We gathered on March 27 to celebrate our Champions for Toronto, who make Spadina–Fort York a more just, caring and green place to live. Each of our Champions has shown what it means to step up for neighbours, protect shared spaces, and build a more connected Toronto. All of their leadership is deeply valued, their contributions continue to inspire me and I am so glad we can work together to make change in our city.
Learn more about the awards here and see all the honourees below!
Public Spaces Champions
Public Spaces Champions are neighbours who work every day to make our shared spaces more accessible, more welcoming, and more joyful for everyone.
MVPs
Leea Puntanen. Leea Puntanen is a longtime community advocate who has championed neighbourhood improvements with steady, hands‑on leadership as a member of the Ossington Community Association.
Arushi Nath. Arushi is a youth civic advocate focused on education, the environment, and public safety. Her award‑winning science work and community organizing—from City Hall deputations to volunteering with TTC Riders—reflect her commitment to data‑driven, community‑powered change.
Chris Lee. For over a decade, Chris Lee has supported artists and nonprofits at the Youngplace building, helping secure its future through community ownership. His work with Inspirit Foundation and the Culture and Communities Land Trust has protected vital creative spaces in Toronto.
Said Yassin. Said Yassin is the Founder and Executive Director of It’s Ok*, creating art‑driven community experiences in unconventional spaces. His work with organizations across the city reimagines how creativity can spark connection and dialogue.
Winner: Catherine Mitchell. Catherine Mitchell has spent nearly three decades nurturing community life in the Garment District, from early days at Friends of MyMarket to her leadership in the Garment District Neighbourhood Association, helping neighbours navigate rapid development, strengthen local partnerships, and build a welcoming, resilient, and deeply connected community.
Teams of the Season
Space for Grief. Space for Grief is a public art and education project that reframes grief as essential civic infrastructure, created by Toronto’s Method Collective. We received their nomination from an attendee who was incredibly impacted by the experience they created.
The Bentway Facilities Team. The Bentway Facilities Team take care of one of the most unique and coolest public spaces in our downtown, and create incredible experiences for the community, schools and community groups, and world-renowned artists.
Winner: Living Long in the Distillery. Living Long in the Distillery (LLID) is a volunteer committee of the Gooderham & Worts Neighbourhood Association supporting residents in and around the Distillery District as they age in place through exercise classes, lunch‑and‑learns, falls‑prevention programs, memoir writing, digital literacy workshops, a photovoice project, and vaccine clinics.
Winner: Liberty Village Residents’ Association. The Liberty Village Residents Association (LVRA) is a volunteer‑led organization that strengthens community connection, civic engagement, and neighbourhood pride in one of Toronto’s fastest‑growing areas. They put on incredible events that make the most of summer in Liberty Village’s select public spaces and advocate fiercely for fairness and community voice, including on the Ontario Line.
Climate Champions
Our Climate Champions are our neighbours who have led initiatives to protect our environment and promote sustainability.
MVP
Winner: Jasminee Persuad. Jasminee Persaud's activities on reducing solid waste and building decarbonization with her condo eventually became Green Liberty Village, a community-based volunteer-led group to increase climate literacy and action among residents of Liberty Village.
Team of the Season
Winner: The St. Lawrence Neighbourhood Association Waste Reduction Group. The Waste Reduction Group (WRG), part of the St. Lawrence Neighbourhood Association, was created in 2019 to help the community reduce waste and care for the environment by hosting REmarkets, partnering with local shops and restaurants to offer recycling drop‑offs and promote reusable containers, and masterminding cigarette butt collection.
Housing Champions
Our Housing Champions are our changemakers shaping our neighbourhoods to be home for everyone.
MVP
Winner: Paget Ross. Paget Ross has organized multiple grassroots fundraising drives, raising tens of thousands of dollars in support of Homes First, which provides shelter and support to people experiencing homelessness in Toronto and in our neighbourhoods.
