LEADERSHIP MESSAGE



Dear YWCA Toronto Community,



As municipal election signs come down and we gear up for a new term of City Council, our work is far from over.

Elections are important, but the real work and meaningful change happen in the months and years that follow. At YWCA Toronto we extend our sincere congratulations to Mayor-elect Olivia Chow and to all newly elected and returning councillors. We look forward to connecting with all council members, fostering relationships that will help us create a safer, more just, and equitable Toronto for women, girls and gender diverse people. We encourage you to stay engaged! Write to your local councillor, follow us on social media, attend community events, and support organizations building community connection and delivering frontline services to those who need them most.

As Women’s History Month comes to a close, we find ourselves reflecting not only on the women whose stories have shaped our communities, but also on the stories that are still being written.

It has been three years since the City declared intimate partner violence and gender-based violence an epidemic and still much work remains to meaningfully address the crisis. While an important starting point, a declaration alone cannot create safety, prevent violence, or support survivors. With the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence next month, we are thinking deeply about the change we need and the role each of us can play in achieving it. You can read more about this important work in our Advocacy Corner below.

This past month also brought opportunities to reflect on community, justice, and belonging. We marked Persons Day, commemorated each year as the day women were legally recognized as people - enabling our public and political participation. We also observed the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, a reminder that poverty is not inevitable and that everyone deserves access to dignity, safety, and opportunity. For me, these observances are a reminder that building strong and resilient communities is not a check mark, achieved once, but rather requires ongoing commitment, collective action, and a willingness to keep showing up for one another.

Thank you for being a part of this work. Together, we can continue moving from awareness to action and from intention to impact.

Sami Pritchard

Director of Advocacy and Communications

YWCA Toronto

Women's History Month Blog

In recognition of the month, we published a blog entitled, ‘Women's History Month: Celebrating a Legacy of Leadership and Impact,’ where we highlighted the history and legacy of Heather McGregor, our retired CEO, whose more than three decades helped transform YWCA Toronto. We also showcased the history in the making of our new CEO, Deepa Mattoo, who is the first racialized woman to lead our Association. Both have a deep-seated history of evoking radical change.

Learn about their outstanding and visionary leadership here.

Advancing Change in the Nonprofit Sector

The Ontario Nonprofit Network (ONN) has launched results from its annual State of the Sector survey. The report, “Ontario’s nonprofits: Focused on preparedness during uncertainty,” evaluates the health of our sector through key indicators: capacity and demand, revenue and expenses, access to and use of reserve funds, human resources, volunteers, and the risk of nonprofit closures. Several resources related to the survey results are available on their website, and they will host a free webinar on November 12 to highlight how nonprofits can use the data to advance their work. Learn more here.