Member Resources

2023

Annual General Meeting 2023 – on February 16, 2023

Board Meeting Minutes 2023

Date Tuesday, January 17, 2023 
Time 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm EST
Location Online
Attendance Board: Samantha Fraser, leZlie lee kam, Moka Dawkins,  Grant Gonzales, Courage, Deidre ‘D-Lishus’ Walton, D!XON, , Maher Sinno.  Staff: Sherwin Modeste, Nipuni Dhanawardana
Regrets Yuri Hernandez, Jad Jaber
ASL Interpretation Emma Dehez and Marcia Adolphe
Agenda Item  Summary/Notes Motions/Action Items
Land Acknowledgement Chair delivered the land acknowledgement recognizing traditional Indigenous land. leZlie share personal reflection: important to have land acknowledgment no matter how small a meeting is and a call to action. Maher share personal reflection/learning on how concept of a ‘spirit animal’ dates back to indigenous concepts. Grant Gonzales
Approval of Agenda Approving the Order of Business: 
  • Board of Directors Meeting Agenda – January 17, 2023
Motion: To approve the agenda (Approved).  Mover: Deidre ‘D-lishus’ Walton Seconder: leZlie lee kam
Approval of Minutes Approval of Minutes
  • Board Meeting Minutes – December 20, 2022 #11
Motion: To approve the agenda (Approved).  Mover: leZlie lee kam Seconder: Maher Sinno
Declaration of Conflict of Interest Chair requested any Board Director to declare a conflict of interest. This is a standing item for accountability. Discussed
Board Decision Tracker  For information. Requires an update, after which the Board will be asked to ratify.  Discussed
Board Meeting Principles and Expectations Secretary (Chair) Discussed
Executive Director Report  Executive Director Update Operations – everything is on track. This is the high season for Ops as they are securing vendors. HR: Ongoing hiring. New positions related specifically for Festival. Confirmation of $150K Marketing grant received (will have to pay back $50K) – can only apply to this grant once every two years. Artist registrations – over 200 artists have already applied. Community Information session held – around 20 new potential artists have attended. Marketing: in consultation with firm around Festival Marketing. Another priority is the need to revamp our website. Strat Planning: underway; consultants are reviewing documents. Womens Celebration: March 8th Black History Month event: on Feb 18th Feb 7th: Community consultation for South Asian programming. Feb 8th: Community consultation for  Middle Eastern programming. Maher: thank you for social media post about the Toronto City budget. Can support with getting the message out there for the community consultations.  leZlie: please make sure that Indo-Caribbean folks are included in South Asian community consultations.. Sherwin: looking for support of all Board who identify as women to be a part of Women’s Day programming. ASL at the event? If there are speakers at event, and if Courage and/or community members who require ASL, we will have ASL interpretation. leZlie: check with International Women’s Day planning committee so there is no conflict in terms of date.  leZlie to provide Sherwin with contacts. Discussed  
Treasurer Report Treasurer Update Audit ongoing, so AGM will be pushed later. Expecting update from auditors soon.  Finance is working on any outstanding sponsor payments. Treasurer Motion:To move in camera (Approved). Mover:  lezlie lee kam Seconder: Deidre ‘D-lishus’ Walton Motion:To move out of in camera (Approved). Mover: lezlie lee kam Seconder: Deidre ‘D-lishus’ Walton
AGM
  • AGM/SGM MInutes (For Review) 
  1. AGM – January 26, 2022 
  2. SGM – April 7, 2022
  3. SGM – April 26, 2022
  4. SGM – September 8, 2022
  • New Dates: Board Director Q&A / AGM 
Co-Chair Update AGM to be changed to Thursday, Feb 16. Q&A session will be a week before AGM on Thursday, Feb 9. AGM Minutes from last year. Ask is for the Board to review AGM Minutes. Jan 31st: Board meeting to be held to meet with auditors.   Motion: to set the AGM date to Feb 16 (Approved). Mover: Moka Dawkins Seconder: Deidre ‘D-lishus’ Walton
Membership Approval
  • Director Slate Appointments 
    • Troy, Osmel, Nirmalan 
  • New Applications / 2-Year Term Renewal 
Co-Chair Update Moka: update from Membership Application Committee. Reviewing the Member application process and how we track Members.Confusing language on whether or not people need to volunteer. D-lishus: need to update bylaws and the website; to reflect the current processes. Discussed Motion:  To appoint Troy, Osmel, and Nirmalan as Pride Toronto members (Approved). Mover: Moka Dawkins Seconder: leZlie lee kam Motion: Motion to approve the consolidated list of Membership Applications that Grant had emailed fromOctober/November applications (Approved): Mover: Deidre ‘D-lishus’ Walton Seconder: Moka Dawkins
Other Business / Extra Time Moka: Look into Pride Toronto consulting with ODLAN (Ontario Digital Literacy Access Network)  and Pride at Work, as experts in cyber security. lezlie works with ODLAN (Ontario Digital Literacy and Access Network) and Pride at Work; declare conflict of interest. Need to ensure we are keeping all of us safe and protecting ourselves against online bullying or cyberbullying. Lots of companies support this work, such as Media Smarts and Hollaback. Sherwin: Public Safety measures are important across all Prides in Ontario and security both online and in-person is a priority. To instruct staff to look at best practices with cyber bullying and online attacks, and safety as a compliment to the physical Festival plan. Board would like to see and receive cyber safety plan  in the near future.  leZlie: to send list of organizations to Sherwin who specialize in cyber safety and to continue to work on the Membership Application Committee. Co-Chair
In Camera Session  Board Members and Executive Director Motion: To move in camera (Approved). 
  • Mover: Moka Dawkins
  • Seconder: leZlie lee kam
Motion: To move out of in camera session (included in In Camera minutes).
Adjournment Board Members Motion: To adjourn the meeting (Approved). 
  • Mover: Deidre ‘D-lishus’ Walton
  • Seconder: Moka Dawkins
Date Tuesday, January 31, 2023 
Time 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm EST
Location Online
Attendance Board: Samantha Fraser, leZlie lee kam, Moka Dawkins,  Grant Gonzales, Courage, Yuri Hernandez, D!XON, Maher Sinno. Staff: Sherwin Modeste, Amit, Nipuni Dhanawardana Auditors: Chandor Gauthier, Parker Holman, Adam Scherer
Regrets Jad Jaber 
ASL Interpretation Rogue Benjamin and Dean Wiebe
Agenda Item  Summary/Notes Motions/Action Items
Approval of Agenda Approving the Order of Business: 
  • Board of Directors Meeting Agenda – January 31, 2023.pdf
Motion: To approve the agenda (Approved).  Mover: Samantha Fraser Seconder:  Moka Dawkins
Land Acknowledgement Executive Director  delivered the land acknowledgement recognizing traditional Indigenous land; way of giving back is ongoing learning. Pride Toronto will be looking to organizing an event to give back to the Indigenous community of Truth and Reconciliation day this year. Sherwin Modeste
Approval of Minutes Approval of Minutes
  • Board Meeting Minutes – January 17, 2023 #12
Motion: To approve the minutes (Approved).  Mover: Samantha Fraser Seconder: Moka Dawkins
Declaration of Conflict of Interest Chair requested any Board Director to declare a conflict of interest. This is a standing item for accountability. Clarification for Courage – it is not a conflict of interest to represent d/Deaf and hard of hearing community as a whole, as a Board Member. Discussed
Board Decision Tracker  For information. Requires an update, after which the Board will be asked to ratify.  Discussed
Board Meeting Principles and Expectations Secretary (Chair) Discussed
Annual Financial Audit ● Audited Financial Statements ● Appointment of the Auditor Sherwin introduces and thanks, Auditors, Finance Manager and staff Chandor and Parker updates: Audit report content and our 2022 report Explanation of what is in the audit report.  Opening balances and higher risk areas High risk areas: grant revenues and expenses (based on level of complexity, the timing, particular language in the grants), moderate risk (sponsorships – because of financial and nonfinancial sponsorships). Accounting adjustments needed by Crowe-Soberman; this is standard as accounting firms will differ in exactly what numbers they are looking into. 2022 audited financial statements Overview of 2022 report. Internal staff team is working hard to put controls in place and monitor finances. Discussion of in-kind contributions. We need a paper trail of in-kind donors confirming the value of their in-kind contributions and a confirmation they were used within the fiscal year in order to be recognized as an in-kind donor/sponsor. Pride Toronto is no longer relying on estimates. Address notes in statement that have impacted the revenue. Sponsorship – largest stream of revenue; year over year increase. Government and nongovernment funding (grants and subsidies) – second largest revenue stream. Return to in-person events have impacted both revenues and expenses. Largest areas of expenses: Advertising and promotion  Wages and benefits (full time and part time staff hired for Festival) – a lot of this offset by grants like Youth Breaking Barriers. Year over year expense increase related to in-person Festival. Net assets – conversation of the purpose of those funds. When a nonprofit organization builds a have a surplus (don’t need to restrict those funds) but need to have a basis/reason for building up surplus. Statement of Financial Position > Details can be found in Statement of Cash Flows Financial instruments defined as: any of the financial assets or liabilities can include cash, accounts receivable, accounts payable etc. Audit findings and management letter Substantive approach was used. Minutia of the details of the audit findings (ie. recommendations made) are to be reviewed by the staff team members.  Crowe-Soberman has conducted a regular, financial audit – not a forensic audit. Cash Flow discussed. Questions & thank you  Discussed Motion: to approve the 2022 audited financial statements (Approved).
  • Mover: Samantha Fraser
  • Seconder: Moka Dawkins
Membership Approval ● New Applications / 2-Year Term Renewal Membership approvals were approved via emails.
In Camera Session  Board Members and Executive Director Motion: To move in camera (Approved). 
  • Mover: Moka Dawkins
  • Seconder: Yuri Hernandez
Motion: To move out of in camera session (included in In Camera minutes).
Adjournment Board Members Motion: To adjourn the meeting (Approved). 
  • Mover: Samantha Fraser
  • Seconder: Moka Dawkins
Date Friday, February 3, 2023 
Time 11:00 am – 1:00 pm EST
Location Online
Attendance Board: Samantha Fraser, Grant Gonzales, Yuri Hernandez, leZlie lee kam, Maher Sinno Staff: Sherwin Modeste
Regrets Courage, D!XON, Moka Dawkins, Jad Jaber
ASL Interpretation N/A
Agenda Item  Summary/Notes Motions/Action Items
Approval of Agenda Welcome and Approving the Order of Business: 
  • Board of Directors Meeting Agenda – February 3, 2023.pdf
Motion: To approve the agenda (Approved).  Mover: Samantha Fraser Seconder:  leZlie lee kam
Land Acknowledgement Chair delivered the Land Acknowledgement. Grant Gonzales
Declaration of Conflict of Interest Chair requested any Board Director to declare a conflict of interest. This is a standing item for accountability. No conflicts were declared. Discussed
Board Update Acknowledgement that d-lishus has resigned from the Board. Discussed
In Camera Session  Board Members and Executive Director Motion: To move in camera (Approved). 
  • Mover: Samantha Fraser
  • Seconder: Yuri Hernandez
Motion: To move out of in camera session (included in In Camera minutes).
Auditor Appointment Recommendation  Board recommendation for the appointment of the auditor at the Annual General Meeting. Motion: Motion to recommend Crowe-Soberman LLP for reappointment as Pride Toronto’s auditors for the 2022-23 fiscal year (Approved). 
  • Mover: leZlie lee kam 
  • Seconder: Samantha Fraser
Adjournment Board Members Motion: To adjourn the meeting (Approved). 
  • Mover: Samantha Fraser
  • Seconder: Yuri Hernandez
Date Tuesday, March 21, 2023 
Time 6:00 pm – 9:00pm EST
Location Online
Attendance Board: Samantha Fraser, Grant Gonzales,, leZlie lee kam, Osmel Maynes, Nirmalan Vijeyakumar, Troy Dunn, D!XON,  Moka Dawkins, Staff: Sherwin Modeste, Nipuni Dhanawardana Other: Jennifer Hanna (Whiteboard Consulting)
Regrets Courage,  Yuri Hernandez, Maher Sinno
ASL Interpretation Alex Skrzyniak, Jo-Ann Martin (at beginning of meeting)
Agenda Item  Summary/Notes Motions/Action Items
Approval of Agenda Welcome and Approving the Order of Business: 
  • Board of Directors Meeting Agenda – March 21, 2023.pdf
Grant welcomes new Board Members and everyone to the meeting.
Motion: To approve the agenda (Approved).  Mover: Samantha Fraser Seconder: leZlie lee kam
Land Acknowledgement Chair delivered the Land Acknowledgement. Grant Gonzales
Approval of Minutes Approval of Minutes:
  • January 31, 2023
  • February 3, 2023
Motion: To approve the January 31, 2023 minutes (Approved).  Mover: Samantha Fraser Seconder: lezlie lee kam Motion: To approve the February 3, 2023 minutes (Approved).  Mover: Samantha Fraser Seconder: lezlie lee kam
Declaration of Conflict of Interest Chair requested any Board Director to declare a conflict of interest. This is a standing item for accountability. No conflicts were declared. Discussed
Board Decision Tracker  For information. Requires an update, after which the Board will be asked to ratify.  Discussed
Board Meeting Principles and Expectations Secretary (Chair) Hoping to update with some shared ideas. Discussed
Standing Item: In Camera Session
  • In-Camera Minutes (January 31 – Session 1)
  •  In-Camera Minutes (February 3)
  • Staff Update
Chair Motion: To move in camera (Approved). 
  • Mover: Samantha Fraser
  • Seconder: lezlie lee kam
Motion: To move out of in camera session (included in In Camera minutes).
Standing Item: Executive Director Report
  • Artist Performance Policy (Board and Staff)
Executive Director Questions or concerns about the Executive Director report. Samantha: discussion about new location for Pool Party. leZlie: discussion about staff wellbeing and retention. Samantha: creation of a safer space for staff.  Sherwin: staff support includes several platforms for staff to debrief and discuss. Staff have EAP (Employee Assistance Program) and additional supports, such as half hour of individual time with external consultant. Nirmalan: do we have KPIs, tracker, what’s at risk for funding? Sherwin: most of our funds come in right before or during Pride Month. Harder to predict month by month. Nirmalan: what hiring are we doing? Sherwin: Canada Summer jobs and we will have liaison roles at the Festival. Osmel: very interested in grants, sponsorship, HR. Discussion on sponsorships; ED report is great/straight to the point. Sherwin: Artist Performance Policy In the audit from federal government they flagged that it is a conflict of interest for Board to perform and be paid. They refused to acknowledge staff who were artists.  Current staff who are performers will not be performing at Pride 2023.Need to make a decision for this for Board.Intent is that this is the policy for 2023. Nirmalan: should this be extended to close family/friends. Troy: perceived conflict of interest. In policy we can have specific examples of when people should recuse themselves. Samantha: is there a difference between paid and unpaid performances? Sherwin: not just about cash value, but also publicity and peak time performance. Samantha- how do we handle this? what about engagement/conversation piece with community so that it doesn’t Sherwin – was communicated to Blackness! yesterday. leZlie: does this extend to advisory group?. Sherwin: different, but they cannot book themselves. These conversations will be led by the Community Engagement Manager. D!XON: are staff/board allowed to be hired through curators? Sherwin: issue is not about who is booking but who is paying, and Pride Toronto is paying the invoices. D!XON – what kind of provisions/historical accuracy can be made when board and/or staff leave? They are a part of marginalized communities. How can they be protected? Sherwin: individuals are going to have to make decisions on whether they want to perform or be a staff or Board Member. Grant: Considering cooling off period. Once a Board Member leaves. Samantha: Could be considered too corporate to have a cooling off period. Osmel: Pride Toronto needs to be transparent and duties involved as Board Member is important. Discussed/approval Motion: To direct staff to not accept bookings from Board Directors or staff, either paid or unpaid, during the 2023 Pride Festival, and to direct staff to develop a standing policy on Board and staff participation as artists and performers during the Pride Festival and other Pride events throughout the year (Approved).
  • Mover: Osmel Maynes
  • Seconder: Troy Dunn
  • Opposed: D!XON
Standing Item: Treasurer Report Executive Director Waiting to hear back from Federal audit. Discussed
Board Officer Elections Chair Overview of Treasurer, Secretary, Co-Chair roles and responsibilities Yuri nominated leZlie for Co-Chair. Samantha also nominates leZlie. leZlie accepted. leZlie nominated Grant for Co-Chair, Nirmalan for Secretary and Osmel for Treasurer. Nirmalan declined due to other responsibilities. Osmel accepted. Grant recommended Osmel as Treasurer.  Samantha nominated Grant for Co-Chair. Grant accepted. Grant update from Yuri: Yuri nominated themselves for Secretary. Welcome team and congratulations to the new Board Officers! Approval Motion: To approve Grant and leZlie as Co-Chairs, Osmel as Treasurer and Yuri as Secretary (Approved). Mover: Samantha Fraser. Seconder: Troy Dunn. Motion to acclaim roles.  Motion: to approve Grant and leZlie as Co-Chairs, Osmel as Treasurer and Yuri as Secretary (Approved). Opposed: None Abstain: None
Membership Approvals Chair: New process for approvals in the works. Motion: to approve new Membership Applications (Approved).  Mover:  Samantha Fraser Seconder: Troy Dunn Motion: Approved
Strategic Planning Session:
  • Introductions
  • New Strategic Planning Process
  • Principles of Consensus
  • Revisiting Mission, Vision, and Values
Jennifer Hanna from Whiteboard Consulting joined the meeting. Sherwin intro Jennifer, then had to leave the meeting. Introductions between Jennifer and the Board. Strategic Planning presentation: – Whether the individual is experienced or new to strategic planning, it  is beneficial to have a range of perspectives. – Big focus is SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis. – Mission, Vision, Values. Individuals vs Team vs Organization. Think about the entirety of the organization. You are thinking of all the stakeholders. – May 31st – timeline for strategic plan to be completed. – Strategic Planning overview process. Stakeholder groups:
  • leZlie: importance of intergenerational perspective to be included in the process of strategic planning. Rainbow Seniors committee to advise the Board on various matters. Need to be included in a bigger way. 
    • Jennifer: this could be identified as a gap. Please check with Sherwin if additional methods to process need to be added..
  • Samantha: Discussion on decision making. Residents (around the area of the Festival), Other Prides, International stakeholders.
  • Osmel: are donors included in sponsors/funders. Add donors.
Overview of RASCI (Responsible, Accountable, Supportive, Consulted and Informed) framework.  Nirmalan: RASCI is colonial but there isn’t an alternative to offer at the moment. Need to think about more anti colonial, anti racist frameworks. RASCI isn’t the most representative or reflective framework. Jennifer: acknowledged that there are limitations. It is primarily used to describe how decisions are made. Nirmalan: perhaps it would be good to separate Black people or Two Spirit people as stakeholders. leZlie: need Two Spirit people at the helm. Osmel: need more clarification on SWOT for the Board. Jennifer provides more instructions on SWOT analysis worksheet for the Board to do on their own. Once completed, worksheet could be shared directly with Jennifer or to Jennifer and all the other Board Members.
Other Business
  • Full-Day Board/Orientation Meeting (April 22)
  • City of Toronto 2SLGBTQ+ Committee Recruitment
Grant: upcoming April 22nd meeting in person. More details are coming. Committee recruitment: if there are others who would like to join. Touch base with the Board Co-Chairs.
Adjournment Board Members Motion: To adjourn the meeting (Approved). 
