Toronto BELONGING TOUR 2025

The Belonging Tour Day aims to create an inclusive and engaging space where employers, housing leaders, city leaders, and newcomers come together to discuss issues that affect newcomers in Toronto. This day will provide a platform to explore key topics like housing, employment, and belonging, while fostering meaningful connections between employers and newcomers. The event will culminate in an intimate fireside chat featuring a thought leader.

Wednesday, Aug 20, 2025
9am - 3:30pm

Covenant House (21 McGill Street entrance, 4th Floor)

Our Main Sponsors:

Cross-Sector Collaboration: The event brings together employers, housing leaders, city officials, and newcomers—creating a rare, inclusive space for dialogue across different sectors that directly impact newcomer experiences.

  • Focus on Key Newcomer Issues: It addresses critical topics like housing, employment, and belonging, making it a targeted and purposeful event tailored to the challenges newcomers face in Calgary.

  • Meaningful Connections & Thought Leadership: With opportunities for networking and a culminating fireside chat with a thought leader, the tour fosters both personal connection and inspiration through expert insight.

What Makes the Belonging Tour Unique?

  • Employers and HR Professionals – To explore inclusive hiring practices and connect with newcomer talent.

  • Housing Providers and Developers – To discuss accessible housing solutions and better understand newcomer housing needs.

  • Municipal and Community Leaders – To collaborate on policies and initiatives that support newcomer integration and belonging.

  • Newcomers and Immigrant Community Members – To share lived experiences, build networks, and engage in shaping inclusive communities.

Who will be attending the event?

Speakers

  • Nidhi Khanna: Vice-President, Program Operations at Skills for Change

  • Carrie Baatje: Director of Talent Management and Talent Acquisition at Meridian Credit Union

  • Link Kabadyundi: Director, Communications and Engagement at Findhelp 211

  • Kelly De Fogain-Taylor: Founder of Afropolitan Canada

  • Heather McLean: Senior Director, Programs and Services at Skills for Change

  • Surya R C: Business Development Specialist at York University

  • Herleen Kaur Arora: Cofounder & Managing Director at South Asian Women's Collective

  • Selah Getahun Executive Director Ethiopian Association in the GTA and Surrounding Region

  • Adanna Phillip-Laing: Director of Social Supports at CEE Centre for Young Black Professionals

  • Moderator: Templeton Sawyer Executive Lead & Co-founder, | Alive House

  • Moderator: John April: Co-Founder of Alive House

  • Moderator: Andre Kaden-Black: Alive House Board Member

Morning FIRECHAT Speaker

  • Kizito Musabimana is the Founder and Executive Director of the Rwandan Canadian Healing Centre (RCHC), established in 2018 after his personal journey of healing from PTSD, a result of trauma caused by 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. In the winter of 2016, he walked from Toronto to Montreal—pulling a rickshaw as a symbol of his trauma—to raise awareness about PTSD & Trauma in the Rwandan Canadian community. 

    Since then, Kizito has led several system-changing initiatives, including the African Canadian Affordable Housing (ACAH) Village Initiative, which builds on the ACAH Solutions Lab Model funded by CMHC’s National Housing Strategy. As part of the first phase, RCHC recently launched the ACAH Village Hub in Toronto’s downtown core—a community safe-space offering wraparound services rooted in African values of healing, dignity, and Ubuntu spirit.

    Kizito also serves as acting-Chair of the African Canadian Collective (ACC), a network of about 20 Black/African Canadian organizations formed during the 2023 African Refugee Claimant crisis. The Collective’s mandate is to establish a Black/African Refugee Sector in Canada through a transformative System Change approach. 

    A storyteller at heart, Kizito is committed to telling successful AfriCanadian stories that inspire healing, dignity, and transformation. Where such stories are missing—due to historical injustices or systemic trauma—his mission is to help cultivate them, one leader and one community at a time. Through initiatives like the AlkebuLan Project, he aims to provide aspiring leaders and changemakers of African descent with mindset-shifting and capacity-building programs to shape new narratives for the future.

