David Pecaut (1955-2009) was the driving force and founding chair of our organization. A senior partner of The Boston Consulting Group, David was an extraordinary civic entrepreneur and visionary. He had a powerful talent for convening people from widely varying perspectives and backgrounds and working with them to build consensus and collaborate to achieve bold city-building goals.

Invited to address the first Toronto Summit in 2002, David presented a compelling social and economic “diagnostic” of the Toronto region. From there, he undertook to create and lead a 40-leader Steering Committee to take a more detailed look at the challenges facing the region, resulting in the 2003 report, Enough Talk: An Action Plan for the Toronto Region and leading to the creation of this unique and enduring civic leadership organization.

David taught us civic responsibility and engagement, showing time and again how much can be achieved when energetic and passionate people like him come together to create and pursue big ideas. He inspired people to move from words to action and attracted thousands of people to join us in improving the social, economic and environmental future of the Toronto region.

David was awarded the Order of Canada for his distinguished service as a civic leader and volunteer and for his contributions to the arts community of the City of Toronto.

David’s legacy lives on in the people and work of the Greater Toronto CivicAction Alliance and the many enduring initiatives he helped to create. We continue to work with our many partners and volunteers to continue the path David charted.

Before his passing, David shared his inspiring vision of collective leadership and city-building to ensure the future success of the Toronto region. Read David’s “love letter to Toronto” here.