Social Planning Toronto is thrilled to announce our new Director, Engagement & Strategic Initiatives: Melissa Wong. Melissa will start on March 7, and we are all very excited! She comes to us with great experience. 

Melissa is an experienced strategist, organizer, and activist with a passion for social justice and equity. For nine years, she worked at the municipal level, leading campaigns and advancing policy to improve the lives of the city’s most vulnerable residents. As the Director of Policy and Operations for City Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam, she was instrumental in initiating the Downtown East Action Plan and the development of the Indigenous Centre for Innovation & Entrepreneurship. Most recently, she held the position of Director, Operations & Strategic Projects in the Faculty of Arts at X University, where she led the return-to-campus planning during the COVID-19 pandemic and strengthened the Faculty’s position as a leader in democratic engagement.

Melissa’s career in the community and nonprofit sector has been dedicated to supporting intersectional gender equality and gender equity. In 2017, Melissa co-founded Women Win Toronto, a program to support and train progressive women running for elected office.  Prior to her work at City Hall, Melissa was the Executive Coordinator for the Toronto Women’s City Alliance, where she led a two-year research project on diverse women’s experiences with City services.  As Acting Executive Director of the North York Women’s Centre, she developed an anti-oppressive peer group facilitator training program, training over 100 women in Neighbourhood Improvement Areas in North York.

In this newly created leadership role, Melissa will work with key stakeholders across the city to shape a shared vision, set priorities, and enable collaborative action towards a just and equitable recovery for Toronto. She will also provide oversight of SPT's program activities, namely our community and sector mobilization and capacity building agenda as well as a number of strategic initiatives.

Welcome, Melissa!