This is the third year I helped organize the Championship Team celebration as a part of the WLI Communications Team. I believe that WLI has, once again, put forward an incredible effort in assembling our biggest annual signature event.

This year we added 15 more champions to our already astonishing list. When I look at the list this year, it reminds me of how many bright talents we have cherished over these four years when our inaugural team was established in 2013. I was truly blessed to be able to work with many incredible colleagues who have inspired me to think of what I can do to help inspire others in the industry. And this has taken us to where we are now, celebrating our fourth WLI Championship Team Celebrations, titled, An Evening to Remember – 2017 WLI Championship Team Celebration.

This year the fireside chat featured guest speaker Margie Zeidler, Founder and President of Urbanspace Property Group, and was moderated by LoriAnn Girvan, the Chief Operating Officer at Toronto’s Artscape Inc. Margie spoke about her involvement at 401 Richmond, a non-profit community hub, recalling that it was the creativity that blended in at that time with the right opportunity that allowed her to acquire the property and turn it into a different type of urban space.

As LoriAnn took this walk down memory lane with Margie, I learned that this creative mindset was inspired by Jane Jacobs. Margie said it was Jacobs’ who, by untangling the creativity in shaping the urban landscape, influenced her to shape the concept of 401 Richmond, which now provides a space for artists with diverse backgrounds and blends the three key aspects of the urban design landscape — culture, community, and commerce. She referred to these as the  “three Cs” that “melt” together to form the idea behind social purpose real estate. The fireside chat provided food for thought in learning from their leadership perspectives in how to change our urban design landscape.

This year the fireside chat featured guest speaker Margie Zeidler, Founder and President of Urbanspace Property Group, and was moderated by LoriAnn Girvan, the Chief Operating Officer at Toronto’s Artscape Inc. Margie spoke about her involvement at 401 Richmond, a non-profit community hub, recalling that it was the creativity that blended in at that time with the right opportunity that allowed her to acquire the property and turn it into a different type of urban space.

As LoriAnn took this walk down memory lane with Margie, I learned that this creative mindset was inspired by Jane Jacobs. Margie said it was Jacobs’ who, by untangling the creativity in shaping the urban landscape, influenced her to shape the concept of 401 Richmond, which now provides a space for artists with diverse backgrounds and blends the three key aspects of the urban design landscape — culture, community, and commerce. She referred to these as the  “three Cs” that “melt” together to form the idea behind social purpose real estate. The fireside chat provided food for thought in learning from their leadership perspectives in how to change our urban design landscape.

As part of the celebration of women’s leadership in building a stronger Toronto Region through the responsible use of land, WLI published its first Champions in the Spotlight books in 2016.  This year we moved to the next level by launching an interactive online version with added features, including filtering by year, sector and discipline of the champions. This would not have happened without support from the following sponsors:

• BA Group
• Context
• Counterpoint Developments
• Matrix Search Group
• Diamondcorp
• Lifetime Developments
• Wynford Green

You can access the online version here.

WLI Toronto would also like to thank our event sponsor McCarthy Tetrault and our annual WLI sponsor, Matrix Search Group.

Once again, congratulations to all the new champions:

• Michelle Ackerman, Consultant, Kilmer Group
• Susan Allen, President, BOMA Toronto
• Debbi Baxter, Vice President & National Leader Corporate Real Estate Advisory, Deloitte
• Lisa Borsook, Executive Partner, WeirFoulds LLP
• Christine Burke, Director, Campus Facilities Planning, University of Toronto
• Valerie Gow, Partner, Gow Hastings Architects.
• Heather Grey-Wolf, Vice President, Development, Real Star
• Debra Kakaria, Partner, MHBC
• Pamela Kraft, Head of Property, Planning and Development, TTC
• Alison Macintosh, Partner, Real Property Solutions.
• Caroline Robbie, Principal, Quadrangle
• Elizabeth Sawicki, Consultant, Elizabeth Sawicki
• Cheryl Shindruk, Executive Vice President, Geranium Corporation
• Heather Tremain, CEO, Options for Homes
• Margie Zeidler, Founder & President, Urbanspace Property Group

Let us continue to celebrate the success of our WLI Championship Team which demonstrates a record of exceptional leadership and skill in the real estate development and land-use disciplines; dedication to and success at building thriving communities across the Toronto region; and a capacity to inspire others in the industry.

Thank you to our Event Sponsor: 

Thank you to our Annual WLI Sponsor: