Christopher Penrose

Consultant, Educator/Teacher, Idea generator, Journalist, Project manager, Social entrepreneur, World traveler, Writer/Editor

I am the Executive Director for Success Beyond Limits Education Program (SBL), which exists to empower youth in Jane-Finch in education and along their individual paths to success. SBL is a non-profit community organization, led by youth, and partnered with the Toronto District School Board and York University. I have been with this model since 2008, and my role is largely focused on building partnerships and sustainability, along with leading our team in a collaborative approach. My community work with youth in the Jane-Finch community goes back to 2000, but draws on my own turbulent experiences as a young person. My experience also includes a depth of experience in the media and in communications. My written work ranges from sports and entertainment, to science and human rights. Publications include the Toronto Star, SWAY Magazine, and DIME Magazine. My experience in radio includes hosting programs on CHRY 105.5FM, and radio documentaries for CBC Radio One. My communications background covers the Toronto Urban Music Festival and Canada Basketball, as highlights. I graduated from York University with an honours double major in English and Latin American Studies, which provided valuable experience in exploring a subject or region through multiple academic lenses. My education also includes travel: highlights being Senegal, Cuba, Ghana, London, British Columbia, and New York.

People having the opportunity to explore possibilities and experience the fulfillment of their potential.

If you didn’t create a problem in isolation, it’s not likely that you can fix it alone. Nor should you have to. Issues we face are often thought of in a way that puts those most affected at the centre of the problem; this usually leads to the burden of coming up with solutions on the same people impacted the most. We need to address challenges through following the trails of cause and effect way beyond the most obvious players, go deep enough to see the role we each play in the existence of these issues and overcoming challenges. It may not be your neighbourhood, your nationality, or your faith that is directly affected, but you are a stakeholder.

Communications, Community building, Facilitation, Writing, Youth engagement

I can come at this from a few layers, all tied together by the experience of expansion. Watching the simulcasts at various locations throughout Toronto has had an impression on me; those events created a shared learning experience among people from my city that, quite often, I haven’t met before (or since). Yet, on those days, in those spaces, we intersected. The TEDxToronto and TEDxYorkU events have increased my awareness of people and ideas that are emerging within my city. They have also opened a window of understanding, at a much deeper level, to some of the people that I already knew, through them sharing their stories. I don’t listen to opera. Before I saw the TED performance by Danielle de Niese, I could not say I had ever enjoyed, or understood the appeal of, opera. That door is now ajar.

People I played hockey with don’t know I can run track. Youth that I work with don’t know I have hosted radio shows.