By Stephanie Mancini
Published March 2026
Gathering in public spaces helps to build community and awareness of one another – in our similarities and our differences. The Mayors’ Dinner, now in its 37th year, is a public gathering that brings 900 people together annually, to celebrate commitment to the common good, to gather, and to support The Working Centre. At this year’s Mayors’ Dinner, we will highlight community endeavours that foster the habit of supporting public places.
Brian MacLaren, writing in the Centre for Action and Contemplation’s Daily Meditation – Good News for a Fractured World – focused one session on Falling Apart, Coming Together:
“Our world is deeply fractured. We see the symptoms all around us. We see it in politics. We see it in social media. We see it in our families and denominations. Those fractures couldn’t come at a worse time.[….] We need to come together to explore better ways of living with ourselves, with one another, and with this sacred beautiful earth.”
When we gather in common, we break down isolation – isolation that can come from privilege, from loneliness, from a lack of resources, from fear, from all the things that divide us. By becoming active in public spaces, we reclaim connection, we break down the barriers that divide us. Learning how to recognize and be a part of common spaces and activities can be enlivening and life giving.
Fr. Greg Boyle says – “We belong to each other.” Being together in public spaces helps us to see and recognize kinship with others. This world view changes our way of seeing and our way of being together. It helps us to foster belonging.
This year’s WRCF Vital Signs report invites us to explore ways “we can renew, reinvest in, and reimagine our shared spaces to meet today’s challenges”. We see so many changes happening in our community and in our world. How do we challenge ourselves to stay open to this change and to strengthen our core values of compassion and inclusion? Participating in public spaces is one way to do this.
The Mayors’ Dinner will explore three different kinds of public spaces that have worked to support the common good. First, we will hear how Michele and Rob Way have built common ground through an annual event aligned with a national effort – Hockey Helps the Homeless. Secondly, we will hear Oluseun Olayinka as she reflects on the beauty and possibilities of welcoming people into the common place and movement of Adventure4Change. Finally we will learn more about The Working Centre’s community enterprise projects as unique places of purpose and gathering.
Rob and Michele Way
Rob and Michele Way live, work, and have raised their family in Waterloo Region, building deep roots in both the business and nonprofit communities. After meeting as students at Wilfrid Laurier University, they each pursued professional designations—Rob as a CPA and Michele as a CHRP—and have gone on to lead and grow their companies, Softcare and now Swiftspace. Throughout the years, they have remained committed to strengthening the community they call home.
For decades, Rob and Michele have dedicated significant volunteer time and financial support to organizations serving the Region’s most vulnerable. Their contributions have helped advance the missions of The United Way, The Sunshine Foundation, and KidsAbility. They also share a strong belief in the importance of a resilient local health-care system. Together, they have served in leadership roles on Boards and Committees at Legacy St. Mary’s and, most recently, at the Waterloo Region Hospitals Network (WRHN), working to improve care for individuals and families facing health challenges.
One cause especially close to their hearts for the past 13 years is Hockey Helps the Homeless (HHTH), a national organization that aligns deeply with their values of engagement, creativity, and collective action. Rob serves as Chair of the National Board, and both Rob and Michele are actively involved in the organizing committee for the annual Waterloo Region Tournament. This unique event brings together players, business leaders, community members, NHL alumni, and Olympians, transforming a shared passion for hockey into a powerful force for both education and fundraising.
Funds raised through HHTH support frontline agencies that provide housing, mental health care, employment programs, and essential services for individuals experiencing homelessness. In Waterloo Region, every dollar stays local – fueling grassroots impact through 6 organizations – The Working Centre, oneRoof, House of Friendship, YW Kitchener-Waterloo, Starling Community Services and the Cambridge Shelter. Whether through sport, health care, or community partnerships, Rob and Michele—along with their family—remain steadfast in their commitment to supporting those most vulnerable. Their work reflects a deep belief that when people unite with purpose, compassion, and opportunity, remarkable things can happen. Stronger individuals create stronger communities, and the Ways continue to champion initiatives that empower others to learn, to give, and to thrive.
Oluseun Olayinka
Oluseun Olayinka is a wife, mother of four amazing children, nonprofit executive, and doctoral scholar committed to strengthening families and communities. She serves as Executive Director of Adventure4Change, a registered Canadian charity based in Waterloo, Ontario, and is a PhD student in the Faculty of Social Work at Wilfrid Laurier University.
Adventure4Change is a vibrant community where skills are built, and connections are made that impact inspired change. Their goal is to prevent poverty and enable kids, youth, and moms to make meaningful contributions to society. As an organization they are rooted in connection, belonging, and empowerment, growing from a small neighbourhood initiative into a trusted community anchor.
Basadi is their social enterprise project, a sewing program that began as a space to learn practical skills and has evolved into a community of moms who gather each week to share stories, practice English, and celebrate one another’s talents.
Youth programs help young people to feel they belong and build confidence in sports, self-image, and tutored learning. Families are supported through settlement and system navigation, mental health supports, and health access. Adventure4Change has an ongoing priority to create safe spaces that inspire hope and nurture anticipation for a brighter future.
Oluseun Olayinka is a dynamic voice for the work of Adventue4Change. She brings over two decades of leadership experience spanning organizational development consulting, community development, and social impact initiatives. She serves on the Board of the Waterloo Region Health Network (WRHN) and Social Ventures Partner Waterloo Region. She is also a member of the Waterloo Region District School Board’s Equity Advisory Group, and the Child and Youth Planning Table Steering Committee.
Her research and leadership focus on building sustainable, community-led social service organizations that advance equity and create lasting impact for neighbourhoods and families.
The Working Centre Community Tools
The Working Centre Community Enterprise Projects create spaces for creative work that serves community and creates places of welcome and inclusion. We will highlight the Queen Street Commons Café, Worth a Second Look, and Recycle Cycles.
Community Tool projects are practical and productive examples of enterprise. We serve the common good through skill building and providing shared access to tools to encourage equitable participation in making and doing together. The Working Centre holds the main infrastructure and volunteers participate actively in the core work of the project. There is a focus on regeneration through re-use, re-purposing, and creating goods and services. Affordability is part of each project – helping to make goods and services available for people living on a limited income. In these spaces we gather, bringing diverse people together, enjoying our work, and building skills.
The Queen Street Commons Café is a gathering place that has been central to community vitality since 2006. Our newly renovated café offers delicious vegetarian food, events, coffee and other special drinks in a bright and homey space.
Worth a Second Look Furniture & Housewares is a used-items retail outlet whose goal is to provide the community with thousands of low-cost furniture and houseware items. We help to keep reusable goods out of landfills and to repurpose used goods.
Recycle Cycles Community Bike Shop puts a focus on promoting cycling by making bicycle purchase, maintenance, and repair accessible and affordable. We offer inexpensive reconditioned bicycles for children and adults. Our shop supports people to repair and maintain their own bike. We have a large supply of used, refurbished, and some new parts.
Civic culture grows when people have abundant opportunities to participate in projects that improve their communities. These are the kinds of places that can strengthen the social fabric. Places where neighbours can gather, celebrate, contribute, and connect with each other. We would all benefit by an increased vision towards creating common spaces that promote this kind of place-making. This year’s The Mayors’ Dinner will highlight how community projects are essential for community building.
