Frances Lankin - United Way Toronto

United Way Toronto

Lankin was the president and CEO of United Way Toronto from 2001 to 2011, guiding the organization through its transformation from a trusted fundraiser to an organization dedicated to addressing underlying root causes of social problems. Under Lankin’s leadership, United Way Toronto has engaged in a number of strategic initiatives that aim to improve the lives of individuals, families and neighbourhoods in Toronto including:

• a five-year plan to develop social infrastructure and engage residents in priority neighbourhoods identified in conjunction with the City of Toronto

• partnerships with government, business and labour to focus attention and resources on United Way Toronto’s key priority areas: neighbourhoods, youth and newcomers

• development of social research reports such as Losing Ground: The Persistent Growth of Family Poverty in Canada’s Largest City, Decade of Decline: Poverty and Income Inequality in the City of Toronto in the 1990s and Poverty by Postal Code: The Geography of Neighbourhood Poverty to identify and highlight challenges faced by the most underserved inner-suburbs of Toronto

• building and strengthening United Way Toronto’s network of health and social service agencies through funding and development of agency capacity and leadership

• mobilization of the community’s volunteer and financial resources

Lankin retired from the United Way in 2011.