Dare to Be You(th) Recipient of Mayor’s Award at Burlington Chamber 2024 Business Excellence Awards Gala
On Tuesday night (May 21), the Burlington Chamber of Commerce held its 2024 Business Excellence Awards Gala to celebrate our wonderful local businesses.It was truly an honor to attend, to help celebrate the incredible achievements of our local businesses and to present the Mayor's Award.As part of its annual Business Excellence Awards, the Chamber invites the Mayor to bestow an award of recognition, on behalf of the City of Burlington, to local businesses/non-profit organizations. The Mayor’s awards have evolved many times over the years, often focusing on philanthropy, community engagement, and sustainability. This year, we once again focused on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) as our category.
Thank you to Terry Caddo, President and CEO, and the team at the Burlington Chamber of Commerce for putting on a wonderful event and congratulations to all of this year's nominees and winners.As Mayor, I see firsthand the vital role that our business community plays in shaping our city. Whether it’s providing jobs, supporting local initiatives, or contributing to the vibrancy of our neighborhoods, your contributions make Burlington the wonderful place it is.As I highlighted in my State of the City address earlier this year, creating a welcoming and inclusive Burlington is one of my key objectives. That's why I was thrilled to sponsor the evening’s Mayor’s Award, that honours a business or organization, not-for-profit or for-profit, that excels in Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) in their operations internally with their staff and publicly with their customers to help ensure Burlington is a welcoming community for everyone.The Mayor's Office received so many incredible nominations. It was wonderful to see so many businesses with a strong commitment to EDI. Choosing a recipient this year was extremely difficult.
I was very proud and honoured to present the Dare to be You(th) Charity and its founder and CEO Shannon Tobin with the 2024 Mayor's Award!Dare to be You(th) embodies the spirit of equity, diversity, and inclusion in Burlington. Through their tireless efforts, they empower young people from all backgrounds to thrive, regardless of their circumstances. By fostering a culture of acceptance and understanding, Dare to be Youth sets a shining example of how diversity, equity and inclusion strengthens our community fabric. Their commitment to EDI makes them a truly deserving recipient of the Mayor's Award.[gallery columns="2" ids="35885,35886"]Mayor’s Award 2024 — Equity, Diversity and InclusionRecipient: Dare to be You(th)The Dare to be You(th) Charity (DTBY) is a movement dedicated to empowering high school students and young people (14-24) in the Halton/Hamilton region, and beyond. It’s a platform to unlock their potential and empower them to make their mark and achieve the life they genuinely want to live.
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Congratulations to all of last night’s winners! For a list of previous Chamber Mayor’s Award recipients, click/tap here or see the link at the end of this post.Thank you to all those who submitted a nomination for this year’s Mayor’s Award in the EDI category. In fact, there were so many incredible nominations, we have decided to continue the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion category for the rest of this term — that includes the 2025 and 2026 award seasons. This means if you nominated someone for the Mayor’s Award in 2023 and 2024, and they were not selected as the 2024 recipient, they will still be considered in subsequent years this term (2025 and 2026) and you don’t have to nominate them again.RELATED LINK: