CMHA Ontario public policy director featured in Toronto Star cover story

The Canadian Mental Health Association, Ontario Division is pleased to congratulate public policy director Uppala Chandrasekera for being featured prominently in a Toronto Star article this week about women on public boards of directors in Toronto.

Chandrasekera, who has served on the Toronto Police Services Board since 2017, was interviewed for the Nov. 14 piece, which ran as the top story on the front page of the Star and on thestar.com.

In the article, Chandrasekera touted recent updates to the Police Services Act that now require municipalities to take diversity into account when making board appointments. According to the Star, women make up 42.9 per cent of the Toronto Police Services Board.

“I think a public board is intended to be representative of the community it serves, and so it’s very important that women are represented,” Chandrasekera told the Star.

The article also highlights the work of the G(irls)20 Girls on Boards program, which trains and places young women between 18 and 25 to sit on public boards. CMHA Ontario board member Yasmin Dini joined the CMHA Ontario board earlier this year through the program.

Read the full article (subscription required).