Former Toronto Community Housing CEO wins the 2009 Jane Jacobs Prize
A Torontonian who changed how we look at public housing was honoured tonight as the recipient of the tenth Jane Jacobs Prize, held at the Munk Centre for International Studies at the University of Toronto. Housing activist and former CEO of the Toronto Community Housing Corporation Derek Ballantyne was awarded this year’s prize which is named in honour of long-time Toronto resident and writer Jane Jacobs.
Not only was Ballantyne successful in creating more livable and vibrant communities, but he changed the game plan in his field of endeavour. While he started as a rent collector, he ended up setting a new model for urban development. Because of his vision, of his endurance, people in this city and around the world have a better idea what public housing could be like.
The redevelopment of Regent Park, a housing estate in Toronto’s downtown, is probably Ballantyne’s most visible and well-known achievement. However, as he points out, Regent Park is unique and will be impossible to replicate anywhere else. Instead, he insists that to be successful in creating livable communities, you have to shift attitudes about public housing, create an entrepreneurial environment within the organization and encourage tenant participation. For him, there is no better reward than having tenants tell him “My place is a better place to live.”
As a leader, Ballantyne created the right environment for the changes to happen. First, he allowed for risks to take place and supported a risk-taking environment. Next, he built both the internal and external confidence of the organization to allow for creativity. Finally, “you have to order your ideas. You can’t do everything at once and you have to make strong priorities and stick to them.”
On May 15, 2009, Ballantyne started his new position as the Chief Operating Officer of Build Toronto, a City of Toronto organization that will engage private and public sector partners in the development of city real estate. If his past successes are anything to go by, we can look forward to some exciting new developments in Toronto’s urban fabric.
For a full profile of this year’s recipient, visit the Ideas That Matter website.
About the Jane Jacobs Prize:
The prize is named in honour of long-time Toronto resident and renowned author, Jane Jacobs. It is awarded to a Torontonian whose work and innovative activities have contributed to the city’s vitality and help us better understand and celebrate the city.
The first Jane Jacobs Prize was awarded in 1997 at the end of a five-day international celebration called Jane Jacobs: Ideas that Matter. Hundreds of the world’s most prominent thinkers and community leaders attended the Toronto event to exchange ideas and celebrate Jacobs’ work. The prize was created to build on the spirit of that gathering and is funded by the Avana Capital Corporation. It includes an annual stipend of $5,000 for three years, to be used as the recipient chooses.
Previous recipients of the Prize include: food and community advocate Nick Saul, storyteller Dan Yashinsky, urban historian Rollo Myers, community organizer Iria Vieira (deceased), Dufferin park bread oven visionary Jutta Mason, real estate developer and affordable housing activist David Walsh, community activist Amanuel Melles, educator Mel Greif, food entrepreneur and activist Mary-Lou Morgan, social justice advocate Uzma Shakir, community developer Margie Zeidler, architect John van Nostrand, transit advocate Steve Munro and restauranteur Roberto Martella.
For more information about the Jane Jacobs Prize and previous prize recipients, please visit the Ideas That Matter website.
For more information contact:
Markus Stadelmann-Elder, Manager Communications, Maytree
416-944-2627 x284
mselder@maytree.com
Contact information for day of event:
647-400-2641 (cell)
416-944-2627 x284
mselder@maytree.com