Alina Chatterjee

Committed to building healthy communities

A hip hop gang prevention program that turns into a trip to India for a group of at-risk youth, who while there, perform to raise money for street kids, is the kind of project Alina Chatterjee likes to champion.

As Director of Development and Community Engagement for the Scadding Court Community Centre (SCCC), Alina and her team took eight young people from various ethnic backgrounds to New Delhi in August 2003. The Somali, Caribbean and South Asian youth performed in a groundbreaking benefit concert, met the Dalai Lama and became subjects of the Columbus award winning film, Chaos, Chords and Karma. “The idea was for them to make a connection with other young people and to help them understand they have the ability to effect change,” she says.

At 28 years old, Alina has taken on a number of projects requiring steely determination and a willingness to challenge conventional approaches to solving social problems.

While Program Coordinator at the Alexandra Park Community Centre in 2000, she discovered there were no programs in place for Muslims, particularly Muslim women. Alina, her colleagues and women from the community set up a kickboxing program for these women.

A large anti-racism project was also launched at the SCCC in 2001 with Alina’s involvement. “Violence had erupted in Alexandra Park and people were etching racial slurs on other people’s doors,” she says. These events prompted SCCC to convene 14 focus groups across the city to explore the issues surrounding racism and the police. One of the most pressing problems was a lack of communication and a souring of relationships between youth and police. Communication was exacerbated because many newcomers were not fluent in English.

Residents called for an independent civilian complaints oversight body to handle police complaints. As a result, the largest community development and access to complaints project was launched successfully, says Alina. Importantly, she adds, it brought the community’s view to the attention of police and the government.

Alina’s creativity and energy did not go unnoticed. Soon after, the Regent Park Neighbourhood Initiative (RPNI), a fledgling residents association dealing with a massive physical restructuring of their community, hired her as their interim Executive Director.

“The RPNI was a very special experience for me. I saw in the Regent Park community the strength and resilience of communities to overcome extreme conditions of adversity and rise above these to demand something better for themselves and for their City,” says Alina.

At RPNI, Alina learned about the issues tenants in social housing face. Today she is using that knowledge to assist in the development and implementation of a new approach to housing that advocates the integration of social housing into mixed income communities. She is currently the Manager of Corporate and Community Development at Toronto Community Housing Corporation, the second largest social housing provider in North America. Alina says social service providers need to promote social justice through policy change and concrete action, as well as challenge systemic racism.

“Leadership is being able to facilitate a process that allows others and yourself to maximize potential”, says Alina. Relationship building is also key. “It isn’t useful to frame issues and concerns in an adversarial way. It’s much better to understand where the other person is coming from and articulate a position from a place of knowledge.” She adds that it is also important as a leader not to give people false hope, but to match expectations with deliverables.

Alina is also the past Chair of the Council of Agencies Serving South Asians, an umbrella advocacy organization. As she manages her work and volunteer activities, Alina hopes to continue to contribute to building healthy communities in Ontario, but says that can only happen with change.

“I would like to see systemic change and the eradication of racism one day; healthy communities where inequities are removed and people understand newcomers in a way that doesn’t patronize them. I’d like to see a recognition that Canada was built on the blood and sweat of our immigrants. I’d like to see this history reflected in our school system so that young people today can feel they are a part of this country and that they have a place here.”

Alina participated in the 2002-2003 Leaders for Change program.