  • Mover: Samantha Fraser
  • Seconder: Troy Dunn
Date Saturday, April 22, 2023 
Time 10:00 am – 5:00 pm EST
Location Online
Attendance Board: Moka Dawkins, Troy Dunn, Samantha Fraser, Grant Gonzales, Yuri Hernandez, leZlie lee kam, Osmel Maynes, Nirmalan Vijeyakumar, Maher Sinno Staff: Sherwin Modeste, Nipuni Dhanawardana Staff Presenters: Amit Kumar, Derek Kang, Bobby MacPherson, Freya Selander, Lee Hamilton, Jamie Nicholson, Shayana Gayle, Dania Niles, Hannah Glover External: Sophie MacRae (Fasken), Shelly-Ann and Lee Modupeh Anansi Freeman (Uplift Black 365), Jennifer Hanna (Whiteboard Consulting)
Regrets Courage,  D!XON
Agenda Item  Summary/Notes Motions/Action Items
Land Acknowledgement Meeting began at 10:18am. Co-Chair, Grant Gonzales delivered land acknowledgment Discussed
Opening Remarks Co-Chair leZlie provided opening remarks, set the tone for the meeting and reminder to  opening. Reminder set tone for the meeting Motion: To approve the agenda (Approved).  Mover: Nirmalan Vijeyakumar  Seconder: Samantha Fraser
Fasken Board Governance Training Sophie McRae from Fasken presented on Corporate Governance.  The following topics were covered: Relevant Sources, Not-for-Profit Corporations Act (ONCA), Terminology, Members versus Directors, Election and Removal of Directors, Role of Individual Directors, Powers and Meetings, Execution of Documents, Pride Toronto Board of Director Agreement, Officers, Directors and Delegation of Powers, Standard of Care, Directors’ Duties, Directors Deemed Assent, Conflicts of Interest, Members, Pride Toronto Membership, Inspection Rights, Members Access to Corporate, Right to Requisition Meeting, Right to Make a Proposal Action item: Nipuni to forward the presentation from Sophie/Fasken to the Board once received . Discussed
Anti-Black Racism Training Shelly-Ann and Lee Modupeh Anansi Freeman from Uplift Black 365 facilitated a session on Anti-Black Racism. Discussed
Strategic Planning – Working Lunch Jennifer Hanna from Whiteboard Consulting facilitated a session for strategic planning to review SWOT analysis and Pride Toronto’s current Mission, Vision, and Values. Discussed
ED/Staff Presentations Staff Presentation: Staff team presented on following Festival topics including: General Information and Board Participation, Operations: Parade, StreetFair, Sustainability and Accessibility, COVID-19 and Security, Volunteers, Harm Reduction, Welcome Centres, Marketing, Finance, Grants & Donations, Sponsorships, Major Cultural Events and Visual Arts, Community Engagement, Programming, Lineup and Special Announcements. Parade de-staging clarification: Marchers and vehicles to be separated Accessibility at Nathan Phillips Square: We will have an accessible space that is closer to the stage.  Mobility devices: Walkers and wheelchairs will be available to rent through attendants. Nirmalan: What is the Communications Strategy around Mayoral Elections happening on Monday, the day after the Pride Parade? Sherwin: City Councillors cannot piggyback off of existing platforms to promote their campaigns. Letter going out to all candidates (also communicated to parade groups). Strikes won’t affect performers. Grant: Reminder to please respect plus one rules. Volunteer – let us know your availability to support with different speaking and attendance engagements. Samantha: VIP access and General Access.  Sherwin: this year there will be a path between VIP and General Access. Sam: Contact for sponsor. Do we have low sensory area? Sherwin: We are  working on it.  Moka: Security? What are the trainings? Sherwin: Security companies we work with go through trainings. Discussed
Declaration of Conflict of Interest Chair requested any Board Director to declare a conflict of interest. This is a standing item for accountability. No conflicts were declared. Discussed
Board Decision Tracker  Two updates made on Decision Tracker (Office and Performances). Information has been reflected on there. Discussed
Standing Item: Treasurer Report
  • 2023-24 Budget / Audit Process (FYI) 
Treasurer report – short but comprehensive update from Amit. Osmel and Amit will be working together.
Board Orientation
  • Standing Board Meetings (Confirm Date) 
  • Code of Conduct
  • Board/Staff Communications
  • Policies (Finance, Expenses/Mileage, Travel)
Board Orientation – will need to spend more time on this. Standing Board meetings – discussion on discussion time management. Currently board meetings are the third Tuesday of every month. We can revisit this, to ensure it reflects the current Board’s availability best. We will send a poll to figure out a better time. Meetings will remain on Tuesdays until June. Change will be from July onwards. Code of Conduct: need to take a look at this to improve communication with one another. Need to build more understanding with each other and have constructive conversations. Troy: professional tone in emails is needed. leZlie: respect is the bottom line. Kindness needed. Sam: Best to potentially have 5 min check in at the beginning to see how people are  and where they are at. Osmel: Main focus of the Board needs to be Governance and not Operations. There are lots of operational items mentioned in emails, we need to stay in lane of governance. Troy: important to give sherwin space to do operations. Maher: good to look into hybrid meetings if possible. Grant:  Policies. In regards to financial policies, all expenses require dual signatory. Board expenses for Pride Meetings (mileage, meals) can be sent to Sherwin, Amit, Osmel. Travel: staff makes a decision on this. Travel has to be connected to Pride business. Maher: Can we have a policy on who gets to decide on travel? Grant: Currently Co-Chairs have first right of refusal, but have always taken a balanced approach to ensure other Directors can represent Pride. Can continue this conversation.
Committee Refresh/Review Terms of Reference
  • Advocacy, Equity, and Human Rights Committee
  • Finance and Audit Committee
  • Governance and Policy Committee
  • Grants and Sponsorship Review Committee 
  • Membership Review Committee (New) 
Committees – no decisions here. Board Committees have fallen through the wayside over the last little while. There are four committees: 1) Advocacy, Equity and Human Rights, 2) Finance, 3) Governance and Audit, 4) Grants and Sponsorship. leZlie:  depending on the size of grant, it can take 3 to 6 hrs to review a grant. With new Officer role, leZlie stepping down from Grant committee Sign ups for Committees. Board Members should sign up for a minimum of one committee and a  maximum of two committees. Once committee members are confirmed, then you set up meetings, terms of reference, select a Chair (should have only one Chair). New committee: Membership Policy.  Can look into creating an Executive Committee: instead of Co-Chairs. Just the officers – and perhaps an additional Member at large. Osme: Exec committee can meet with Sherwin, then bring those conversations with the board. Can look into potential standing Officer Role: Director of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion (EDI) Samantha: potential conversation on Board titles. Board Co-Chairs – leZlie and Grant will be doing one on ones with Board Members. Maher: Board Director of EDI can potentially be a Mediator. Discussed
By-Law Review and Policy Development/Review (FYI)
  • Artist Performance Policy (Board and Staff)
  • Board Agreement
  • Code of Conduct
  • Membership Policy (Refresh Application Process)
  • Anti-Discrimination and Harassment Policy
  • Workplace Violence, Harassment and Sexual Harassment Policy
Need to refresh all of these policies and how we manage complaints. Discussion on Artist Performance Policy.Need clear accountability and ethics Moka: importance of need to help the community. Osmel: If you are on Board, you should focus on governance. Standard policy for all organizations. Nirmalan: important to recognize we are limited by legislation. Maher: can artists do pro bono performances? Sherwin: there are non- payment benefits of performing at Pride that would need to be considered.  Maher: artists should be considered same as organizations we have partnerships with,  Samantha: there is clear legislation on this. Can we look into more advisory committees (like artists, performers, this is needed.) Need a policy on this. Moka: can we look into working with artists/committees into lobbying the government to make legislative changes.
Standing Item: In Camera Session
  • In-Camera Minutes
  • ED Performance Review and Recommendations 
Chair Did not take place
Adjournment  Board Members Motion: To adjourn the meeting (Approved). 
  • Mover: Troy Dunn
  • Seconder: Moka Dawkins
Date Tuesday, May 16, 2023 
Time 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm EST
Location Online
Attendance Board: Samantha Fraser, Grant Gonzales, leZlie lee kam, Osmel Maynes, Nirmalan Vijeyakumar, D!XON,  Moka Dawkins, Courage,  Yuri Hernandez, Maher Sinno, Troy Dunn Staff: Sherwin Modeste, Nipuni Dhanawardana Other: Jennifer Hanna (Whiteboard Consulting)
Regrets Maher Sinno
ASL Interpretation Rich Manilla , Annette Sandy
Agenda Item  Summary/Notes Motions/Action Items
Approval of Agenda Welcome and Approving the Order of Business: 
  • Board of Directors Meeting Agenda – May 16, 2023
Meeting Chaired by Co-Chair Grant Gonzales
Motion: To approve the agenda (Approved).  Mover: Yuri Hernandez Seconder: Samantha Fraser
Land Acknowledgement Co-Chair, leZlie lee kam delivered Land Acknowledgement. Call to action: volunteer your time and/or spend money to support Two-Spirit People of the First Nations and Indigiqueer. It’s important to put words into action. Discussed
Approval of Minutes Approval of Minutes:
  • March 21, 2023 
  • April 22, 2023 
  • April 8-11, 2023 (online email decision)
Any substantive minutes to be captured this way over email; other decisions captured in the Board Decision Tracker.
Motion: To approve the March 21, 2023 Meeting Minutes, the April 22 2023 Meeting Minutes and April 8-11, 2023 Meeting Minutes all at same time (Approved).  Mover: Samantha Fraser Seconder: Osmel Maines
Declaration of Conflict of Interest Meeting Chair Grant Gonzales requested any Board Director to declare a conflict of interest. This is a standing item for accountability. No conflicts were declared. Discussed
Board Decision Tracker  Meeting Chair Grant Gonzales For information. Requires an update, after which the Board will be asked to ratify.  Office relocation and Sponsorship Confidentiality Policy were decisions recently included in the Board Decision Tracker Discussed
Board Meeting Principles and Expectations Chair Grant Gonzales spoke on document for reference Discussed
Standing Item: Executive Director Report
  • Board: Pride Engagement 
Executive Director, Sherwin Modeste Key items: Youth Conference this week, Human Rights conference later, Community Connects May-June. Please take the time to sign up on the Board Engagement document. Team is also working on visas for International Grand Marshall and other guests. Programming – social media is buzzing with what we are doing; speaks to what the Programming team and what the Marketing team are doing. Volunteer Department- there is still a lot of work that needs to be done. Across the board (at other organizations) volunteer numbers are low. Education program: this is a commitment specific to sponsors (not the general public). If there are any Festival questions; please add them to the ‘Staff Festival Presentation for Board Questions 2023’ document. leZlie:  thank you Sherwin and the team for getting this done while you are away.  Moka: question on security guards at the Festival and what training they are receiving from us. Sherwin: working with the team on this. We met with supervisors of each security company we are working with. It is not possible to meet with each guard at the Festival as there are over 400 of them and some are scheduled to work the Festival the night before. Blocko stage – we are splitting the security. Most of the security companies we work with – their guards have naloxone training and carry the kits with them. Nirmalan on grants: when we receive a decline on a grant we applied for, do we know why? For example if it is a case of too many applicants and not enough funds – is this a timing thing (first come, first served based on application). What is their criteria? Sherwin: when we get declined for a grant, we try to meet with the granting officer to find out why we were declined.  Grant: Pride Guide looks amazing – edits sent over. Really appreciative of the effort. Board Members, please RSVP instructions to support internal processes. Please do not RSVP via email; we will not be able to accommodate.  Grant: Community Connects and Conferences – how are they being marketed?  Sherwin: MLSE and TDSB  have been helpful in marketing Youth Conference. Human Rights Conference is sponsored by Air Canada in partnership with OFL and Dignity Initiative. Unions are supportive in spreading the word. Community Connects – a lot of community and the organizations we are working with, along with social media, are being used to spread the word. This year Pride giveaways are being put together by Amazon. Discussed
Standing Item: Treasurer Report Treasurer, Osmel Maynes Met with Amit, Sherwin, Bobby to discuss- working with the team has been great.  Started approving Plooto payments (our internal software). Finance pieces seem copesthetic Waiting to receive grants (first parts have been received, waiting for rest in June). Monies also coming in from StreetFair and Parade. Most monies coming in June We have been following all Financial Policies. Cash flow documents for (May,June,July) provided in the Board report are new documents for the Board to review. Discussed
Board Administration
  • Membership Approvals
  • Scheduling Monthly Meetings
Chair, Grant Gonzales Membership Approvals: to be approved by email. Monthly Board Meetings: no consistency for a new monthly date, it looks like the Board will continue to meet on every third Tuesday of the month.  Discussed.
