Action’s CEO.
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So last fall almost 200 community advocates got together for Civic Action’s annual city-building conference to draft their own playbook for an inclusive GTHA. That work, and an Environics poll gauging their personal experiences thus far, were released in a report last Thursday that shows “we have a long way to go” when it comes to diverse leadership, Palvetzian said.
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