Afternoon FIRECHAT Speaker


  • Agapi Gessesse is a transformative leader and strategist dedicated to driving social impact, fostering  leadership excellence, and championing innovation. 

    Shaped by the resilience of her refugee parents and  the strength of her single mother, Agapi has committed her career to creating sustainable solutions and  empowering future leaders across diverse sectors. 

    As the Executive Director of the CEE Centre for Young  Black Professionals, Agapi has expanded the  organization’s impact to support Black youth in  employment and skill-building, scaling CEE’s reach and influence across North America. She is also the  Founder of Lehizibu Strategy and Consulting Group, where her insights guide nonprofits, governments, and corporations toward impactful social solutions. In her role as Board Chair of Amnesty International Canada, Agapi leads initiatives to address human rights and equity issues globally, advocating for policies that drive  systemic change. 

    Her exceptional contributions have been widely recognized: 2025 Gathering SpotWashington DC powerhouse award in 2024, she was named one of WXN Canada’s Top100 Most Powerful Women. She is also a recipient of the 2023 Harry Jerome DecadeLeader Award, the 2023 YWCA Woman of Distinction Award, the 2021 Peace Award, the2020 Top Black Women to Watch in Canada, and the 2019 Dial Mover in Tech recognition.

Afternoon FIRECHAT Speaker


  • Named one of Canada’s Top 100 Powerful Women and a Woman of Influence by RBC, Stachen Lett-Frederick has over 20 years of experience in the field of community and program development internationally and in Canada (Ottawa, Greater Toronto Region including Peel Region). She is the Founder of BrAIDS for AIDS, a not for profit organization to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS in the African ,Caribbean and Black Communities in Canada and internationally through a culturally relevant practice of hair braiding.She was the Executive Director of Weston Frontlines Centre which has ranked one of Canada's Top Youth Engagement charities under her leadership. As of October 2024, she became the President and CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Toronto. She is also the Founder of Lett's Consult Community, a consultancy firm that believes in the power of community voice in creating change for individuals and businesses. Occasionally, she shares her knowledge as a Professor at Sheridan College.

    She has done a number of consultancy jobs for organizations such as the Municipality of York Region, Carleton University, City of Toronto, Jane and Finch Family and Community Centre- The Spot, the AIDS Committee of Toronto, Black Human Resource Professionals of Canada, Prince Trust Canada, Socacize, Gyallivant, Black Journalists of Canada, Black History Ottawa, Somerset West Community Health Centre and many more.

    Her community development work has been recognized by Black History Ottawa, the High Commission of Trinidad and Tobago and YMCA Canada, How She Hustles with CBC Toronto, the Black Health Alliance, The Minister of Immigration and Citizenship , L’Oreal Paris Canada, 100 Accomplished Black Women Network and the Women Executive Network (WXN). She is the recipient of scholarships and accolades in academia including an entrance scholarship for Chemistry to the University of Ottawa, Honor Society, Magna Cum Laude for Social Work at York University and a scholarship winner for her completed Executive MBA at Ivey Business School.

Agenda

9:00 – 9:30 AM - Registration & Welcome Breakfast

9:30 – 10:00 AM- Opening Remarks/Land Acknowledgement 

10:00 – 10:30 AM - Grounding Ceremony: The Importance of Belonging

10:30 – 11:00 AM -Morning Firechat: “Youth Housing: A Place to Call Home”

11:00 – 11:30 AM - Break

11:30 – 12:30 PM Panel Session 2: “Youth Employment: Building Career Pathways”

12:30 – 1:30 PM Lunch & Mingle

1:30 – 2:00 PM - Reflective Ceremony

2:00 – 3:00 PM- Panel Session 3: “Youth Belonging: Creating a Welcoming Community”

3:00 – 3:30 PM- Afternoon Fireside Chat: “The Future of Belonging in Toronto”