Standing Item: In Camera Session
  • Approval of Minutes
  • February 3, 2023 (Amendment) 
  • March 21, 2023
  • April 5-11, 2023
  • ED Performance Review and Recommendations 
Chair, Grant Gonzales In-camera notes taken by Secretary Yuri Hernadez Motion: to move in camera (Approved).  Mover: Samantha Fraser Seconder: Moka Dawkins Motion: To move out of in camera session (included in In Camera minutes).
Strategic Planning Session Facilitator Jennifer Hanna from Whiteboard Consulting. Co-Chair leZlie lee kam is Chairing the next portion of the meeting. Board SWOT analysis compilation reviewed. Working draft of the strategic plan reviewed using miro board. Focus on understanding what is in the document and what it means. Consensus/approval of the plan is the responsibility of the Board.  Strategic pillar is defined as statement of directions of what Pride Toronto wants to focus on in big bucket ways. While Strategic goals are outcomes (ie. what is going to happen to make the directions happen. They are still pretty broad. 1-4 Strategic goals under each Strategic pillar. Review of Strategic pillars. Board Members given time to review each and request for clarification from the Board Steering Committee. Important to understand what each pillar is. We don’t want 6 goals under each pillars (6 in total) because we need to keep it concise so that it is manageable. Strategic plan: will be for 3 years. Second part: Board Members think about goals under the pillar and  to identify new goals/broad outcomes or feedback about the goals. Need to work on the FAQ. We are fairly on track. Going to look at further times. Will go to staff to work on this more, then Board for approvals.  Discussed
Other Business 
  • Advocacy Opportunities
Co- Chair, leZlie passed the floor to Nirmalan for more information on advocacy. Nirmalan: wanting to create a tracker of all of the advocacy pieces happening: what’s going on in Canada that we have the opportunity to comment on; ie. providing letters of support. Board advocacy committee could probably meet with councillors and other elected officials.  leZlie and Samantha  want to join the advocacy  Committee  Nirmalan: Pressing item: Pride Toronto to formerly supporting EGALE about Fox News . Public consultation. Yuri: can we work on this asap? D!XON: City reached out to connect leZlie for the community advisory committee for the redesign of Barbara Hall Park.  leZlie will do a space audit/walk through with the City Committee. leZlie has passed them on to Nicole and the Rainbow Seniors  Program at The 519 because it would be helpful to have Rainbow Seniors who  live in the area. D!XON is part of the committee because of how they identify and their connections with queer, Black Youth. Grant: committees; we’ll get that going after the Festival. Please look at key events and sign up. leZlie and Grant have emailed the entire Board for one-on-one meetings. Please respond whether or not you can make it.  Samantha: June 9th Jays game? Sherwin: yes, we are going to be going. leZlie is going to throw the first pitch.  Carry flag: Samantha (want to carry flag, but has a ticket), Yuri, D!XON, Moka. There will be a morning rehearsal with mandatory attendance, and then meet again in the afternoon for the game. Discussed
Next Meeting: Tuesday, June 6, 2023 Chair lezlie lee kam Please sign up to events and please RSVP. Please read the emails carefully. Co-Chairs look forward to meeting one on one with Board Members. Thank you Minute Takers, ASL Interpreters, and Sherwin for being here. Discussed
Adjournment Board Members Motion: To adjourn the meeting (Approved). 
  • Mover: Grant Gonzales
  • Seconder: Osmel Maynes
Date Tuesday, June 6, 2023 
Time 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm EST
Location Online
Attendance Board: Samantha Fraser, Grant Gonzales, leZlie lee kam, Osmel Maynes, Nirmalan Vijeyakumar, D!XON,  Moka Dawkins, Courage,  Yuri Hernandez, Maher Sinno, Troy Dunn Staff: Sherwin Modeste, Nipuni Dhanawardana
Regrets None
ASL Interpretation Vanessa Bailey, Cindy Muskat
 
Agenda Item  Summary/Notes Motions/Action Items
Approval of Agenda Welcome and Approving the Order of Business: 
  • Board of Directors Meeting Agenda – June 6, 2023
  Meeting Chaired by Co-Chair Grant Gonzales
Motion: To approve the agenda (Approved).  Mover: Moka Dawkins  Seconder: Troy Dunn
Land Acknowledgement Co-Chair, leZlie lee kam delivered Land Acknowledgement. Discussed
Approval of Minutes Approval of Minutes:
  • May 16, 2023 
Motion: To approve the May 16, 2023 Meeting Minutes (Approved).  Mover: Yuri Hernandez Seconder: Moka Dawkins
Declaration of Conflict of Interest Meeting Chair Grant Gonzales requested any Board Director to declare a conflict of interest. This is a standing item for accountability.   No conflicts were declared. Discussed
Board Decision Tracker  Meeting Chair Grant Gonzales For information. Requires an update, after which the Board will be asked to ratify.    Two decisions made by the email:
  • Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) email for Egale Canada
  • Statement the York Region District School Board (YRDSB) flag
Discussed
Board Meeting Principles and Expectations Chair Grant Gonzales spoke on document for reference.   Will dive into specific expectations during Board Director Expectations during festival portion of the meeting. Discussed
Standing Item: Executive Director Report
  • Board: Pride Engagement 
Executive Director, Sherwin Modeste Operations team: everything on par. Working on logistics with Pride Run as well.   Dyke and Trans Rally – both will be ending at Garden Stage, which is new this year.   7 Summer Student Positions have been hired. This year they will only be working up to 8 hours during Festival Weekend.   Canadian Heritage grant approved.   Community Engagement – events ongoing as outlined. List of confirmed sponsors provided to the Board.    Thank you to the Board for attending our first signature event in May (Programming launch).   Community Connect at Jane and Finch super successful.   Announcement from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for funding for key issues facing 2SLGBTQI+ communities.   leZlie: Community Connect event at Jane and Finch was great. Some Board Members and Sherwin have just attended the  fireside chat and welcome reception for Jessica Stern, the United States Special Envoy to advance the human rights of LGBTQI+ Persons and Frank Mugisha, Executive Director, Sexual Minorities Uganda. Event was in partnership with Dignity Network Canada. Moka provided introductory remarks on behalf of the Board..   Tomorrow Sherwin will be speaking to City Councillors of Kitchener.   Grant: attended Etobicoke Community Connect and it was great to see and support.   Nirmalan: Shoutout to team for support of the recent 2-Spirit PowWow with 2-Spirited People of the 1st Nations, as well  Community Connect Scarborough. Discussed
Standing Item: Treasurer Report Treasurer, Osmel Maynes   Receiving funds from StreetFair. We are moving in a great way. We are continuing to pay artists on time.   Courage: What is the plan for government grants that were recently announced? – Osmel: At this point it is just an announcement. We will probably receive it later on. It is for security for the Festival.   Courage: Are we planning on any last minute hiring of deaf artists? – Sherwin: we put out a call out for deaf/Deaf artists but we only received one response. A lot of the run of shows for Festival Weekend stages have been finalized; but we will do our best. Let us know if there are any suggestions here.   Sherwin: We are planning on a session during Festival Weekend to share best practices with other Pride organizations on safety. Toby from Capital Pride in Ottawa will be supporting.  Discussed
Board Administration
  • Membership Approvals
  • Scheduling Monthly Meetings
Chair, Grant Gonzales   Membership Approvals:  Recommending moving all Membership approvals to July.   Monthly Board Meetings: we are having some trouble finding a common alternate date for the monthly Board Meetings. Please update the ‘Board of Directors Monthly Meetings – Meeting Selection_2023’ Google Sheet Discussed.
Festival Update
  • Board Expectations during the Pride Festival
  • Calendar of Events 
  • Board Engagement Requests
  • Signature Events/Complimentary Tickets
Chair, Grant Gonzales   Calendar of Events: thank you for filling out the Board Engagement Requests document. Please continue to fill out as the document gets updated.   Second document is for signature events and complimentary tickets- please also fill this out.    Review Board Expectations during the Pride Festival. If VIP spaces full, please contact Sherwin and not other staff.   Grant: Review of Board Expectations during the Festival Weekend. Please sign up for events. You are representing Pride Toronto. Interact with kindness. Opportunity to connect with all stakeholders..   leZlie: Grant and I worked on this Board Expectations document. Do you all have any feedback or anything you would like to add?   Samantha: On Parade Day Sunday, are we all walking in it together like last year? Grant: Yes, this is where we all should be in attendance. We will be meeting in the Honoured Positions lounge in advance.   Troy: for the Expectations document,  if Board Members do not meet the requirements, are there any repercussions?   Grant: not at the moment, but something to look into.   Sherwin: email Nipuni if you have plus ones for the Parade. Board will have one golf cart.   D!XON: importance of heels, hair, makeup for trans women, in terms of accessibility.   Maher: Board Expectations document is very important. We should add respecting each other as Board Members in as well. In terms of violations against this document, instead of repercussions we should approach more from a harm reduction lens as a way to discipline and reprimand.   Grant: yes, that would be great way. We could look further into this.   *Board decided not to go into an in-camera session*   Courage: How many interpreters have been book for Pride events on Festival Weekend on June 23rd, 24th, and 25th? Is there a map showing where interpretation will be located? Sherwin: we are going to do a sign language blog so people are able to see what time and where ASL will be. Welcome Centres will also have this information available for people over the Festival Weekend.   Courage: For June 25, you have booked an interpreter. Please cancel; I can’t attend on Parade Day unfortunately. Sherwin: We have ASL interpretation for headliners – this is new for us. Courage: lots of feedback on ASL at the Festival; want to meet offline later.   Sherwin: in 2022, a few Board Members went to Montreal Pride to participate in the Parade. This year we are looking at having Board Members who will go to Montreal for the Parade, to make connections with their team and make observations on how we can make improvements at our own Parade. This will include via rail ticket, small per diem and accommodation.  Courage, Moka, D!XON, Osmel, Maher have expressed interest in attending   Sherwin: no tabling this year. We will observe on Saturday, and join their parade as a team on Sunday.   Samantha: will go on my own and join the Board if the five spots get full. Grant and Yuri are potentially going. Discussed.
