Board Biography

Tonika Morgan

As the Project Manager of the Women Moving Forward project, an initiative supporting young single mothers in the Jane/Finch community, Tonika Morgan uses her personal experiences as a catalyst to advocate for social change. She is a graduate of Eva’s Phoenix Life Skills Program, which enabled her to move out of a young women’s shelter and begin her path in social justice. Her energy focuses on marginalized and racialized women, impoverished communities, homeless youth, literacy and citizenship. In 2005, she was recognized as the Young Woman of Distinction by YWCA Toronto, Flare Magazine and Volunteer of the Year. In addition, Tonika was also chosen as the Guardian of the Women’s Global Charter for Humanity, traveling across the country to speak about injustices against women, as a part of a global relay.

Tonika’s desire to empower women helped her to establish the Medina Collective, a hip hop feminism literary arts program for young women which fuses contemporary culture, social justice and storytelling to help women identify and establish their politicized identities. As a result of her varied personal and professional pursuits, Tonika has been invited to speak and facilitate various workshops across the country, ranging from homelessness, civic engagement, safety, anti-racism, feminism, Caribbean diasporic artforms, and violence against women on a number of occasions. Additionally, she has participated on a number of committees and organizations such as the Toronto Youth Cabinet, Toronto Community Foundation- Growing Active Kids Fund and Flare Magazine Volunteer Awards Judging Panel to name a few. Tonika is also currently pursuing a degree at Ryerson University, majoring in Diversity and Equity with a minor in Marketing.

Her participation in the community stems from her desire to empower individuals and to make the process for change as accessible and transparent for all who want to partake. This often means that Tonika maintains an active dialogue with various communities to ensure that their views are represented, going as far as seeking opportunities for direct community involvement. This participatory approach to community capacity building is how Tonika believes that communities can be transformed and subsequently, enhanced.