The Sir James Woods Award for Community Development is presented annually by West Neighbourhood House to recognize individuals and groups in the community that demonstrate an extraordinary commitment to serving their community.
Charlene Grandmaison is a proud Cree woman from Cowessess First Nation in Saskatchewan and a member of the Wolf Clan. She has been a lifelong advocate, knowledge keeper, and matriarch, who has dedicated her life to uplifting Indigenous communities through leadership and grassroots action.
Her career includes roles with Indigenous-led organizations like Canadian Executive Service Organization (CESO), now known as Catalyste+, an economic development organization that partners with local governments and the private sector in Canada, emerging economies and Indigenous communities, and at the City of Toronto, where she advanced Indigenous engagement and community well-being.
Now retired, Charlene remains very active in the Parkdale community, supporting cultural restoration, ceremony, and land-based learning through initiatives like the Four Winds Indigenous Collective. Most recently, Charlene was appointed the Dunn Indigenous Garden Outreach Coordinator, where her invaluable support and expertise has been instrumental in bringing the Indigenous community together.
Charlene’s quiet strength and deep wisdom continue to inspire healing and connection across generations.
Keisha ‘Kitty’ Tappin is a committed champion of community care through mutual aid, including as one of the co-founders of 444realchange. Realchange was started in 2021 and has since organized large, vegan park meals and donation drop-offs for unhoused and housing insecure tenants.
As a grassroots, youth-led organization, Realchange is made up of queer and trans BIPOC youth with disabilities focused on supporting BIPOC across Toronto. Realchange have self-funded through sourcing food bank ingredients and by reaching out for community donations to pay for groceries, transportation, and for other essential items for the unhoused and housing insecure in our community. Also, the organization relies on an incredible group of community volunteers to help with prepping, cooking, and serving meals.
In her role at Realchange, Kitty was part of Foodshare’s Prioritizing Racial Equity Action Group, collaborating to build sector capacity by working to embed Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion principles in the ways food security programs and services work.
Thank you to Charlene and Kitty, and 444realchange, for their incredible work in creating a more fair, equitable and compassionate community.
For more information on the award and past recipients, click here.