Standing Item: In Camera Session
  • In Camera Minutes: May 16, 2023 (deferred to July)
In Camera session did not take place Not applicable
Other Business  Co-Chair: Grant Gonzales Discussed
Next Meeting: Next Meeting: July 18, 2023 Co-Chair: Grant Gonzales mentioned Discussed
Adjournment Motion: To adjourn the meeting (Approved). 
  • Mover: Moka Dawkins 
  • Seconder: leZlie lee kam
Date Tuesday, July 18, 2023 
Time 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm EST
Location Online
Attendance Board: Samantha Fraser, Grant Gonzales, leZlie lee kam, Osmel Maynes, Nirmalan Vijeyakumar, D!XON,  Courage, Troy Dunn, Maher Sinno Staff: Kojo (formerly known as Sherwin) Modeste, Nipuni Dhanawardana
Regrets Yuri Hernandez
ASL Interpretation Jennifer Best, Christie Reaume
Agenda Item  Summary/Notes Motions/Action Items
Approval of Agenda Welcome and Approving the Order of Business: 
  • Board of Directors Meeting Agenda – July 18, 2023
  Meeting Chaired by Co-Chair leZlie lee kam and Grant Gonzales
Motion: To approve the agenda (Approved).  Mover: Osmel Maynes Seconder: Troy Dunn
Land Acknowledgement Co-Chair, leZlie lee kam delivered Land Acknowledgement. Discussed
Approval of Minutes Approval of Minutes:
  • Board Meeting Minutes – June 6, 2023 #4
Motion: To approve the June 6, 2023 Meeting Minutes (Approved).  Mover: Nirmalan Vijeyakumar Seconder: Grant Gonzales
Declaration of Conflict of Interest Meeting Chair leZlie lee kam requested any Board Director to declare a conflict of interest. This is a standing item for accountability.   No conflicts were declared. Discussed
Board Decision Tracker  Meeting Chairs leZlie lee kam and Grant Gonzales advised on document for reference. Discussed
Board Meeting Principles and Expectations Meeting Chairs leZlie lee kam and Grant Gonzales advised on document for reference. Discussed
Standing Item: Treasurer Report
  • 2023-24 Budget
Treasurer: Osmel Maynes Staff: Amit Kumar, Finance Manager   Nirmalan had asked questions that were answered prior to the meeting.   Samantha: this is my fourth budget and Festival; budget looks good to me.   Budget is a living document, can always revisit   Kojo: 6 month commitment from Kojo to ensure we are on target. Ensure that we will not be going into the red.  We might adjust on insurance. Working with the team, to get a new quote. Not opposed to selling merch; there are a lot of logistics. We are looking at some options.   Maher: distribution of artist funds. Yalla Bara funds – we didn’t budget enough for their stage vs. other stages. Osmel: we can definitely have this conversation – it is more operational. Kojo: it may appear this line budget has decreased; however what has decreased is contingency (cushion funds). We currently do not have the resources for large contingencies. Year after year, stages are saying they do not have enough funds, however artists and infrastructure are 50% of budget. Meeting scheduled with 2023 Yalla Barra Curator.    Grant: some organizations do not have contingency.  Kojo: artists, curators, sponsors, community groups and Board will have opportunity to debrief after the Festival.   D!XON: Where is the cost of stages? Amit: year-long infrastructure vs festival infrastructure.   Reimbursements: Osmel has sent through form for Board reimbursement   leZlie: Thanks to Osmel, Amit, Kojo and Executive team.   Amit left meeting. Motion (Osmel): To accept the 2023/2024 budget (Approved).  Mover: Samantha Fraser Seconder: Troy Dunn Abstentions: None Opposed: None Motion: To assign Finance and Committee for Contingency Plan for Winter 2024 (Approved). Mover: Nirmalan Vijeyakumar Seconder: Samantha Fraser
Board Administration
  • Board Calendar 
  • Scheduling Monthly Meetings
Chair, Grant Gonzales   Grant has prepared a high level Board Calendar for what is in store for the Board throughout the year, other than events and meetings, so the Board does not miss out on key deliverables throughout the year. Something new is the specific review on the bylaws.    Board Meeting Monthly Schedule: attempted to find a different common time for Board Members to meet, but based on availability the Board will probably have to default back to Tuesdays on third week of every Month.    Kojo: looking at Board/staff retreat. This year will be a little bit longer, so we can have work plans that works with the Strategic Plan. It will likely be sometime in September.   Maher: if Board Members want to run again for another term, we cannot join the recruitment committee. However if we don’t run again then we can join the recruitment committee. Is that correct? Grant: Yes that is correct, and only applies to Board Members whose terms are ending this year.   Maher: Second question for the Board. I am starting support committees work, so I may not be able to join on Tuesdays. I want to contribute to the Board and so will need additional support to keep up to date. Grant: yes, that works. If you have questions, please ask in advance. Co-Chairs will support. Minutes and agenda will be available for everyone.   Samantha: Do we have estimated dates for September as it’s really busy that month. Location? Sherwin: not yet. Location: working on it; will be different than last year.   Courage: for the retreat – will it be a weekend or week? Kojo: yes, we’ll have the Board joining for Friday, Saturday, Sunday (and Board Meeting).   Courage: Can I also join the recruitment committee to recruit more deaf and BIPOC individuals to the Board? Grant: Not a conflict to join; that will be a September discussion. Sherwin: want to acknowledge that we have really great diversity right now on the Board, almost all of the Board is BIPOC. Discussed.
Committee Assignments
  • Advocacy, Equity, and Human Rights Committee
  • Executive Committee (New) 
  • Finance and Audit Committee
  • Governance and Policy Committee
  • Grants and Sponsorship Review Committee 
Chair, Grant Gonzales   Will resend email to Board Members about joining committees. Please join at least 1 or up to 2 committees. Please respond to the email  by end of month. We should have no more than 5 Board Members per committee.   First item of business for each committee is to refresh scope of work and roles, and responsibilities. Anything that is decided on in the committee is subject to approval by the Board.    Policy Committee: Need to standardize Terms of Reference (right now they are all different).   As a Board, we need to assign ourselves.   Nirmalan: Can you please explain what the Executive Committee is? Grant: Need to develop Terms of Reference because it is a new committee. This committee will be made of the Board Officers. It is mostly an advisory to the Executive Director, rather than a decision making committee.   Board Committee initial sign ups: leZlie: Advocacy committee Samantha: Advocacy committee, Grants and sponsorships D!XON: Grants and sponsorship Osmel: Policy and governance committee Maher: Advocacy or governance and policy   Samantha: should we have a community committee that is more grassroots to review grievances from communities/artists. D!XON: agreed on this Grant: This would be too operational. Board Members won’t participate in advisory groups – this was determined and agreed to by the Board a few years ago. Sam: How does the Board share  ideas? Grant: Strategic planning is the best way for Board Members to provide expertise/ideas on the direction of the organization   Grant: email will go out for the  August Board meeting. August-September: will be to work on scope of policy.   Conflict: leZlie only Rainbow Senior so leZlie is on the seniors advisory committee.    D!XON: there is an equity piece if only some members can advocate for their communities.   Maher: there should be more intersection now. It is worth re-opening up the conversation about Board Members on advisory groups. What can be the most beneficial for the organization.   Grant: Yes, but it is good to focus on Board Committees first, then open up conversation to advisory groups, since Board committees have not been up and running for the past little while.   leZlie: do we have a Membership Committee? Would like to revisit this next.    Troy: we should have a facilitated conversation on the role of the Board at some point so that we have an aligned vision and can get out nuanced conversations.   Samantha: If Board members could be seen as overtaking advisory groups, can we implement rules to manage this. This is just a rhetorical question to think about for now. Discussed.
Membership Approvals Chair, Grant Gonzales   Include Membership application (Cambell) that we were initially unsure was a legitimate application. Staff have confirmed that it is a legitimate application. Motion: To approve Membership Applications  (Approved).  Mover: Samantha Fraser Seconder:  Troy Dunn
Strategic Planning Kojo: the strategic plan is almost completed. Staff have recommended some minor changes/final edits for the Board to consider.   Nipuni went through the recommendations that staff had suggested.   Samantha: Accountability is there in the first pillar already. Thank you to staff for these recommendations.   leZlie: I really like realigning pillars. Thank you to the staff team, great work.   Grant: Vision should be “regardless of”. Agreed that first pillar is clunky, responsible does equal accountability. Disagree and believes it  should be Human Resources instead of singular. Disagree should be removing: biphobia, transphobia, an. Should leave here. Disagree that ‘Support the development and distribution’ should be first    Kojo: We will need to revisit and discuss.   Nirmalan: For the vision, “feel” is still wishy washy. We should use “are” instead. Is it 2-Spirit – can we confirm? Perhaps Festival Programming should be first.   Staff to reach out to to 2 Spirited People of the 1st Nations to confirm correct spelling.    Troy: Agreed it should be ‘human resources’    “Take an intersectional approach” = all agreed.     Going to keep “Support the development and distribution the development” as the third point and not move it up.   Pillar: Leading and Supporting Intersectional 2SLGBTQTI+ Advocacy. And then first bullet will stay the same.   Nirmalan: What is rollout plan?   Kojo: We are planning stakeholder reception at the office. Having this  with the economic impact report would speak volumes to the work we have done and are planning to do. Motion: To approve the Strategic Plan (Approved).  Mover: Samantha Fraser Seconder:  leZlie lee kam
Standing Item: In Camera Session
  • In Camera Minutes: May 16, 2023 (deferred to July)
  • In Camera Minutes: June 19, 2023 
Board Members and Executive Director Motion: To move in camera (Approved). 
  • Mover: Samantha Fraser
  • Seconder: Nirmalan Vijeyakumar
  Motion: To move out of in camera session (included in In Camera minutes).
