Welcome & cheers to a new decade!

I want to take a moment to introduce myself to all of you. My name is Penny Connors and I am excited to be taking the lead as your new Executive Director at the AFP Greater Toronto Chapter. I am honoured to have been selected from a group of seasoned professionals after a comprehensive recruitment process led by the team at KCI (Ketchum Canada Inc.) and am honoured to have had the opportunity to meet some of you, our members, at Congress this past November. I look forward to working with our Chapter Board of Directors, staff team, partners and sponsors, volunteers, and you, our members, to continue to build on the success of the Chapter and contribute to advancing new initiatives in the Chapter’s Strategic Plan.

I am lucky to have had the opportunity to work with my predecessor, Cynthia Quigley, these past few weeks in order to begin to familiarize myself with the Chapter’s programs and events and understand that I have some pretty big shoes to fill! Cynthia has been a phenomenal lead for the Chapter for the past 25 years and leaves an inspiring legacy – something that I hope to build upon. I am grateful for all of her hard work and for her transferring of knowledge, so that I can continue to work with you, our members, to take our Chapter to new heights.

I come from a background of extensive experience in the non-profit and regulatory sectors, leading teams to enhance certification standards and processes, working with not-for-profit Boards and Board committees in Finance, Governance and Human Resource oversight and leadership of member service initiatives. You can read more about my experience here.

As a racialized woman with certification and experience delivering workplace discrimination and harassment prevention training through the Employment Equity Office of the Government of Ontario, I look forward to supporting, improving and advancing AFP’s inclusivity, diversity, equality and access (IDEA) initiatives and celebrating new and diverse voices and perspectives within the sector. This includes working with our Board, staff, sponsors, partners and volunteers to build effective and transparent processes to ensure programs are reflective of and responsive to the communities we serve.

Personally, I have lived and worked in the Greater Toronto Area my whole life and enjoy spending time with family and friends. I am a proud mother of three.

I hope to meet you at upcoming Chapter events and in the meantime, welcome you to reach out to me at through our contact form here or to connect with me on LinkedIn.

I look forward to working with you & wish you all the best for 2020!

Sincerely,
Penny Connors, BA, BComm, CRM, CAE
Executive Director
Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) Greater Toronto Chapter