Arts alum Katherine Hay appointed to the Senate of Canada

Congratulations to Katherine Hay (BA ’98, Psychology) on her appointment to serve on the Senate of Canada.

“I am honoured to be selected by the Prime Minister and appointed by the Governor General to serve in the Senate,” said Hay in a recent press release. “Through this independent and non-partisan role, I look forward to contributing to the important legislative work of the Senate, while standing firm in my commitment to help tackle the challenges and opportunities facing our country.”

For Hay, the appointment is a natural extension of her life-long dedication to public service. As CEO of Kids Help Phone (KHP) since 2017, Hay has led the organization through tremendous change. New technologies, support in more languages, and efforts to reach marginalized communities have expanded its services to help support even more Canadian youth. As the end of February 2024, four years after the pandemic began, KHP had interacted with young people more than 18.8 million times, noted Kay in an article on her work with KHP in Arts & Letters.

Hay has received a lot of well-earned recognition for her work. In 2022, she was named one of Women’s Executive Network’s Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100, specifically Canada’s Most Powerful CEOs. She received the 2021 Arts Alumni Achievement Award, and in 2019, Kathy was named as one of the Top 10 Women Leaders in Digital Health in Canada.

Most recently, she was awarded the King Charles III Coronation Medal.

Before joining KHP, she was President and CEO of Women’s College Hospital Foundation for which she was named one of Canada’s Top 25 Women of Influence in 2017. She has also held senior roles at the University of Toronto, the University of Guelph, and the Art Gallery of Ontario, and served on the Board of Directors for the Mental Health Commission of Canada. Her dedication to serve started much younger, thanks to her mother.

“Public service has always been a part of my life, long before I fully understood what it meant. I grew up in a family where community mattered and volunteering was just what we did. This began what I call my life-long quest to be part of something bigger than myself, public service.”

“We are incredibly proud to have Katherine as a member of the Arts community. Her commitment to leading with strong values, her humanistic approach to problem solving and her dedication to inclusivity distinguish her as a true leader and sage advisor,” says Dr. Alexie Tcheuyap, Dean of Arts. “Katherine’s achievements serve as a strong example for our students as they consider how they too can make a difference in the world.”