Other Business  Co-Chair: Grant Gonzales   Festival Issues Board Directors pointed out that there have been some social media posts with complaints about Festival issues. They are encouraged to share these directly with the Executive Director for staff awareness.   129 Peter Street Working closely with BlackCAP, Pride Toronto has been supporting the refugees living outside 129 Peter Street by delivering hot meals, with more planned in the coming weeks. We have also provided them with Subway and Tim Hortons gift cards, and TTC fares.   Disability Pride Month Concerns were shared about the lack of acknowledgement. Staff confirmed that a social media post is planned to acknowledge Disability Pride Month.   If Board Directors wish to share information about programming and events, they are encouraged to do so in advance, recognizing that most staff are not working during the first two weeks of July. They are advised to also share information with the Co-Chairs, who can help prompt staff to post information.   Montreal Pride Staff will follow-up with Board Directors who are attending with travel and accommodation information. Board Directors are expected to represent Pride Toronto during the parade, and in other programming throughout the weekend. Discussed
Next Meeting: Next Meeting: August 15, 2023 Co-Chair: Grant Gonzales mentioned Discussed
Adjournment Board Members Motion: To adjourn the meeting (Approved). 
  • Mover: Samantha Fraser 
  • Seconder: Nirmalan Vijeyakumar
Date Tuesday, August 15, 2023 
Time 6:30 pm – 9:00 pm EST
Location Online
Attendance Board: Grant Gonzales, leZlie lee kam, Osmel Maynes, Nirmalan Vijeyakumar, D!XON, Maher Sinno, Samantha Fraser Staff: Kojo Modeste, Nipuni Dhanawardana
Regrets Yuri Hernandez, Courage, Troy Dunn 
ASL Interpretation N/A
 
Agenda Item  Summary/Notes Motions/Action Items
Approval of Agenda Welcome and Approving the Order of Business: 
  • Board of Directors Meeting Agenda – August 15, 2023
Meeting Chaired by Co-Chair leZlie lee kam and Grant Gonzales
Motion: To approve the agenda (Approved).  Mover: Nirmalan Vijeyakumar Seconder: Osmel Maynes
Land Acknowledgement Co-Chair, leZlie lee kam delivered Land Acknowledgement. Call to action: important that we continue to work in solidarity with Black and Indigenous folks on Human Rights Discussed
Approval of Minutes Approval of Minutes:
  • Board Meeting Minutes – July 18, 2023 #5
Motion: To approve the July 18, 2023 Meeting Minutes (Approved).  Mover: Nirmalan Vijeyakumar Seconder: Grant Gonzales
Declaration of Conflict of Interest Meeting Chair leZlie lee kam requested any Board Director to declare a conflict of interest. This is a standing item for accountability. No conflicts were declared. Discussed
Board Decision Tracker  Meeting Chairs leZlie lee kam advised on document for reference. Thank you to Grant for making sure that all of our decisions are being tracked. Discussed
Board Meeting Principles and Expectations Meeting Chair leZlie lee kam advised on document for reference. Discussed
Standing Item: ED Report 
  • Staff/Board Retreat 
Kojo Modeste leZlie: thank you for the report, I learned a lot from it. Nirmalan: National Day of Truth and Reconciliation is September 30th. Do we have anything planned? Kojo: Yes and this is a priority. We have heard from the Indigenous community that it is important to give back to the community on this day. We will be planning a Community Feast with 2-Spirited People of the 1st Nations. Nirmalan: To revisit our strategic plan: Living our Truth and Reconciliation should be first bullet point (moved). What are our plans to connect with the City? Kojo: We are currently working on our economic impact report and hoping to share with Marci Ien (Ottawa), Krystyn Wong Tam (Queens park), Chris Moise (Council).  Nirmalan: This is a great opportunity to work with the City on specific pieces, such as the fines over Festival Weekend. leZlie had questions about the report and received answers in advance. Kojo: The staff/board retreat this year will be at the office, during the week after Thanksgiving, from Tuesday, Oct 10th to Friday, Oct 14th. The Board will join staff on Thursday and Friday evening. We will  do a joint team building exercise on Saturday. We will send the dates and calendar tomorrow. Discussed
Standing Item: Treasurer Report  Treasurer, Osmel Maynes Recap: we passed the budget for this year at our last Board Meeting. We are approving a few outstanding expenses for people. We are wrapping up remaining artist and supplier payments. We have been receiving our grants. Kojo: we are about 85% ready for our audit, which starts mid September. The goal is to wrap up the audit by the first week of November. Auditors are happy even with the preliminary changes we have made to implement their recommendations.
Committee Assignments / Terms of Reference Template
  • Advocacy, Equity, and Human Rights Committee (D!XON, Samantha, leZlie, Maher)
  • Executive Committee (Grant, leZlie, Osmel, Yuri)
  • Finance and Audit Committee (Osmel, Nirmalan)
  • Membership Committee (Samantha)
  • Governance and Policy Committee (Troy, Grant, Yuri, Maher, Nirmalan)
  • Grants and Sponsorship Review Committee (Troy, Samantha, Osmel)
Grant Gonzales Each Board committee needs to update and review their committees’ Terms of Reference (TOR) for consistency. Template has been sent to the Board so all the TORs look the same. Next steps: each committee needs to figure out a time to meet, their mandate and terms of reference. Committees will choose their own Chair, create a work plan and decide what items to focus on and address. Hopefully, each committee  will have this ready to be approved at next month’s Board Meeting. Maher: Can we designate a specific person for each committee to take the lead on setting up the initial meeting. Grant: Yes Osmel can support Governance if needed. Nirmalan can move from Governance to Grants. leZlie will join Membership. D!XON will also join Grants and Sponsorship. Grant: Membership will be a subcommittee of Governance and Policy. The following reflects the changes to show which Board Member is in which committee. The individuals whose names are in bold will reach out to rest of the committee members to set up a time to meet:
  • Advocacy, Equity, and Human Rights Committee (D!XON, Samantha, leZlie, Maher)
  • Executive Committee (Grant, leZlie, Osmel, Yuri)
  • Finance and Audit Committee (Osmel, Nirmalan)
  • Governance and Policy Committee (Troy, Grant, Yuri, Maher)
    • Membership Committee (Samantha, leZlie)
  • Grants and Sponsorship Review Committee (Troy, Samantha, Osmel, Nirmalan, D!XON)
Discussed.
Membership Approvals Meeting Chair, leZlie lee kam Checked in with the Board Members to ensure they have reviewed the list of Membership approvals. Motion: To approve Membership Applications  (Approved).  Mover: Nirmalan Vijeyakumar Seconder:  Grant Gonzales
Standing Item: In Camera Session
  • In Camera Minutes: July 18, 2023
  • ED Performance Review  
Board Members and Executive Director Motion: To move in camera (Approved).
  • Mover:  Osmel Maynes
  • Seconder:  Maher Sinno
Motion: To move out of in camera session (included in In Camera minutes).
Other Business / Reminders
  • Sponsorship Prospects
  • Volunteer Appreciation Party
Co-Chair: leZlie (ahead of in camera session) Kojo: please send potential sponsors our way to add to our prospect list for this year. Also, if you have any headliner suggestions/ideas, please advise. We have to take into account certain costs, but all ideas are welcome leZlie: what do we need to consider in terms of criteria? Kojo: any companies that fit into our mission, vision or values. Sponsors who are willing to donate both in-kind and monetary amounts are needed. Board Members do not need to do any preliminary screening when recommending; the staff team will oversee this process. Reminder: the Volunteer Appreciation Party is tomorrow at 6:00 pm at the Labatt offices. The theme is slumber party. It is really important if you can come down. Our  volunteers work incredibly hard and we want to make them feel appreciated. Discussed
Next Meeting: Next Meeting: September 19, 2023 Co-Chair: Grant Gonzales mentioned Discussed
Adjournment Board Members Motion: To adjourn the meeting (Approved). 
