To continue the celebration of YWCA Toronto’s 150th anniversary we posed a question to the fiercely feminist leaders united in their work to create lasting change in Toronto – our Directors. When asked, “How has your department sparked change in the community?” their answers showcase real change, hard won accomplishments and an unwavering commitment to growing our services as the needs of women, girls and gender diverse people change within our city.
Racheal Lawrence, Director of Girls, Youth & Family Programs
“Since 2007, the Bergamot Early Learning Centre has provided children with safe, high-quality, affordable child care. Consequently, children’s developmental goals are exceeded through collaboration with families and the community.
Canada’s first and only full-time Girls’ Centre opened in 2005 to provide a safe space for girls and gender diverse youth to increase their social and leadership skills. And, for over 90 years, Camp Tapawingo has been changing the lives of youth. Recently, we launched a five-year plan to transform the camp by increasing camper and staff diversity through outreach to racialized communities and the implementation of our gender diversity plan.”
Nina Gorka, Director of Shelters & Clinical Services
“In 2018, we opened a new emergency shelter for women and gender diverse people, addressing a gap in the Toronto shelter scene. This change added much-needed beds to the Toronto shelter system.
Our community programs, Breakthrough and Choices for Living, have not only given non-traditional, arts-based therapeutic interventions to participants often weary of traditional methods of healing, but Choices for Living’s success gave us the opportunity to begin the proposal process for what is now our largest housing program, the Elm Centre complex.”
Tsering Tsomo, Director of Employment & Training
“Since 1873, YWCA Toronto has been responding to the changing needs of women in our community by designing specialized training and employment programs. We currently offer 15 programs to assist a diverse population of participants in building stronger economic futures across the city. Our programs have helped countless women, girls and gender diverse people access training in skilled trades, information technology and digital skills for the workplace, while also helping them to develop successful job search strategies, improve their English language skills and access employment and settlement support for newcomers.”
Sami Pritchard, Interim Director of Advocacy & Communications
“YWCA Toronto has long been an advocate for social change. In the 1960s and 1970s, we supported pro-choice and birth control movements. In 1978, we made our anti-apartheid stance on South Africa known, and we helped establish some of the first International Women’s Day activities in Toronto. Since the ‘80s, we have called for universal child care and held the position that a national child care system is essential for women’s full economic and social participation. More recently, Toronto City Council unanimously passed a motion declaring Intimate Partner Violence and Gender-Based Violence an epidemic in Toronto. This declaration was led by community action with fellow violence against women organizations, advocates and survivors, and marks a significant step toward ending gender-based violence."
Dongmei Xiang, Property Services & Asset Management
“Expanding our housing portfolio has been a priority since 1873. Today we continue to develop this portfolio, increasing the supply of safe, secure and affordable housing for women and gender diverse people.
Recently we added the 389 Church Street building in collaboration with Toronto Community Housing, and the Scatterhomes initiative with Parkdale Neighbourhood Land Trust, expanding our portfolio to 822 units. Our focus remains the same, to reduce poverty in the City and ensure that housing is available to those who need it the most.”
Lo Fine, Director of Finance & Information Technology
“The Finance Department has come a long way. Back in the day, we used a long ledger manual entry system entering everything manually and then handwriting reports. For the longest time, we had a carryover expense line on our financial reports called telegram and telegraph! I wonder what it would have been like back in 1873 to imagine the ability to click a little button on a machine and have money appear in the vendor’s bank account the very next day! I wonder what the Finance Department will be like 150 years hence!”
Jeannette Manguiat, Director of Human Resources
“The Human Resources and Administration department has evolved over the past several years to support the needs of our staff community and the administrative needs of our organization. The diversity of our staff has also increased and our work has become more challenging and complex as the individuals we provide services to continue to face systemic barriers. As a result, we have turned our focus to supporting the safety and well-being of our staff community through equity, diversity and inclusion, and health and safety initiatives so that all of our staff can continue to provide the best possible support to our participants.”
Alethia Lewis, Director of Permanent Housing
“The YWCA has been housing women since our inception in 1873. While the faces and needs have changed; deepening and expanding in diversity and complexity, the numbers of poorly served individuals who are homeless, or living precariously, have not been matched with growth in availability of housing units. In collaboration with all levels of government, YWCA Toronto continues to lead the call for social housing reform to build permanent affordable housing for women and gender diverse communities to ensure access to stable housing in perpetuity.”
Firoozeh Radjai, Director of Philanthropy
“The Philanthropy department considers itself to be the engine room of change to borrow a phrase from the Fundraising Manifesto. We contribute to all areas of the transformative work YWCA Toronto does by raising significant funds to keep the lights on and our doors open, and to ensure our 35 programs across 15 sites have the resources to spur positive change in the lives of women, girls and gender diverse people in need.”
YWCA Toronto’s lasting support of women, girls and gender diverse people is possible through the dedication of our Directors. And they assure that we will spark change for many years to come.