In May 2003, the Toronto City Summit Alliance brought together more than 300 young people at George Brown College for the Toronto Youth Summit. Led by George Brown student leader Kevin King, the Youth Summit Steering Committee created a valuable opportunity to hear firsthand about youth concerns and views in advance of the June 2003 Toronto Summit.  

In 2005, the Alliance and the YMCA of Greater Toronto, with the support of the Boreal Institute and United Way Toronto, launched a series of Youth Forums to bring youth and adult business and community leaders together in dialogue. More than 100 adults, youth and volunteers came out to participate in the first Youth Forum in April 2005, hosted by Humber College in Etobicoke. In-depth discussions of many challenging issues –increasing crime rates, youth unemployment and marginalization, a lack of adequate resources for sports or after school programs, and a frequent lack of knowledge of existing resources– yielded thoughtful and constructive suggestions for action. The YMCA, the Alliance, local community and business organizations and Rexdale youth have since worked to implement promising Forum ideas and to carry them forward to additional communities.

To further recognize and support the region’s newer civic leaders, the Alliance created the Emerging Leaders Network in 2006.