Gordon Cressy is a great story teller and he has stories to tell.
He is a walking, talking civics lesson. His work over the years has been a driving force in making Toronto what it is today – a city that takes top spots globally in livability rankings for diversity, inclusivity, and tolerance. Few know just how many lives he has had or the immense behind-the-scenes contributions he has made to the fabric of Canadian society. Through his stories, Gordon’s life unfolds as a fish-out-of-water tale of a kid from North Toronto ending up in the Caribbean and transforming lives, including his own. It is also a story about youth and growing up. It is a story about giving. But it is ultimately the story of the people who made Toronto the community it is today.
Gordon will take us on a sixty-year journey starting as a young CUSO volunteer with the YMCA in Trinidad, followed by College on the south side of Chicago during the mid-1960s. He came back home to work in Toronto for 50 years, and then went off with his wife for three years to set up the first ever YMCA in Tobago. There are stops along the way in China and Africa.
Gordon has been a swim instructor, youth worker, community organizer, auctioneer, teacher, politician, fund raiser and senior executive. He played a key role on two of Nelson Mandela’s visits to Toronto, and founded Take Our Kids to Work and Canadian Tire’s Jump Start. He is also a keen senior competitive table tennis player.
