Gillian Smith

Gillian is recognized across the not-for-profit, private and public sectors for her notable leadership skills. Her broad and diverse experience, limitless energy and deep community involvement have helped her forge connections with and among many organizations.Gillian currently serves as Vice President, Membership at the Toronto Region Board of Trade. In this role, she is responsible for developing, leading and delivering the strategy, services and activities necessary to retain, engage and grow the Board's membership and, in doing so, she has primary accountability for delivering 75% of the Boards’s annual revenue line.

Prior to the Board, she served as Chief Executive Officer of the Institute for Canadian Citizenship (ICC), a national charity that promotes inclusion and citizenship. In this role, she built a national network of more than 1,200 partners to serve the integration needs of Canada’s new citizens in all aspects of Canadian life. Programs developed under her leadership have served more than 200,000 new citizens to-date.

She rebuilt the ICC’s management team and, together with her co-chairs, transformed the organization’s governance. What’s more, she put the organization on sound financial footing by significantly ramping up fundraising efforts: over the course of her tenure, revenues more than tripled.

Gillian spent more than fifteen years in the private sector in senior corporate communications and government relations roles, notably with the Royal Bank of Canada and RBC Capital Markets, and Aeroplan (now Aimia). Gillian has built a particular expertise in leading sensitive crisis and issues management files and has done so successfully for a number of private and public sector organizations.

Throughout her career, Gillian has been responsible for leading board governance and development, executive transitions, strategic planning, affiliate development, political campaigns, as well as serving as the lead spokesperson for a variety of organizations. She has built an extensive, national professional network that spans industries and sectors.

Gillian is very active in the community and sits on the boards of numerous organizations dedicated to the arts and civic life in Canada. She currently serves as Chair of the Toronto Public Library Foundation, Interim Chair of Community Food Centres Canada and is a board director with Business for the Arts and the Culture Days.

Gillian Smith is the Vice President of Membership at Toronto Region Board of Trade Home, based in North America. With a background in Non Profit, Gillian Smith has a rich history of leadership and innovation. Explore their detailed professional journey, key connections, and contributions to the industry on our platform.