Team of the Season
Winner: West End Welcomes. West End Welcomes is a community group in the King & Queen West area created to support the success of local shelters and harm reduction services - providing educational experiences at a community building event and support to the St Felix Centre site at Adelaide St W in their community building activities.
Transit Champions
Our Transit Champions are our changemakers dedicating their time to improving how we get around with safety and better options.
MVP
Winner: Luis-Mario Carrington. Luis-Mario Carrington is a transit enthusiast who has written two books "Have you SEEN a TTC bus?" and "Have you SEEN a TTC Rail Vehicle?" with a third coming, sharing his knowledge and inspiring reverence for public transportation systems and the highly sophisticated technology behind the vehicles at their core.
Team of the Season
Winner: East Waterfront Community Association. The East Waterfront Community Association (EWCA) is the voice for more than 18 waterfront condo and rental communities, turning complex planning files into real, city building wins for residents. One of their long-term planks of advocacy has been for improvements to transit service in the community including for the Waterfront East LRT, and together we’ve advanced design and kept it live in negotiations with other levels of government.
Arts and Culture Champions
The Arts & Culture category celebrates our neighbours who enrich our communities through art, music, performance, or storytelling.
MVPs
Karla De La Hoz. Karla De La Hoz is a community worker and educator supporting children and families across Toronto, with a focus on newcomer communities. As the founder of Wiggle with Karla, she offers play‑based experiences in Spadina-Fort York through music, movement, art, and storytelling.
Natalie "Rare" Chattargoon. Natalie “Rare” Chattargoon is a Toronto‑Caribbean creative and social service worker whose practice centers mental health, wellness, and arts‑based community building.
Umesh Anavkar. Umesh Anavkar is a performer, choreographer, and director who champions Indian culture across the GTA. As founder of SAKURA Performers, he leads a collective that brings India’s folk traditions, mythology, and Bollywood energy to diverse audiences.
Kseniya Tsoy. Kseniya Tsoy is a community‑engaged artist and Toronto Arts Foundation Newcomer Arts Award recipient. She is known for collaborative public art projects that bring people together through joyful colours and uplifting messages.
Winner: Deborah Wang. Deborah Wang is our MVP who has made an incredible impact on contemporary art, design, and architecture in our city, as a co-founder and Artistic Director of the city-wide DesignTO festival, which has grown from a grassroots festival to a city-wide festival that’s welcomed over 1.2 million attendees and showcased the work of 7,500+ artists and designers since 2011.
Teams of the Season
Jamii Esplanade. Jamii is an award‑winning arts organization rooted in the Esplanade neighbourhood, dedicated to building connection through inclusive, community‑driven arts experiences reducing social isolation, fostering intergenerational relationships, and strengthening pride of place.
Soulpepper Theatre. Soulpepper Theatre in the Distillery District is redefining what a theatre can be in civic life - putting on acclaimed productions alongside free and low‑cost programming, supporting youth and emerging artists, and building new art partnerships, like with the Toronto Fringe Festival.
Toronto Outdoor Picture Show. Toronto Outdoor Picture Show (TOPS) animates public spaces through free outdoor cinema that highlights independent Canadian and Toronto filmmakers while creating barrier‑free cultural experiences in neighbourhoods across Toronto, including at Fort York!
Small World Music. For nearly 30 years, Small World Music has championed cultural diversity and celebrated artists who reflect the richness of the GTA, including through the SWM Festival, Global Toronto Music Conference, and a music incubator supporting Indigenous, Black, newcomer, 2SLGBTQIA+, and diverse‑abled musicians.
Winner: DROM Artist Collective. Drom Artist Collective is our winner this year Team of the Season, a registered not‑for‑profit founded by friends who believe music, food, dance, and visual art can transform how communities connect. They’ve led storytelling about our arts and culture scene, producing books, magazines, music videos and interviews as well as delivering exceptional cultural programming especially in Queen West!
Welcome Champions
Our Welcome Champions advocate for equity, inclusion, and meaningful social change, making everyone feel welcome.
