ULI Toronto’s Curtner Urban Leadership Program is an annual curriculum-based program designed to immerse mid-career professionals from different disciplines in Toronto city building to create positive change in our city. The program is sponsored by Quadrangle in memory of one of its founding partners, Brian L. Curtner. The program reflects many of Brian’s passions, including city building, mentorship and collaboration.

Mission
Our mission is to cultivate thought and industry leadership by immersing emerging leaders in the real estate and land use industry in the challenges and opportunities of developing the Greater Toronto Area.

Focus for 2020-21
Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) is now a forefront consideration of city building internationally. In a recent letter to Toronto Mayor John Tory, Gladki Planning Associates noted “[recent] reflection has allowed us to see the role of our industry in an uncomfortable history of supporting structures of systemic racism in Canada.” And “Current engagement practices can burden or marginalize the voices of racialized communities.” While appropriate in a Planning context, these issues are important to the entire Real Estate industry.

This year’s Curtner Urban Leadership Program will focus on EDI in a planning, land use and development context. Working in teams, participants will lead monthly public sessions focused on identifying challenges and examining solutions. Using input from these sessions as well as their own experiences and research, they will then identify and develop those inclusive actions that can leverage diversity to achieve equity.

2021 Curtner Urban Leadership Program Directory

Program Dean (2020-2021)

Kevin Stolarick, PhD
Visiting Researcher
Inclusive Design Research Centre
OCAD University

Dubbed the “Official Statistician of the Creative Class”, Kevin combines expertise on cities, inclusion, urbanization, statistics, design, and economic development with an appreciation of the importance of finding and sharing the knowledge or “pearls of wisdom” gained from leveraging his research, writing, management and organizational skills. The author of over 100 peer-reviewed articles and commissioned reports, he has presented over 75 invited key-note speeches and presentations and over 100 print, radio, television, and on-line media interviews and appearances. He holds a PhD in Business Administration (Information Systems) and an MBA from Carnegie Mellon, a Masters in Higher Education Leadership, and a BS in Honors in Applied Computer Science. Kevin provided quantitative research and analytical support for Richard Florida’s books including The Rise of the Creative Class and Rise Revisited. He continues in collaboration with other researchers in the development of measures, indicators, and approaches for Creative Economy theory with a focus on the economic and social value of inclusion.

Program Dean (2017-2020)

Paul Bedford
Urban Mentor and Former Chief Planner, City of Toronto

As Chief Planner for the City of Toronto for eight years, Paul Bedford focused his energy on the development of new planning values, policies and processes to guide the next generation of city building in Canada’s largest city. As the driving force behind “the Kings’ renaissance,” Toronto’s groundbreaking new Official Plan and unanimous City Council approval of the Central Waterfront Principles Plan, he challenged everyone to embrace new ways to think, act and plan.

Following his retirement from the City of Toronto after 31 years of public service, Mr. Bedford remains passionate about the city and is totally dedicated to city life. He is a frequent public speaker at numerous forums on planning issues affecting Toronto and is active in shaping the new urban policy agenda at all levels of government.