"My name is Gracia Dyer Jalea. I'm the Founding Executive Director of the Toronto Ward Museum, a member agency of the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants and a registered charity.

Since 2015, TWM has assembled strategic partnerships across multiple sectors to support community-led initiatives that have used stories and storytelling to build solidarity and to foster conversations, often difficult conversations, about diversity and what it means to live in an inclusive society.

The work of bringing people together across differences has become more difficult than ever.  While social media and advancements in communication technologies have allowed for more voices to be heard, they have also produced an increasingly polarised world, where it seems far easier for us to focus on what divides us than what could unite us. Historically, museums, as tools of empire, have perpetuated an "us" vs. "them" narrative, often portraying the colonised as the "other" or "the conquered". It is difficult to unravel that history and, over the course of the past 4 years as I've worked to establish TWM, I've watched museums and the institutions that support them struggle to atone and build trust with the communities they've wronged, in the interest of remaining relevant in a world that no longer needs them to validate its truths. 

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I created TWM to stand as a model, an example of what a museum of the future might look like, if building more inclusive societies and advancing equity were at the heart of its work.  I often reflect on the tireless work being done by the community serving sector to lead the changes we need to see in our society so that everyone, regardless of circumstance, is able to succeed and thrive.  In particular, the example set by OCASI and other member agencies who have since joined our Block by Block program, have taught me that allyship, collaboration, and a commitment to a community-led approach is what is needed to advance change.

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Now more than ever we need spaces where people can come together to have brave conversations where, through sharing, listening, questioning, and debating, we can begin to strategise, build working relationships and innovate, not only to establish common ground, but to act and implement strategies for change that will lead to a more sustainable and just world. 

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I hope TWM will continue to act not only as a beacon within the heritage sector, but to be an active agent of change supporting the work that so many of you do on the frontlines every day."

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- OCASI - Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants Professional Development Conference, 2019