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Kay Blair

helping women help themselves

YWCA Toronto women of distinction award 2006:
community leadership

Kay Blair is a community leader with a vision of how the lives of women and girls could be. She works fervently to challenge the barriers preventing immigrant and visible minority women from achieving their hopes of economic independence and social well-being. 

Ms. Blair’s leadership and optimism have been instrumental in the establishment of innovative programs to improve the lives of women and girls in Toronto. Best known as the Executive Director of Community MicroSkills Development Centre (MicroSkills), she provides settlement, training, employment, and self-employment services to women, immigrants, visible minorities, and youth, with an emphasis on the needs of low-income women. Kay Blair is the 2006 YWCA Woman of Distinction for Community Leadership.

Ms. Blair immigrated with her young family to Canada from Jamaica in 1976.  Her own experiences of resettling, and her struggle to find meaningful employment, resonate in her work with immigrant and visible minority women. Under her leadership, MicroSkills has grown dramatically from a staff of five and a budget of $300,000, to a staff of 50 with a budget of $4.5 million. She has spread MicroSkills’ caring reach from its immediate Rexdale community right across the City of Toronto. Ms. Blair is the architect behind numerous innovative programs for women.  She established the first self-employment program in Canada to help low-income women start their own businesses. Ms Blair has also pioneered programs to support women and girls in non-traditional areas, such as The Women’s Technology Institute, which provides training for low-income women to access meaningful employment in high-growth areas of the Information Technology sector.

A tireless advocate for women and under-served communities, Ms. Blair is a founding member of the Canadian Women’s Economic Development Council, an organization established to advance women-centred economic development as a means of reducing poverty and improving the lives of women, their families, and their communities. Ms. Blair is equally committed to eliminating the barriers faced by at-risk youth, as she believes that the environment in which youth live has significant impact on their holistic growth and development. Most recently, she has established a range of after-school programs to support at-risk youth in the North Etobicoke community.

Ms. Blair has participated in several task forces and public forums that have investigated the quality of life for women and immigrants, many times as the only woman or as the only woman of colour.  She has fought for resources for women’s programming in the face of shifting government priorities and reduced funding. Government, community groups, and a wide variety of non-governmental organizations have called on Ms. Blair’s expertise. She has served as President of the Peel Police Race Relations Committee, Vice-President of Ernestine’s Women’s Shelter, and twice as President of the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants (OCASI).

Her own experience of violence at the hands of her former husband taught Ms. Blair the crucial link between the elimination of violence against women, and women’s ability to access their rights and potential.  Violence against women has remained a primary focus of her work.  Early in her career Ms. Blair worked at the Emily Stowe Shelter for women, and was instrumental in establishing Shirley Samaroo House (now Yorktown Shelter for Women), the first shelter to focus on services for immigrant women.  At MicroSkills, she created the Women and Change program which has provided women in shelters with career and employment counselling. Ms. Blair participated in community consultations on violence against women, which have led to the province-wide establishment of culturally appropriate intervention services in Ontario. 

In recognition of her contribution to the community, Ms. Blair has received a number of awards including the Women of Colour Community Award, the Ontario Race Relations Award, Jamaica’s 100 Women of the Century Special Recognition, the Innovations Canada Entrepreneur of the Year Award, the OCASI Leadership Award, and the Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Award - Trailblazer.    

Ms. Blair holds an MBA with a specialization in Leadership from Royal Roads University, Victoria, BC. She is currently working towards a doctorate in Leadership from Capella University, Minneapolis, MN. Ms. Blair volunteers on the Board of Directors for both the National Visible Minority Council on Labour Force Development and the Laidlaw Foundation; she is often invited to speak at conferences and participate in panels on issues of employment and training, anti-racism and diversity, organizational development, and leadership.

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