  • Mover: Nirmalan Vijeyakumar 
  • Seconder: Osmel Maynes
Festival Highlights 2022

2022

Annual General Meeting 2023 – on February 16, 2023

Board Meeting Minutes 2023

About the Board of Director Candidates

Nirmalan Vijeyakumar (he/him) profile photo Nirmalan is a gay, cis, South Asian male, having grown up in Toronto, with strong roots in the Malvern community of Scarborough. Nirmalan is currently a Project Manager with the City of Toronto, and holds a Masters in Public Policy from the University of Toronto, and a Bachelor of Arts from Carleton University. Nirmalan has contributed his time to the 2SLGBTQ+ community in a number of ways, from providing event support for Pride Toronto, to providing refugee re-settlement services for Rainbow Railroad. More recently, Nirmalan is Chair of the 2SLGBTQ+ employee resource group for the City of Toronto, where he advocates for 2SLGBTQ+ staff, and facilitates activities to support employee development. Nirmalan is keen to advocate for equity deserving groups and has previously volunteered with the not-for-profit group, TTCriders. With his help, TTCriders was successful in advocating for a number of changes for transit users, including the introduction of two-hour transfers. Nirmalan has experience as a media spokesperson, working on policies, managing projects, and lobbying government officials. In his spare time, you can catch Nirmalan on the dance floor wearing some heels, enjoying a local drag show, and checking out Toronto’s vibrant art & culture scene. Why are you interested in joining the Board of Pride Toronto? I am interested in joining the Board of Pride Toronto because I am passionate about, and wish to advocate and support, the 2SLGBTQ+ community, and the many intersectional identities within it. As a cis, gay, brown man, growing up in Malvern, Pride was my first real-life exposure to the community. It gave me hope and reassurance of what could be, if only I could be my true, authentic self. As a teenager, I watched the Pride Parade for the first time, and it gave me the courage to do something I never thought I could. I decided to come out. In doing so, I met new people within the community, my mental health improved, and it helped me to succeed in my professional life. My positive experience, is one which I hope can be emulated for other young queer people. At this stage in my life stage, I feel as though it is time for me to contribute, and give back to the community. Pride is an organization with which I truly align, and I believe I have the skills and abilities to assist with, and to help further, the success of the organization. How will your experience, talents, and skill contribute to advancing Pride Toronto’s Mission, Vision, and Values? Pride’s mission, vision and values are centred on the idea of a movement, advocating for the rights of 2SLGTBTQ+ peoples. To achieve this, it requires a strong core, built upon anti-oppressive and anti-colonial frameworks. Governance models and management techniques need to be established, wherein the membership have a strong voice, and decisions are made in consultation with the community. I believe I can contribute to this, based on my education, experience, and skill set. I graduated with a Bachelors of Arts in Legal Studies (Carleton University) and a Masters in Public Policy (University of Toronto). I have attained strong skills in policy making, research, and have a keen understanding of governmental relations. Additionally, I’ve used my education to gain professional & volunteer experiences in several areas. At the City of Toronto, I am a Project Manager, working on transportation related projects. In addition to this role, I am Chair of the 2SLGBTQ+ employee resource group. I lead a team of staff who plan, coordinate and host professional development and networking events throughout the year, in a bid to foster an environment of inclusion amongst 2SLGBTQ+ staff. Furthermore, I have built and maintained strong working relationships with senior management, and identified opportunities for change, so that the City of Toronto is an employer of choice for 2SLGBTQ+ people. Prior to the City of Toronto Pride Network, I worked with a number of organisations in a volunteer capacity, which includes providing operational support for the Inside Out Festival, and Pride Toronto. An experience I would like to highlight, in which advocacy played a vital part, is that of my time working with TTCriders. TTCriders is a community based group, which advocates for better transit. During my time with the group, I successfully helped to establish two-hour transfers, through a co-ordinated approach of advocacy with TTC commissioners, businesses, and transit riders. This new initiative allowed transit users to complete their vital errands, without having to pay more than one fare, on a simple short trip. Pride has had a history of anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism, and we are working to address and combat this. What is your experience in working against racism, particularly anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism, and what is your vision for Pride Toronto’s external work in combating racism? As Chair of the City of Toronto 2SLGBTQ+ employee resource group, I have helped to ensure a strong focus has been placed on combatting anti-Black racism, and on Truth and Reconciliation. Over the past year, we partnered with community-based groups, who helped us facilitate several educational seminars and events. Additionally, I’ve also taken several training courses on anti-Black racism and Truth and Reconciliation, and proactively seek to continually learn and evolve my understanding regarding these issues. My vision for Pride Toronto’s work with regard to combating racism, is to have a renewed focus on ensuring anti-oppressive, and anti-colonial frameworks, established in all of Pride’s initiatives, procedures, and policies. This is in addition to focusing more efforts and financial resources on initiatives that support black and indigenous groups. This would include special programming during Black History month and National Day of Truth and Reconciliation. What is your experience in addressing and combating transphobia, transmisogyny, and transmisandry? During COVID-19, I volunteered with Rainbow Railroad to provide settlement services for a trans refugee. This was a life changing, and thought altering, experience. It provided a small glimpse of the trials, barriers and dangers that trans people face, not only in Canada, but elsewhere around the world, where there are no protections for gender identity or gender expression. As Chair of the City of Toronto Pride Network, I continue to advocate for our trans colleagues, with a current goal of implementing gender affirming health benefits. Pride’s membership has voted to ban instruments and symbols of policing, including uniforms, cars and weapons, from participating in the Pride Parade and StreetFair. If elected to the Board, how would you ensure that this commitment is upheld? I would continue to uphold this commitment as directed by our membership. I will further ensure that any funding commitments or negotiations from other levels of government do not include any requirements of re-introducing instruments and symbols of policing. I will continue to advocate for the 2SLGBTQ+ community, and ensure Pride Toronto is consulted with, on the implementation of the “Missing and Missed – the Report of the Independent Civilian Review into Missing Person Investigations”, and other reports and projects by the city and/or police. Accessibility is a crucial aspect for Pride’s celebrations, but we still fall short in providing a completely accessible Festival, especially for people with mobility issues, and the D/deaf and Hard of Hearing communities. What experience, resources, and knowledge do you have in engaging and supporting these communities? The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act requires that we become fully accessible by 2025. I have taken various training courses on this subject, and continually work to ensure increased accessibility in my workplace. For example, in a recent project I worked on, consultations took place with people who have mobility/hearing issues. This was to ensure that the project took their needs into consideration before implementation.
  Osmel B. Guerra Maynes (he/him) profile photo Osmel identifies as a Black queer man of Latin American descent. Osmel is a results-driven individual with over ten yearsʼ experience in the not-for-profit sector working within membership-driven environments. Osmel is also a social justice activist with a focus on enhancing the inclusion of marginalized voices. Osmel immigrated to Canada as an international student in 2003 to pursue a Political Science Degree at Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario. Osmel has called Canada home for 10+ years. During his time working with 2SLGBTQ+ community-based organizations in Ontario, British Columbia and the Yukon, Osmel focused his work on advancing effective grassroots and province-wide social programming, enhancing the inclusion of marginalized voices, pushing for sound public policy, and overseeing effective strategic planning in the non-profit and charitable sectors. Osmel is tirelessly looking for new ways to engage with his community, and always ensures that he provides a voice to all marginalized people, especially QTBIPOC folks. Osmel strongly believes in the power of inclusion to affect lasting social change. Why are you interested in joining the Board of Pride Toronto? My name is Osmel B. Guerra Maynes (he/him) and I identify as a Black CIS queer man of Latin American descent. I pride myself as a social justice activist with a focus on enhancing the inclusion of marginalized voices and I am very interested in joining the Pride Toronto Board of Directors. I recently returned to Toronto from Ottawa where I was serving as the Executive Director of Capital Pride/Fierté dans la Capitale- Which is the National Capital Region (Ottawa & Gatineau) Pride Parade and Festival. I now hold the position of Director of Organizational Development, Community & Culture at HQ Toronto- which is located at 790 Bay Street and is a centre of excellence in healthcare for cis guys into guys, trans and nonbinary people. I strongly believe in the power of inclusion to affect lasting social change. My experience as an advocate, community leader, team-builder, fundraiser, and a proud member of the LGBTQ+, Black, Caribbean, and Latino communities, make me an asset to Pride Toronto, as it embarks on its strategic plan in 2023 and beyond. How will your experience, talents, and skill contribute to advancing Pride Toronto’s Mission, Vision, and Values? I am the former Executive Director of Capital Pride/Fierté dans la Capitale which is the pride festival that is celebrated in the National Capital Region (Ottawa and Gatineau). As a strategic leader in such a queer focused workplace, I worked hard to ensure that an intersectional lens was applied to all programming and services that the organization offered, with a particular emphasis on the systemic and structural barriers faced by Black and Indigenous sexual and gender identity minorities. My previous managerial roles enabled me to establish a strong track record as an effective leader, whether it was in my role as an effective financial and operations manager, an inspirational coach and mentor, a respected community partner, an effective fundraiser, an equity advocate or as a relationship builder, who established partnerships with an array of private, community, public, and labour union organizations. Pride has had a history of anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism, and we are working to address and combat this. What is your experience in working against racism, particularly anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism, and what is your vision for Pride Toronto’s external work in combating racism? I tirelessly look for new ways to engage with my community, and always ensures that I provide a voice to all marginalized people, especially QTBIPOC folks. I strongly believe in the power of inclusion to affect lasting social change. My role at HQ also focuses on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion and have created spaces for all members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community. I used an assortment of physical and culture-based consultation mechanisms to ensure active community input in the strategic priorities of the organization, as well as in the way they were implemented and monitored. In addition, I sought to ensure that staff, Board members, volunteers as well as students and external partners, fully understood the exigencies and politics of equity and diversity by organizing and facilitating diversity training sessions on issues facing racialized, Indigenous, persons living with disabilities and LGBTQ2S+ groups, including Black, QPOC and Trans communities. What is your experience in addressing and combating transphobia, transmisogyny, and transmisandry? Being a director that focuses on DEI, social programming and community engagement it gives me a broad and extensive grasp of the human rights landscape of each province, as the experiences and needs of those we stand at the intersections of racialized, Indigenous identity, gender, social class, sexual orientation, sexual status, and mental health. This required an acute ability to communicate the crucial human rights dimensions of challenges they face to a variety of stakeholders, media, and the broader public, including through public awareness campaigns. It also demands advising a variety of governmental officials, law enforcement officials and others regarding strategies, opportunities, and best practices, surrounding advancing human rights. I have overseen the development and implementation of several education campaigns including queer & trans competency training, Anti-black and Anti-Racism training and HIV/AIDS awareness programming across Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia, and the Yukon. That being said, I ensured that Capital Pride dedicated more money to events intended for women, trans and non-binary people, as well as providing funding to the Wabano Centre for their Pride events. Prideʼs membership has voted to ban instruments and symbols of policing, including uniforms, cars and weapons, from participating in the Pride Parade and StreetFair. If elected to the Board, how would you ensure that this commitment is upheld? As the former Executive Director of a Pride Organization, The question of whether police should march in the parade while wearing their uniforms has been an ongoing topic of debate for the National Capital Region’s 2SLGBTQ community. At Capital Pride/Fierté dans la Capitale we issued a statement requesting that officers not march in uniform during the Pride parade, a decision that I still stand firm on today. We also wanted to hear from our community so we provided this question via online survey to engage our community. Though we found a number of respondents felt officers should be allowed to wear their uniforms, other consultations found some groups were deeply opposed.-the folks who were opposed were primarily marginalized folks who were Black, Indigenous, People of Colour, Trans and non binary folks who constantly get harassed by the police. while the folks in favour were primarily white cis gendered men and women. Due to this response Capital Pride/Fierté dans la Capitale kept the existing policy in place, while also encouraging police to work on improving relationships with the 2SLGBTQ+ community. That being said as a Queer Black, Latinx Cis Man I will continue to stand against Police participating in Pride in uniform or having any police vehicles, or equipment in the parade. Pride is Political and we need to defend our community from all forms of discrimination, especially from those who are paid to protect us. Accessibility is a crucial aspect for Pride’s celebrations, but we still fall short in providing a completely accessible Festival, especially for people with mobility issues, and the D/deaf and Hard of Hearing communities. What experience, resources, and knowledge do you have in engaging and supporting these communities? During my time at Capital Pride/Fierté dans la Capitale, We created an accessible viewing space near the parade route for people with mobility issues, while also lobbying OC Transpo to provide free transit on parade day. All our events, especially our signature events were held in locations that were accessible. At all our events we also provided ASL interpretation and langue des signes française, LSF. We also ensured that our events were LIVE streamed for those who were not able to participate in-person events and with this we provided closed captioning in both English and French. We also were able to acquire a sponsor who translated our materials into braille for the visually impaired community members.