MVPs
Rev. Deana Dudley. Rev. Deana Dudley is the Senior Pastor of the Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto, a vibrant, inclusive, progressive church and Human Rights Centre.
Winner: Pinar Dup Kurkan. Pınar Düp Kürkan is our MVP winner, and a leader right here at the Waterfront Neighbourhood Centre, leading programming and creating accessible spaces where people and families feel seen, supported, and empowered to belong.
Teams of the Season
Jean Lumb PS School Advisory Council. The Jean Lumb P.S. School Advisory Council (JLPS SAC) is a dedicated group of parent volunteers committed to building a strong and inclusive school community, bringing families together through a number of initiatives that support students in need and contribute to school programming, while also being an incredible, leading voice for many policy issues in CityPlace.
Winner: MDZ Productions. MDZ Productions is a youth‑led organization in Alexandra Park empowering at‑risk individuals through creative engagement and leadership development offering arts, media, and community‑building initiatives, including basketball tournaments with weekly mental‑health discussions.
Winner: D-Way Youth Organization. The D Way Mentorship Program is a youth‑led, community‑based initiative supporting young people in CityPlace, offering free mentorship, leadership, recreation, and personal‑development programming, including workshops, community events, sports, and the D Way Run Club. Built and run by mentors from the same neighbourhood, D Way creates a culturally inclusive, barrier‑free space where youth feel understood and supported.
Love Local Champions
Our Love Local Champions who are small business advocates making a lasting impact in the community.
MVP
Winner: Carolyn Wong. Carolyn Wong is the co-founder and manager of the Trinity Bellwoods Farmers’ Market (in year 20) which was established during her time with the Friends of Trinity Bellwoods Park - through this work she supports local agriculture and contributes to the neighbourhood in a tangible and edible manner.
Team of the Season
Winner: Conrad Wong, TODOTORONTO. ToDoToronto is one of the city’s most widely followed local discovery platforms, to showcase events, restaurants, and community experiences. Founded by Spadina-Fort York resident Conrad Wong and his business partner Michael, they help Torontonians rediscover their city by highlighting the people, places, and small businesses that make its neighbourhoods vibrant.
Hall of Honour
The Hall of Honour is a special category we’ve added to this year’s awards. It recognizes MVPs and Teams of the Season who have been long‑standing champions in our community, leaders whose impact has shaped Spadina–Fort York in lasting ways.
MVPs
Winner: Joan Prowse. Joan Prowse is a respected community leader, filmmaker, and climate advocate. As longtime Chair of the Bathurst Quay Neighbourhood Association, she’s led impactful grassroots initiatives, including a three-year air quality study with the University of Toronto and the City of Toronto, and ongoing advocacy on waterfront development and airport impacts. Joan is focused on amplifying community voices in Bathurst Quay and across Toronto.
Winner: David Chan. Realizing the Eastern Waterfront lacked a neighbourhood association, David Chan mobilized residents and founded the East Waterfront Community Association (EWCA), serving as its first President. Through steady leadership, strong communication, and tireless advocacy, David united neighbours, strengthened civic engagement, and championed a safer, more vibrant waterfront community.
Teams of the Season
Winner: York Quay Neighbourhood Association. York Quay Neighbourhood Association covers the central Waterfront from Spadina Ave. to Yonge St. It began in 2003 with the goal of participating in the amazing developments that were coming – high-rises, parks, promenades, boardwalks, redesigned Queens Quay and more. We see examples of their work across our waterfront, with Love Park being one of their proudest achievements, and making sure all the institutions on the waterfront serve residents here.
Winner: Toronto Downtown West BIA. The Toronto Downtown West BIA champions a coordinated, community‑driven approach to safety and wellbeing across one of Canada’s most dynamic urban districts. They work tirelessly to advance safety initiatives in our busy downtown, investing in our incredible public spaces and in public art, support neighbourhood cleanups, and navigate our pressing issues in the downtown, like homelessness and safety, with creativity, support, and deep commitment to community.
