June 18, 2010
Metro News (Toronto)
Media rainbow is only one colour
By April Lindgren
Excerpt: A new study on the representation of visible minorities in the news media concluded it’s pretty much business as usual at major newspapers and television stations in the Greater Toronto Area, which is to say almost everybody is white.
June 16, 2010
Toronto Star
Rice, peanut butter and… tamarind sauce?
By Vanessa Lu
Excerpt: Called Flavours from Home, the idea is an initiative of five DiverseCity fellows who are committed to finding ways to make life better in the city.
June 14, 2010
Globe and Mail editorial
Canada’s immigrant integration challenge
Excerpt: A majority of Canadians see diversity as positive. Immigrants are part of the Canadian brand, and a vital way to strengthen the economy. If Canadians want this approach to remain successful, they must be prepared to share the corridors of power with newly-minted citizens, many of whom hail from China, Sri Lanka, India and the Philippines. Even in Toronto, Canada’s most diverse city, this has not happened.
June 11, 2010
Canadian HR Reporter
Gap between ‘leaders and laggards’ finds diversity study
Excerpt: Just 14 per cent of leaders in GTA are visible minorities (relative to 49.5 per cent of the population studied), up marginally from 13.5 per cent last year, according to a research report released by Ryerson University’s Diversity Institute on behalf of DiverseCity: The Greater Toronto Leadership Project, an initiative of Maytree and the Toronto City Summit Alliance.
June 10, 2010
Toronto Star
Visible minorities lag in corridors of power, report finds
By Vanessa Lu
Excerpt: DiverseCity Counts: A Snapshot of Diverse Leadership in the Greater Toronto Area tracked 3,348 leaders across the corporate, public, elected, education and non-profit sectors and found only 14 per cent are visible minorities, up slightly from 13.5 per cent a year earlier. That number is startling, considering visible minorities make up nearly 50 per cent of the population in Greater Toronto. By 2031, Statistics Canada estimates that figure will be at 63 per cent.
CBC News
Few visible minority leaders in GTA: report
Excerpt: The visible minority population of the Greater Toronto Area as a whole is noticeably underrepresented in leadership roles in the corporate, public, education and non-profit sectors, according to a new study released on Thursday.
Globe and Mail
Minorities still under-represented in the workplace, study shows
By Anna Mehler Paperny
Excerpt: When it comes to hiring a diverse work force, it all depends on who’s taking note: Organizations whose employees are more subject to scrutiny have higher numbers of visible minorities, a Ryerson University study finds.
May 11, 2010
National Post
Michaelle Jean visits Toronto, possibly for last time as GG
By Adam McDowell
Excerpt: At a luncheon on Monday hosted by DiverseCity and the Canadian Club of Toronto, the Governor General praised a Bay Street-heavy crowd for its part in saving Canada from catastrophe as other countries’ economies shuddered over the past two years.
London Free Press
GG calls for more diversity
By Kevin Connor
Excerpt: Embracing Canada’s diversity is the road to social and economic well being, Governor General Michaelle Jean told a Canadian Club luncheon Monday.
May 10, 2010
Toronto Star
James: Embrace diversity and prosper, GG urges
By Royson James
Excerpt: Rarely has the nuts-and-bolts issue of diversity received such an elegant and erudite endorsement. Governor General Michaëlle Jean delivered a regal, yet raw, plea to the Canadian Club of Toronto at a luncheon Monday. “Embrace diversity in all sectors of society. Why? Because it is then, and only then, that we will unleash the full potential of our country.”
March 17, 2010
Brampton Guardian
Project promotes diversity
By Peter Criscione
Excerpt: Adaoma Patterson, Wendell Adjetey and Julius Nyarko have been chosen to participate in DiverseCity: The Greater Toronto Leadership Project. This initiative was launched in 2008 with the aim of granting visible minorities an opportunity to nurture leadership qualities and develop professional and community contacts.
March 11, 2010
Mississauga News
Civic leaders build skills
By Julie Slack
Excerpt: Through the Diverse City, Greater Toronto Leadership Project, 27 people from across the GTA, including Mississaugans Farheen Khan, Jasvir Nijjar and Crystal Perryman Mark, were chosen to take part in a Fellows program. Representing the public, private, and non-profit sectors, this year’s Fellows were selected for their broad range of contributions to their communities and their potential to become civic leaders.
February 18, 2010
CBC Here & Now
INTERVIEW: DiverseCity (runs 00:35)
Here & Now spoke with 2010 DiverseCity Fellow Salima Rawji.
Excerpt: In this city, the people who run the major corporations and non-profits tend to be white, male, and able-bodied. But those demographics are not reflective of the city at large. That’s why the Toronto City Summit Alliance and the Maytree Foundation started the DiverseCity Project.
Toronto Star
‘Rising city-builders’ strive to make their mark
By Daniel Dale
Excerpt: The year-long fellowship program, part of a joint initiative between the Toronto City Summit Alliance and Maytree, a charity, brings together a disparate array of frighteningly busy young professionals who are thought to be “rising city-builders.” This year’s crop, feted at an event Thursday night, includes lawyers, corporate managers, entrepreneurs, community outreach workers, health workers and public employees. They hail from such distant locales as Jordan, Bangladesh, Ghana and Guyana. Yet, even in their first meetings, they found common ground.
November 17, 2009
Toronto Star editorial
Good news on diversity
Excerpt: In the most diverse GTA municipalities, visible minorities make up nearly 50 per cent of the population. But just 13 per cent of the top leaders in the public, non-profit and corporate sectors belong to visible minorities, according to a study earlier this year…. It is welcome news, then, that a progressive initiative of the Maytree Foundation and Toronto City Summit Alliance seems to be having an impact.
