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"Change is already taking place in small ways, in how people treat each other. The more people become aware of the opportunities they have to change the world, even in small ways, the bigger it ends up being for everyone."
~ Barbie Izquierdo, 2022 Global Citizen Prize
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LEADERSHIP MESSAGE
Dear YWCA Toronto Community,
We are so excited to share with you the digital version of YWCA Toronto’s 2023 Annual Report: Creating Promising Futures! This report shares deeply moving stories, and demonstrates progress as we worked through a year of growth. While we were faced with compounding challenges from 2022, we also remained steadfast in our efforts to advance gender equity and provided transformative programming to help women, girls and gender diverse individuals access housing, and build sustainable lives free from violence. Read more about our impact.
Earlier this month, we witnessed the power of community action in our ongoing efforts to have the province declare intimate partner violence (IPV) an epidemic. On April 10th, the Government of Ontario carried Bill 173: Intimate Partner Violence Epidemic Act through second reading and deferred it to the Justice Policy Committee. While this is a critical step forward, we recognize that it needs to happen in tandem with a series of supports to address this epidemic of violence meaningfully. Read our full response to Bill 173’s second reading and join us in recognizing this momentous occasion online.
Last week we celebrated National Volunteer Appreciation Week! Without our volunteers, we could not achieve our mission to transform the lives of women, girls and gender diverse people.
April 24th was World YWCA Day which is recognized by over 100 YWCA’s worldwide. This year’s theme was Resist, Reclaim, Revolutionise: No To Rollbacks, which celebrates the efforts and achievements globally towards gender equity and advocates to defend and protect the progress that has already been made.
I am so proud of the progress in our work at YWCA Toronto and thankful for you, our subscribers. Together, we are creating change in small and large ways — creating a better and equitable city for women, girls and gender diverse individuals.
With hope,
Sami Pritchard
Interim Director of Advocacy and Communications
YWCA Toronto
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Ready to explore a career in the skilled trades?
Funded by Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), YWCA Toronto brings you STAR 4-Women, a skilled trades program for women and gender diverse individuals.
Discover your potential with our 8-week program, which includes industry-related workshops, skilled trades career exploration, hands-on learning, and so much more! Gain essential health and safety certifications, job readiness skills, and personalized career counseling to set you on the path to success.
To learn more or to sign up for the next session on May 21, 2024, click here, or contact us at ashah@ywcatoronto.org or at 416.964.3883.
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Act Fast! LIMITED NUMBER OF TICKETS AVAILABLE
Join us at the 43rd YWCA Toronto Women of Distinction Awards Gala on May 23, 2024 at the historic Liberty Grand! The evening will honour the achievements of five remarkable women and raise vital funds for services that support women, girls and gender diverse people in our city.
Do not miss your chance to make a difference.
Get your tickets today at womenofdistinction.ca
For more information, contact Jacqueline Willis, Event & Stewardship Officer at
jwillis@ywcatoronto.org
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Abortion Access Tracker
Developed as a new tool for advocates, policy-makers, and journalists covering reproductive justice, the Abortion Access Tracker is a collaboration between Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF) and Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights. The tracker illustrates the legal landscape of abortion in Canada and the reality of accessing abortion across the country!
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Red Dress Day
May 5th is Red Dress Day, a day to remember and honour missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQIA+ people, with red dresses symbolizing the ongoing violence and systemic discrimination. Read our blog on the day here and take action with Amnesty International’s Activism Guide for the day here.
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YWCA Toronto at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women
Last month, Sami Pritchard, Interim Director of Advocacy and Communications, attended the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW68) in New York as a delegate of YWCA Canada. The priority theme this year was addressing poverty through a gendered lens. Advocates from across the world gathered for discussions and workshops about how, collectively, we can advance gender equity locally and globally.
See some of Sami’s experience at UNCSW68 here.
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Using Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Gender Equity Advocacy
Our most recent blog explores the potential of AI in advancing gender equality, equity, and justice. It emphasizes how using AI can save time, improve quality of work in the non-profit sector, and augment the capacity of often time-strapped and under-resourced organizers, volunteers, and advocates. The blog also explores the importance of human oversight to correct biases and features a variety of generative AI tools that can be leveraged for advocacy.
Read this blog, written by Leah Bae, who serves on YWCA Toronto’s Board of Directors and Advocacy Advisory Committee, here.
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LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
YWCA Toronto operates on the traditional territory of the Huron-Wendat and Petun First Nations, the Seneca, and the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. We are grateful to work on this territory as we strive to build a more equitable and just city for women, girls, and gender diverse people. For a full land acknowledgment, please visit our website.
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