TORONTO — Rev. Mpho Tutu, daughter of South African social rights activist Desmond Tutu, will be in Richmond Hill in April to take part in events organized by the Community Inclusivity Equity Council of York Region (CIECYR).
Tutu, one of the 83-year-old retired archbishop’s four children, is executive director of the Desmond & Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation.
She will present at CIECYR’s second bi-annual Diversity, Inclusivity and Equity Symposium on April 28 and 29 and will speak at the inaugural bi-annual CIECYR Diversity, Equity & Inclusivity Awards and Benefit Gala on April 30.
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Both events are scheduled to take place at the Sheraton Parkway Toronto North Hotel.
Other speakers at the two-day symposium — which will explore the theme of Truth, Reconciliation and Engagement — include Cindy Blackstock, executive director of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada, and Lionel Bazil Davis, former political prisoner during Nelson Mandela’s imprisonment.
The gala is a fundraiser with guests like Justice Murray Sinclair, chair of Canada’s Truth & Reconciliation Commission; former Ontario lieutenant governor James Bartleman; former Ontario premier Bob Rae; and Chief Donna Big Canoe of the Chippewas of Georgina.
Proceeds from the event will go towards building a school library and other educational initiatives for the children and youth of the Chippewas of Georgina Island.
CIECYR, founded in 2010, describes itself as a “human service community engagement council that explores, supports and enhances organizational practices of diversity, equity and inclusion.” More than a dozen community associations in York Region are members.
Tutu’s father won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 in recognition of his fight against apartheid. He last visited the Toronto area in early 2014. A street named in his honour is located near Bathurst St. and Queens Quay.
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