November 16, 2009
CBC Metro Morning
Old Boys’ Network Transformed (runs 10:40)
Andy Barrie spoke with Julia Deans and Adam Vaughan.
Excerpt: We have been told and told again that Toronto is one of the most diverse cities in the world — except when it comes to its leadership.
October 8, 2009
Toronto Star
Unleash your energy on the GTA
By Royson James
Excerpt: Inspiring enablers – David Pecaut of the Toronto City Summit Alliance and Maytree Foundation’s Ratna Omidvar – are raising the curtain on these bright lights, not content to sit and wait. So, if you are an emerging leader, with much to give your city – from Burlington to Bowmanville – and you look nothing like the average mayor, CEO and boss man, run to your computer, sign on to www.DiverseCityToronto.ca, and apply to be a DiverseCity Fellow.
May 30, 2009
Toronto Star
By Royson James
Excerpt: Take Toronto, for example. In its 175-year history, the city of Toronto has managed to elect just 12 non-whites as city councillors – including the former municipalities of East York, Scarborough, North York, Etobicoke and York. So the findings of a Ryerson University study this week that Toronto is a graveyard for non-white political leaders shouldn’t surprise.
May 28, 2009
Toronto Star Editorial
Falling short on diversity
Excerpt: The Greater Toronto Area is one of the most successful immigrant-diverse regions in the world. We can rightly take pride in how welcoming we have been. But a new study shines an important spotlight on where we continue to fall short.
Toronto Star
Glacial pace of equity costs our cities
By Royson James
Excerpt: A close statistical look at Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Markham and Richmond Hill – the GTA cities with the largest number of non-whites – shows by numbers what we already know from observation. Toronto’s executive suites and boardrooms are overwhelmingly white.
Toronto Star
Boardroom betrays the face of region
Study finds only 5% of corporate leaders are visible minorities
By Lesley Ciarula Taylor, Immigration Reporter
Excerpt: Gyan Chandra figures his background is part of his success. The managing director at IBM Canada Ltd. grew up in a “high-focus, high-achiever” world in Lucknow, India, where, he says, “the gap is immense between the top, the middle and the mediocre. That’s the training, to be at the top.”
May 27, 2009
Globe and Mail
Minorities missing out on top jobs: study
by Jennifer Lewington
Excerpt: Somali-born doctor Cadigia Ali has carved out a successful new life here as a community volunteer, public servant and now aspiring politician, but is living proof of the findings of a new report released Wednesday on the low presence of visible minorities in leadership posts in the Toronto area.
Toronto Star
Visible minorities lag in GTA boardrooms
by Lesley Ciarula Taylor
Excerpt: A new report has found that only 5 per cent of the leaders of Greater Toronto corporations are visible minorities. The numbers are somewhat more encouraging when it comes to leadership in government and education, according to the DiverseCity Counts report, released this morning.
CTV – NEWS
Visible minority leaders under-represented in GTA
Excerpt: Visible minorities are under-represented in high-ranking jobs in government, business and not-for-profit organizations across the Greater Toronto Area, even though they represent 40 per cent of the population, a new study has found.
CBC News
Minorities far behind in GTA leadership roles, says report
Excerpt: A report by the DiverseCity project says visible minorities are under-represented in the “senior-most leadership positions” in the Greater Toronto Area. The study, released Wednesday, looked at people in leadership positions in the corporate, public, non-profit and education sectors and found the number of visible minorites to be lacking. Zhara Dhanani, legal director of the Metropolitan Action Committee on Violence Against Women and Children, said the report confirms what many have always suspected.
Radio Canada
Les minorités sous-representées
Excerpt: Une étude de l’Université Ryerson démontre que seulement 13 % des leaders dans la grande région de Toronto proviennent des minorités. Il s’agit d’un faible pourcentage, puisque la moitié de la population de la Ville Reine est née à l’extérieur du pays.
April 29, 2009
canadianimmigrant.ca
Robin Cardozo: Funding facilitator
by Gloria Elayadathusseril
Excerpt: Having garnered immense experience in his chosen field, Cardozo believes he must offer expert advice to those who need it. So he voluntarily serves on the boards of several organizations including the Bridgepoint Health, Active Healthy Kids Canada, the Youth Challenge Fund and Maytree Foundation’s DiverseCity initiative.
April 12, 2009
Toronto Star
Changing face of Toronto not yet visible at city hall
by Michael Adams &
April 4, 2009
City Hall diversity lagging
by Royson James
Excerpt: Toronto once challenged its fire and police departments to hire more women and people of colour. It was among the first in Canada to draft employment equity plans. Almost three decades later, it doesn’t even know how many non-whites or women work at City Hall. Even as the police department reports steady progress – racial minorities comprise 10 per cent of senior Toronto police brass, 17 per cent of all officers and 22 per cent of civilians – City Hall languishes.
March 3, 2009
canadianimmigrant.ca
Leadership diversity deficit
by Staff Writer
Excerpt: Despite the great multicultural strength in the GTA, visible minorities are currently underrepresented in leadership positions. Recognizing this leadership diversity deficit, a number of organizations have joined forces to mend the situation.
November 27, 2008
insidetoronto.ca
DiverseCity works to bring diversity to top jobs across the city
By Jon Sarpong
Excerpt: On Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2008 the Maytree Foundation in partnership with The Toronto City Summit Alliance launched DiverseCity: The Greater Toronto Leadership Project.
