October 30, 2018 In 2004, YWCA Toronto honoured Debbie Douglas with a Women of Distinction Award for her exemplary commitment to social justice. Debbie is currently the Executive Director of OCASI – the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants – a provincial body representing over 234 agencies across the province employing over 20,000 workers. Recently, […]

  Margaret Hancock became the first woman appointed Warden of Hart House at the University of Toronto in 1997. On May 24, she will receive the 2018 YWCA Toronto Women of Distinction Award. In an interview with YWCA Toronto, she reflects on the importance of social justice and why voting matters this election. Social justice […]

By Toyo Ajibolade “Girls as young as seven are becoming more self-conscious, losing confidence, and giving up sport as a result” – Huffington Post UK I’ve seen and read plenty of similar articles over the past few years and each time, the ages of the girls are getting younger. These articles and reports are written […]

YWCA Toronto’s Women of Distinction Awards, now in its 38th year, is an annual event that recognizes the outstanding contributions of women in their communities. Nominated and selected by their peers, Women of Distinction recipients are leaders that have made lasting changes in areas such as pay equity, abortion rights, constitutional reform, gun control, ethical […]

Ishita Aggarwal is YWCA Toronto’s 2017 Young Woman of Distinction. Ishita has been encouraging girls’ participation in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) programs since she started Science4Girls – a high school club – where she encouraged girls’ to learn about the work of prominent women scientists. She was instrumental in the creation of the first […]

April 11 is Equal Pay Day in Ontario. As women and allies stand together to demand economic justice, it is important to know the statistics: Indigenous women face a gender pay gap of 57 percent. For women with disabilities, the gap is 46 percent; for immigrant women, 39 percent; for racialized women, 32 percent. Women’s […]

To mark Black History Month, we are taking a look back at Black women who are amongst those honoured with YWCA Toronto’s Women of Distinction Award. This annual award is bestowed upon women who have demonstrated an iron-clad commitment to improving the lives of other girls, women and marginalized groups. It has been going strong […]

Ebonnie Rowe (fourth from the right) is the founder of PhemPhat Entertainment Group, a dynamic, all-female non-profit company that provides promotional and educational opportunities for up-and-coming female artists. She is founder and executive director of Honey Jam, an annual Toronto-based showcase of female music acts, which has been going strong for the last 20 years. She is […]

Georgia Quartaro, Dean of the Centre for Preparatory and Liberal Studies at George Brown College, is a 2016 YWCA Toronto Woman of Distinction. I have the privilege of working at a college where I see lives transformed every year. This is true across the college, of course, as students learn, develop skills, and find the […]

In the 36 years since its inception, the YWCA Toronto Women of Distinction Awards have honoured and celebrated 256 trailblazers. The list is both impressive and inspiring. Reading through it, I see many familiar names. I know them as the mothers of childhood classmates (Bridget Lynch, 2012; M. NourbeSe Philip, 2001); as university peers (Chi […]