Joe Cressy is a well-known city builder with a reputation for being values-driven, collaborative, and effective. A cross-sectoral leader, Joe has twenty years’ experience in senior roles in the non-profit, government, and post-secondary sectors.

As the Chief of Staff at Waterfront Toronto – the tri-governmental corporation tasked with leading the revitalization of Toronto’s waterfront – Joe works with government, industry, non-profit, and community partners to build a more liveable, sustainable and dynamic waterfront for all.

As a former City Councillor, Joe represented downtown Toronto (Trinity-Spadina) for 8 years, one of the largest and most diverse wards in the country. A collaborative community builder, Joe was known for being both principled and effective. Over his two terms as a Councillor, he worked with local communities and colleagues across the political spectrum on a number of transformational and successful projects, including working to revitalize Toronto Community Housing neighbourhoods like Alexandra Park and 250 Davenport; build new affordable housing; create a new network of bikes lanes in the downtown core; establish new dedicated tax classes to support the arts and cultural sector; and open supervised consumption sites to combat the overdose crisis.

While at the City of Toronto Joe served as the Chair of Toronto Public Health – the largest public health unit in Canada. As Chair during the COVID-19 pandemic, Joe served on the City’s Strategic COVID Command Team and worked tirelessly to ensure that the City of Toronto’s response, which included achieving one of the best vaccination rates in the world, was strategic, inclusive, and community-driven.

After his time with the City of Toronto, Joe joined George Brown College as a Senior Vice President and member of the Senior Leadership team. In this role he directed real estate development, marketing, communications, external relations, and government relations. During his time with George Brown, Joe oversaw exceptional growth in the college’s real estate strategy, including a $232 million acquisition of the Corus Quay Building to expand the waterfront campus, the formation and launch of the college’s first ever Housing Task Force to build student and community housing, and the development of the widely praised “The City is our Classroom” brand and marketing campaign.

Joe began his career doing international development and humanitarian work. He spent several years living and working in South Africa and Ghana focused on poverty reduction and HIV & AIDS programs. As the Director of Campaigns and Community Outreach for the Toronto-based Stephen Lewis Foundation, Joe led fundraising campaigns to support community-based organizations working on the frontlines of the HIV & AIDS pandemic in15 sub-Saharan Africa countries.

Joe is also a past board member at many housing, cultural, and equity organizations including the Toronto Community Housing Corporation where he served as Vice Chair, the Art Gallery of Ontario, Exhibition Place, Artscape Corporation, Waterfront Toronto, and more.

A frequent commentator in the media, Joe is often called on to speak to matters including strategic leadership, affordable housing, public health, transit, mental health, and community services. A proven and visionary leader driven by values of equity and access, Joe is also a dedicated father and husband and lives with his family in Toronto.