Sherri Freedman
Special Advisor to the President & CEO
The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation
Sherri started her career at United Way of Greater Toronto where she honed her fundraising, strategic planning and management skills and forged deep, enduring relationships with donors, volunteers and colleagues that have lasted over three decades.
When Sherri joined the Mount Sinai Hospital Foundation in 2001, she discovered her passion for healthcare philanthropy. Working closely with hospital staff, administrators and colleagues, Sherri demonstrated the power of strategic, collaborative fundraising and the joy of celebrating collective success. Sherri carried these tenets with her to The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation at UHN where she spent close to fourteen years. After a two-year stint at UJA Federation of Greater Toronto where Sherri helped lead a fundraising initiative to create a new Holocaust Education Centre, she is once again at The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation as Special Advisor to the President & CEO. Sherri is universally respected and admired across UHN for her ability to inspire passion and confidence in everyone she works with, whether they are donors, volunteers, Cancer Centre partners or Foundation colleagues.
In addition to helping raise hundreds of millions of dollars, Sherri has always taken the time throughout her career, to encourage, advise and mentor other fundraisers, reminding people to be authentic and donor-centred, to focus on mission and to appreciate the privilege of doing meaningful work in the non-profit sector.
Sherri is a certified yoga instructor and has used her love of yoga to help raise funds as well. In her free time, she enjoys special times with her husband, adult children, her family, and her many friends.
Past Recipients:
2023: Angie Peters, President & CEO, Yonge Street Mission
2022: Jennifer Bernard, CFRE, President & CEO, Women’s College Hospital Foundation
2021: Cindy Yelle, CEO, Canadian Olympic Foundation
2019: Blake Goldring, Executive Chairman, AGF Management Ltd.
2018 Spring: Dr. Ann Cavoukian
2017 Fall: Darrell Gregersen, President & CEO CAMH Foundation
2017 Spring: Mark Wafer, Tim Hortons franchise owner, and advocate for individuals with disabilities
2016 Fall: Betsy McGregor
2016 Spring: Mark Rodgers, CEO, Habitat for Humanity Canada
2015 Fall: Jim Clemmer
2015 Spring: Carla Kisko
2014 Fall: Ophira Ginsburg
2014 Spring: Carolyn MacKenzie
2013 Fall 2: Dave Perry & Rocco Rossi
2013 Spring Yvette Nechvatal-Drew
2012 Fall David Bronskill
2012 Spring Gery Rockstein
2011 Fall Nancy Graham
2011 Spring Rona Maynard
2010 Fall Christine Magee
2010 Spring Christine Bentley
2009 Fall Joe Millage
2009 Spring Dr. Rick Tobias
2008 Fall Audrey M. Loeb
2008 Spring Mary Thornton
2007 Fall Hon. James K. Bartleman
2006 Fall Brenda Herchmer
2006 Spring Dr. Gordon L. Flett
2005 Fall Ed Holder
2005 Spring Karen Lieberman
2004 Fall Richard Rohmer, Major-General (ret.)
2004 Spring Rukhsana Khan
2003 Fall Lewis McKenzie, Major-General (ret.)
Region VI Warren Evans
2003 Spring Laurie Williamson
2002 Fall Christine Dernederlanden
2002 Spring Ken Shaw
2001 Fall Helen Connell
2001 Spring Robin Sharma
2000 Fall Bill Carroll
2000 Spring Sue Johanson
1999 Fall Todd Brooker
1999 Spring Erin Davis
1998 Fall Christopher J. Randall
1998 Spring Michael “Pinball” Clemens
1997 Joan Homer
1996 Fall Judy Gibson
1996 Spring Frank C. Buckley
1995 Peter Urs Bender
1994 Roberta Bondar
1993 Ronald McDonald House Daily Bread Foodbank
1991 Her Worship the Mayor Hazel McCallion
1990 Telephone Pioneers of America, Northern Telecom Canada
1989 The Honourable Lincoln M. Alexander
1988 Bill Simpkins
1987 Bob Proctor
1985 W. Bill Moody
1984 George B. Weber
1983 D. K. (Don) McIvor
1980 Don Herron
1979 Paul Victor Godfrey
1977 Laura Sabia
1976 Lynne Gordon
1975 Clarence F. Meyers
1974 J. Arthur Robertson
Purpose of the Award
The purpose of the award is to honour a non-Toastmaster who has made substantial contributions in the areas of communications and leadership within their community.
Criteria for the Award Recipient
Following are the criteria used for award recipient selection:
- Currently must be a non-Toastmaster, can be a former Toastmaster.
- Should have distinguished himself/herself as a leader or spokesperson for a worthy cause or purpose, especially as it exemplified their communication and leadership skills.
- Shall have made a significant contribution to District 60. The impact of this contribution must not be limited to one organization, but must be community/district-wide.
- This award may not be presented to a recipient a second time.
- Must be able to personally accept the award and give an acceptance address at the District 60 Annual Conference.
Nomination Process
- Any District 60 Toastmaster in good standing may submit a nomination for the award.
- Nominations must be made in writing following the questions on the Nomination Form, providing reasons why the nominee should be considered for the award.
- Nominations must be submitted to the District Public Relations Manager by the published nominations due date. The Public Relations Manager will send all submissions to the members of the Communication and Leadership Nomination Committee after the nomination due date. Call for nominations starts now, and the nomination deadline is February 15, 2025.
- The Communication and Leadership Nomination Committee will only consider nominations submitted by the due date.
- The Communication and Leadership Nomination Committee will decide which nominee, if any, is worthy of the award. The decision will be made by a majority vote. This vote may be performed via email.
- If a majority of the Communication and Leadership Nomination Committee feels that no nominations merit the award, then no award will be made for that year.
- If an award is to be given, the District 60 Director will contact the recipient to inform him/her, they have been selected to receive the award, advise the recipient that he/she must make an acceptance address at the District Annual Conference as a condition of receiving the award.
- If the chosen recipient:
- Can not make an acceptance address
- Can not personally accept the award
- Chooses not to accept the award
Then the District 60 Director will advise the Public Relations Manager. The Communication and Leadership Nomination Committee may choose to select another recipient for the award that year. If another recipient is chosen, then the District 60 Director will contact that individual in accordance with #7 above.
- On the award announcement date, the District 60 Director will announce the award recipient or announce that there will not be an award presented that year.
- Any Toastmaster may nominate a recipient. If you wish to nominate more than one person, please submit separate entries for each individual. The Nomination Form, along with any supplemental information should be sent to the Public Relations Manager using the format provided on the Nomination Form.
The Selection
Selection of the recipient for the award is made by the Communication and Leadership Nomination Committee and confirmed by the District Director. Selection is contingent upon the recipient’s confirmed attendance for the award presentation.
Presentation
The Communication and Leadership award will be presented at the District 60 Annual Conference on
April 26, 2025.
The award is given in the form of a plaque, purchased by District 60 from Toastmasters International, and engraved with the winner’s name, year of the award, name of the award, and other pertinent information.
For more information, contact:
Anvesh Saxena, Public Relations Manager, PRM@Toastmasters60.com