  Samantha Fraser (she/her) profile photo Samantha Fraser is a proud pansexual femme real estate agent, living in Torontoʼs Junction Triangle. Before becoming the local “Queerltor” as she’s known amongst clients, she built up 20 years experience working in membership organizations and non-profit event planning. Her goal at Pride is to leave the organization better than she found it, which she’s been doing since she first joined the board in January 2020. Samantha is the founder and executive producer of Playground; an intersectional sexuality, gender, and wellness focused Toronto conference, founded in 2011 and released her first book on non-monogamy in 2013. Born in England, she loves traveling, antiquing, watching horror movies and Star Trek, and deals with multiple invisible mental and physical disabilities. She lives with her husband and several rescue cats and believes that leopard print is a neutral. When not helping clients fight against crooked landlords, decorating a house for sale, or working on her second book, you can find her dreaming of future projects on the Internet at 2 am when she probably should be sleeping. Why are you interested in joining the Board of Pride Toronto? I have really enjoyed my time on the board, over the last three years. It’s been a challenging road with so much to learn, but it’s such an important transition time in Pride Toronto’s history. As the pandemic kicked off not long after I joined in 2020, we spent two years doing a virtual festival. We had to hire a new ED and do a lot of cleanup work, getting Pride to where it is today. But the work is far from finished. It’s definitely a more oiled machine than before, but there is still so much work to be done. As we transition from being more than a festival to a truly 365 organization, we aren’t going to get everything right, but I am extremely dedicated to trying as hard as we can. To be completely honest; this is a tireless, thankless job. It can be exhausting to put so much of yourself into a volunteer position and still have so many say that everything you’re doing is wrong. But that’s also part of the job and I’ve definitely got some thicker skin now to deal with it! We have to take on the responsibilities of fixing mistakes that our predecessors made and not take it personally when people complain about either those past mistakes or ones we might make today. The board is not perfect. I am not perfect. But I believe wholeheartedly in the mission, vision, and values of this organization and how much we can get done when we come together, and I really want to continue doing this work. How will your experience, talents, and skill contribute to advancing Pride Toronto’s Mission, Vision, and Values? I have just under 20 years of experience in events management as well as not-for-profit membership work. I’m used to working with everyone from volunteers to government stakeholders. I have also been running personal events for the bi+ / queer community in the city since 2011 like Playground Conference on sexuality and gender and Tell Me Something Good sexy storytelling at Glad Day Bookshop. Additionally, and in really simple terms, I show up. While I deal with multiple illnesses daily, I still have made it to almost every single meeting that’s happened since I joined the board in January of 2020, and I am committed to showing up to as many as I possibly can moving forward. Pride has had a history of anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism, and we are working to address and combat this. What is your experience in working against racism, particularly anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism, and what is your vision for Pride Toronto’s external work in combating racism? Over the past three years, I have worked hard to help diversify the board, support the organization in our work with IBPOC communities and organizations, whether it’s to help heal, repair harms caused, or create new opportunities for collaboration. In my professional life now as a real estate agent, I often work with and advocate for racialized queers looking for housing. There is a lot of discrimination in my industry and I am constantly educating other agents on how to do better; housing is a human right. I make a point of following (and promoting) multiple IPBOC social media accounts to ensure that the information I’m consuming is diverse and I am always listening and learning. I know that D&I is but one piece of the puzzle so, while I make sure to help create safe(r) spaces, I also work hard to stay in my lane and not take up space or pull resources away from Black and Indigenous communities. As Pride represents so many different communities that exist under the queer umbrella, we have a lot of people counting on us. Our social media team has done a great job at highlighting so many of these communities, to help people learn about one another. I want us to keep doing this, to keep highlighting people from various backgrounds, to remind people that Pride belongs to everyone. We are also doing a lot of great work with countries around the world, many of which have terrible track records when it comes to how they treat the 2SLGTBQIA+ community, and how they handle racism. The connections that Pride is building internationally, as well as locally, will help us combat queerphobia and racism in solidarity with our friends around the world. What is your experience in addressing and combating transphobia, transmisogyny, and transmisandry? Trans rights and lives are being threatened more than ever lately. I believe in visibility and, while pronouns are just one small piece of the puzzle and extremely rarely even mentioned in my professional life, I stick them in every bio and ask every client what theirs are (if I don’t know them already). I am blessed to know both professionally and personally so many trans, non-binary, and genderqueer people that I listen to and learn from daily. Also in my professional life I am often educating fellow Realtors, landlords, and other people in the industry (like mortgage professionals) on the discrimination that our trans friends deal with on a daily basis. My clients trust me to help them find queer-friendly spaces and that’s something I take very seriously. I advocate for trans rights anytime I can with whatever platform I can find. I’m also having conversations about gender constantly with friends and also family members. Hatred breeds from ignorance and ignorance breeds from fear, so I work to combat that fear by helping to normalize gender conversations – because they ARE normal. I wouldn’t dare call myself an ally – as it’s not my place to give myself that label – but I make a point of doing the work that an ally should and will continue doing until I die. Trans rights are human rights. Pride’s membership has voted to ban instruments and symbols of policing, including uniforms, cars and weapons, from participating in the Pride Parade and StreetFair. If elected to the Board, how would you ensure that this commitment is upheld? Our members have voted against these things and I 100% support them in this choice. We listen to our members and follow their lead, but I also personally believe that symbols of policing do NOT belong at Pride. It would be irresponsible of us to allow so many people that come to Pride Toronto (to feel safe and included) have to deal with the fear and trauma that being around symbols of policing can bring up. The rates of policy brutality against our communities are ridiculously high and it must stop. Our unhoused queer family suffers even more in this city, with the brutal takedowns of encampments, and I truly believe that it would be irresponsible, careless, and inconsiderate of us to include symbols of policing at Pride. From the moment I joined the board I have been making sure that, in addition to this being the wish of the members, that it’s also a cultural ideology that we live by at Pride Toronto. Accessibility is a crucial aspect for Pride’s celebrations, but we still fall short in providing a completely accessible Festival, especially for people with mobility issues, and the D/deaf and Hard of Hearing communities. What experience, resources, and knowledge do you have in engaging and supporting these communities? I am gaining valuable insight working with fellow board member, Courage, as well as learning from our interpreters. I have multiple invisible disabilities myself, and work closely with many different disabled community members to ensure their concerns are heard. Historically, Pride has not done well in these areas. There is still so much stigma around disabilities, visible or otherwise, and we must do better. My experience with festival and event planning helps me to see where there may be missing pieces; however I believe that the only way we can truly improve is to bring those communities together to work with us. We absolutely cannot make the assumption that we are doing everything that we can without talking to the people who require the accommodations in the first place. Accommodation is more than wheelchair ramps or ASL. It’s about working to make our events accessible without people having to ask us for it. It’s about being proactive without having to scramble at the last minute to meet someone’s needs. We, and most organizations out there, must do better and I will work hard, along with our other disability advocates on the board, to ensure this is standard operating procedure moving forward.
  Troy Dunn (he/him) profile photo Troy has been closely connected in the Canadian retail & tech industry for over 20 years. In 2005, Troy joined Apple to launch Apple Retail in Canada and continues to lead Apple Retail, which includes retail stores, small and medium business teams and in-store educational offerings. With stores across Canada, from Halifax to Vancouver, Troy continues to stay connected to communities and local issues across the country. He has a passion for I&D work and has become a leader and ally across many different diversity networks at Apple including: Pride@Apple for North America. He is best known for leading the retail growth that Apple has seen in Canada, for his ability to connect with his teams and his passion for his country and community. Troy is proud to be Indigenous from the Bras dʼOr First Nation and has spent many years on a personal journey of reflection, education and understanding which he instills in his four wonderful children. Why are you interested in joining the Board of Pride Toronto? I’m currently on the boards of RCC (Retail Council of Canada) and CCAB (Canadian Council of Aboriginal Business). As a gay father of four wonderful kids, I want to invest my time in places and with organizations where I believe I can add value, have a personal connection to the work and most importantly help communities I care about continue to grow and elevate. How will your experience, talents, and skill contribute to advancing Pride Toronto’s Mission, Vision, and Values? Toronto Pride is an organization that personally connects to my life and it also feels like it may be in a moment of time where more voices and perspectives are welcome. As I shared above, I’m a gay dad and my oldest daughter is 20. Being a gay dad 20 years ago came with many more challenges than it does today so my life experience in this space has given me a lot of perspective and ability to help our community of today. It’s been such a gift to share my learns and mistakes with parents to be. Additionally being Indigenous is a very important part of my adult identity. Living in Canada today I feel the responsibility to help the community heal and push for greater reconciliation across Canada including with Toronto Pride. Pride has had a history of anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism, and we are working to address and combat this. What is your experience in working against racism, particularly anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism, and what is your vision for Pride Toronto’s external work in combating racism? Well as I shared I am Indigenous however have had a privileged life. My heritage was a deep family secret until the passing of my grandmother. I lost the ability as a child to know who I was however have taken this as an opportunity to ensure my kids know where they come from. In my family my partner isn’t white and consistently gets profiled by both police, border security and in everyday life just shopping in a store. It’s incredibly frustrating and honestly at times he feels defeated however I try wherever possible to create opportunities for learning and acceptance What is your experience in addressing and combating transphobia, transmisogyny, and transmisandry? I am a committed ally and have served as the Executive Sponsor for Pride at Apple for North America. In this work these have been topics where we have put a significant amount of work and effort around offering education. I am also Apple’s Executive Sponsor for Out and Equal where Apple is a major event sponsor. Each year I bring about 150 Apple employees to the event and I ensure we prioritize our trans employees as Out & Equal and The GenderCool Project are LGBTQ+ organizations that work to create cultures of belonging in workplaces, schools, and communities for the transgender community. Pride’s membership has voted to ban instruments and symbols of policing, including uniforms, cars and weapons, from participating in the Pride Parade and StreetFair. If elected to the Board, how would you ensure that this commitment is upheld? As I shared my partner is constantly profiled so it gives me a better understanding of the fear and historical pain this has caused the community. As of Board Member you would have my commitment to ensuring Toronto Pride continues to focus on creating safe spaces and events where everyone can be themselves without the fear of historical profiling, fear and discrimination. Accessibility is a crucial aspect for Pride’s celebrations, but we still fall short in providing a completely accessible Festival, especially for people with mobility issues, and the D/deaf and Hard of Hearing communities. What experience, resources, and knowledge do you have in engaging and supporting these communities? My Oldest son has Autism and from a very young age used Apple products to help him better communicate. In my professional life I’ve made Accessibility a priority in our hiring strategy’s. In this work we were presented with awards from SPINAL CORD INJURY ONTARIO and CNIB for creating employment opportunities for the communities.

About the Board of Director Candidates

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