What an honour it has been to serve as ULI Toronto Chair for the past two years. I am very proud of what we have been able to accomplish together

From the outset my tenure as Chair had the objective to advance the Toronto region in pursuit of the Urban Land Institute’s mission to advance the responsible use of land. We sought to do this by leveraging the assets of our multi-disciplinary membership spanning across the private and public sectors, and our robust international network.

Part of our strategy was to grow as an organization and to build capacity to deliver greater impact. And on this front we achieved great success, doubling our membership to over 1500, making us the fastest growing District Council – and now one of the largest in the global network. We also boast the highest percentage of women members at 33%, and young leaders (under age 35) at 45% – in doing so expanding leadership opportunities for these members. And our growth has more than doubled our public sector and suburban memberships as a result. It’s truly an amazing story.

But our growth story was never about growth-for-growth-sake. It was about creating the capacity to deliver greater value and relevancy to our members by increasing the quality of our programming and the convening of impactful thought leadership. We did this through the expansion of our traditional event offerings and the development of new and innovative programming. I am especially proud of our now annual Meet the Chiefs gala that brings the regional public sector chief planners together with private sector land and development professionals. Last Fall’s inaugural Symposium that brought 750 professionals together with over 60 local and international speakers is also a hallmark moment for ULI Toronto and a tradition that will continue to grow and only get better over time.

Through the enhancement of our event programming has emerged an important regional initiative called ‘Electric Cities’ that we launched at our Meet the Chiefs gala this past spring. Electric Cities seeks to put a deeper multi-sectoral focus on the crucial urban goal of building economically stronger, more socially equitable, environmentally sustainable and livable neighbourhoods by bringing all forms of leadership more centrally into the fold of city and region building.

We believe that Toronto can – and must – serve as an urban global beacon that points to how successful progressive urbanism can advance solutions to tackle these complex socio-economic goals. They are goals that can’t be achieved simply by knowing what to do. They demand that we better understand how we get there. And central to how we get there is the expansion of our mission beyond the professional community and into the communities themselves.

There are many thank you’s to extend – too many to do so fully. So many of you have played an integral role in our success over the last two years. I thank the members of my Management Committee (aka the co-chairs of our committees) and of our Advisory Board and Governance Committee. Thanks also to our many generous sponsors who have been central to our development and growth. A big thanks to the staff team, Richard, Alex and Erin who have carried the torch for ULI Toronto at the administrative level and have supported the vision for our future with an undeniable sense of commitment. Most importantly, I must thank you – our members. ULI Toronto is a people first organization. We depend on your commitment, support and feedback to make our district council the best that it can be. These past two years have seen a remarkable level of membership engagement that I hope only gets stronger.

No greater accomplishment of one’s leadership tenure is the success in transitioning to the next. I am so proud that my Vice-chair/Chair of Mission Advancement Derek Goring who has been appointed as ULI Toronto’s next Chair. In assuming this new role, Derek will build on the past two years and continue to focus on our mission to deliver impact and leadership to the Toronto Region.

We are set up for greater success, and I look forward to continuing in my new role now as Past Chair to enjoying the next chapter of ULI Toronto.

Sincerely,

Rob