New Hamilton Community Foundation CEO excited to work ‘with and for Hamilton’

It’s a tough time for many people in the city, and the incoming chief executive officer of the Hamilton Community Foundation (HCF), wants you to know his team gets that. 

“We see you, and we’re looking forward to rolling up our sleeves and getting to work,” Rudi Wallace said. 

Stepping into the top leadership role at the HCF in September, Wallace said he’s excited to address those needs “working with and for Hamilton and Hamiltonians.” 

The former HCF vice president of grants and community initiatives told CBC Hamilton it’s been a tough time for the charitable sector.

“Donations are down,” Wallace said, and “people are more financially strapped,” leading to greater need.

He notes food bank usage has increased in Hamilton and beyond — a sign people are struggling to get by. 

In 2021, Imagine Canada, a non-profit that supports Canadian charities reported that charities were struggling to cope with high demand, and that 43 per cent had reported decreasing revenues. 

Wallace said the HCF “strives to be really self-aware” and “sit in” Hamiltonians’ concerns, be they about political polarization or climate change. 

Parents’ immigration stories shaped values

Wallace, who grew up in Victoria, is the son of a Guyanese father and Mauritian mother. He describes his upbringing as the “classic kind of Canadian immigrant experience,” saying his parents lived through decolonization and independence movements.

That experience shaped Wallace’s values, he said, leading him to work in the non-profit sector where he hoped to support his community. He worked at a Victoria food bank before moving to Hamilton for his previous job at the HCF, which he started in 2020. 

Wallace credits outgoing CEO Terry Cooke — who held the position for 15 years — with inspiring his move to Ontario. He said Cooke taught him about impact investing, in which people donate money that the HCF then invests into projects with the goal of creating positive social change. 

“Hamilton was the OG” in that field, he said. 

When the HCF vice president job came up, Wallace said he and his wife, who’s from Ontario, considered the move. What convinced Wallace that Hamilton was right for his family was its diversity, he said. The proportion of immigrants in the city is about 25 per cent per 2021 census data, and the city is close to Six Nations, the largest First Nations reserve in Canada. 

What’s more, Wallace said, he felt Hamilton had the potential for positive change — something he still believes. 

“While gentrification is underway in Hamilton, it’s not a fait accompli,” he said, adding he thinks work can still be done to support people displaced by development, such as those along the LRT line. 

Wallace said the HCF has done a lot of work to preserve existing affordable housing, referring to the work of housing researcher Steve Pomeroy, which found that for every affordable unit the city builds, it’s losing 29 more. 

“That’s something I’m excited to continue to do,” he said.

Wallace proud reconciliation and community engagement work

Looking back at his work with the HCF so far, Wallace said he’s particularly proud of his work launching a “declaration of action” on Truth and Reconciliation, which looks at how the organization can “tangibly” contribute to the 94 calls to action in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. 

He said he’s also proud of a pilot project in which the foundation will work with communities to decide how funds from grants are distributed. 

Outgoing HCF CEO Terry Cooke posted on social media site X last week, saying Wallace is an “inspired choice to lead.”

“I’m really lucky,” Wallace said.

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