By RON FANFAIR
Former Member of Provincial Parliament Mitzie Hunter is the new president of the Canadian Women’s Foundation.
“We are thrilled that Mitzie brings her many skills, passions and lived experiences to lead the Foundation at this urgent moment,” said Laurie Young, Chair of the Board of Directors. “From fueling grassroots programs for women, girls and gender-diverse people to building feminist philanthropy to breaking systemic gender barriers, now is the time to rally together for transformative change.”
The Foundation’s partners and donors supported over 600 programs to end gender-based violence, build economic stability and opportunities and empower participants with confidence and leadership skills last year.
“The Canadian Women’s Foundation is a hub for action on gender equality,” said Hunter who ran for mayor of Toronto last year. “It is for every single one of us who believes in the change we have already seen and knows reaching the goal of a gender-equal Canada is both possible and necessary.”
A graduate of Winston Churchill Collegiate Institute and the University of Toronto Scarborough campus with a Political Science degree, Hunter worked at Bell Canada as a regional director for five years before becoming president of SMART Toronto, an information community and technology industry firm.
She spent seven years at Goodwill Industries of Toronto, rising to the position of Vice President, External Relations & Corporate Secretary and two years as Toronto Community Housing’s first Chief Administrative Officer, where she led the organization’s strategic and business support functions, including corporate communications, strategic planning, human resources and information technology, prior to joining CivicAction in January 2012.
In August 2013, she became the third consecutive Jamaican-born politician to represent Scarborough-Guildwood residents after Mary Anne Chambers and Margarett Best.
Hunter went on to serve as Associate Minister for the Ministry of Finance responsible for the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan before becoming the province’s first Black Minister of Education in June 2016.
