Our Story
1982
The Maytree Foundation is established by Judy and Alan Broadbent.
1986
Maytree begins researching adult illiteracy and its correlation to poverty. Maytree starts funding community-based adult literacy programs.
1990
Maytree funds Multi-lingual Literacy Program in Toronto, Maytree’s first planned connection to the immigrant community.
1991
Maytree enters realm of refugee issue with grants to The Centre for Victims of Torture and The Quaker Committee for Refugees.
1992
Caledon Institute of Social Policy is established by Alan Broadbent and Ken Battle.
1993
Maytree focuses on refugee policy through a grant to the Canadian Council for Refugees.
1996
Judy Broadbent hires Mary Gordon to conceive an initiative to prepare children for their future roles as parents which later becomes Roots of Empathy. The program uses neighbourhood infant and parent visits to classrooms to reduce levels of aggression and violence among school children while raising social/emotional competence and increasing empathy.
1997
Alan Broadbent hosts “Ideas That Matter” in Toronto bringing together hundreds of urban practitioners, economists, activists, architects and planners, all of whom share an interest in the ideas of Jane Jacobs. A quarterly newsletter Ideas That Matter keeps the ideas and conversation alive.
1998
Ratna Omidvar becomes Executive Director of the Refugee and Immigrant Program at Maytree.
Maytree launches a formal Refugee and Immigrant Grants program.
Maytree and Caledon publish their first policy paper on immigration and refugee issues – Refugees in Legal Limbo.
1999
Judy Broadbent launches the Maytree Scholarship Program and the first seven students are selected.
Maytree launches Leaders for Change.
Immigrants Need Not Apply and Protection with a Price Tag are published by Maytree.
2000
Ken Battle, President of Caledon Institute of Social Policy, is appointed to the Order of Canada.
As recommended in Protection with a Price Tag, the Head Tax imposed on refugees is lifted.
2001
Alan Broadbent is appointed to the Order of Canada.
Ratna Omidvar is appointed Executive Director of Maytree.
“Toronto’s Vital Signs,” an initiative championed and supported by Alan Broadbent and Nathan Gilbert of The Laidlaw Foundation is launched by The Toronto Community Foundation.
Tamarack: An Institute for Community Engagement is launched with Paul Born as president.
Maytree launches the Immigrant Employment Loan Program in partnership with Alterna Savings.
York-Maytree Management Certificate program is launched in partnership with the Schulich School of Business. It is the first-ever management training program for settlement managers in the GTA.
2002
Maytree begins to work with Naomi Alboim as an associate in developing progressive policy solutions for immigration. Fulfilling the Promise: Integrating Immigrant Skills into the Canadian Economy is published by Naomi Alboim and Maytree.
Funders’ Network on Racism and Poverty is launched to engage Canadian grant-makers in addressing solutions to the growing link between systemic racism and poverty.
Alan Broadbent and Ratna Omidvar join other Toronto leaders at The Toronto City Summit Alliance in an effort to renew and revitalize the city.
2003
Maytree’s goal to reform the Canada Student Loans program is achieved. The federal government changes legislation to include Convention refugees as eligible candidates for the Canada Student Loans program.
Ontario’s Premier-designate Dalton McGuinty appoints Ratna Omidvar as a member of the Transition Advisory Board.
The Toronto City Summit Alliance recommends the creation of a Greater Toronto Area-wide effort to improve access to employment for skilled immigrants. The Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council is established with Dominic D’Alessandro and Diane Bean of Manulife Financial as co-chairs.
Maytree launches its Five Good Ideas program.
2004
Prime Minister Paul Martin appoints Ratna Omidvar to serve on the External Advisory Committee on Cities and Communities.
Following the lead of the federal government, a majority of provinces open up full access to their provincial student loans programs.
Avana Capital receives an Urban Leadership Award from the City of Toronto’s Canadian Urban Institute as recognition of its contributions to the city.
TRIEC launches The Mentoring Partnership.
2005
Maytree wins the Paul Ylvisaker Award for Public Policy Engagement from the Council on Foundations for developing and implementing informed public policy.
Maytree launches abcGTA (renamed DiverseCity onBoard in 2008).
Maytree Public Policy Training Institute is launched under the leadership of Naomi Alboim.
The first Maytree Annual Leadership Conference is held.
TRIEC launches HireImmigrants.ca.
Diaspora Dialogues Charitable Society is launched under the leadership of Executive Director Helen Walsh.
2006
Ratna Omidvar and Naomi Alboim are appointed to the Order of Ontario.
David Pecaut, Chair of the Toronto City Summit Alliance and Ratna Omidvar receive the Toronto Vital Signs award, on the 25th anniversary of the Toronto Community Foundation, for creating TRIEC.
2007
Maytree and Manulife Financial win second place in the Imagine Canada Business and Community Partnership Awards for TRIEC.
Maytree launches School4Civics and Policy in Focus.
TRIEC, and Executive Director Elizabeth McIsaac, are given a mandate to become an independent not-for-profit, charitable organization. Ratna Omidvar is its founding Chair.
ALLIES is launched in partnership with the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation.
The Mentoring Partnership at TRIEC wins an Urban Leadership Award from the Canadian Urban Institute.
2008
Maytree adopts a new logo and changes the name of abcGTA to DiverseCity onBoard.
Maytree launches Cities of Migration, a program to facilitate the exchange of promising integration practices between cities around the world.
Together with The Toronto City Summit Alliance, Maytree launches DiverseCity: The Greater Toronto Leadership Project. This project was developed out of the Alliance’s 2007 Toronto Summit “Making Big Things Happen” and aims to build the diverse leadership we need to propel our urban region forward.
