Kay Blair has been the Executive Director of Community MicroSkills Development Centre since 1988.

Through Kay's leadership, MicroSkills has grown dramatically and is viewed as a leading, successful agency by funders, government, the business community, clients, and other service providers.

Kay has been proactive, entrepreneurial, and innovative in her thinking, with many programs and projects launched under her leadership, including the first Women's Enterprise & Resource Centre and the first Women's Technology Institute in Ontario, both of which focus on immigrant and racialized women.

In her role as Executive Director, Kay has been highly active in the local community and throughout the GTA, and her expertise and leadership has been recognized by the broader community on many occasions. In 2002, she was selected to join the United Way Toronto Campaign Cabinet as Chair for Member Agencies. She was also asked to lead a partnership of community agencies to address the concerns of immigrant and racialized youth in the Dixon and Kipling neighbourhood. The partnership resulted in the creation of Dixon Neighbourhood Youth Centre, now Dixon Youth Centre.

Kay has served two terms as President of the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants (OCASI); she has also held various positions on the executive council (1989-99). During her tenure, she was instrumental in expanding OCASI’s membership and influencing a variety of public policies, in particular, the Employment Insurance Act and the Settlement Renewal and Labour Market Development initiatives. Kay also initiated the computerization of the immigrant and refugee services sector to ensure excellence in service delivery.

In addition to her regular employment, Kay frequently serves as a consultant to government and community groups on issues of access, equity, and organizational and community development. Her work embraces many constituencies. As Past President of the National Visible Minority Council on Labour Force Development, and as a current member of the Executive Committee, Kay continues to share her experience and expertise in community development, equity, access, and anti-racism issues. Over the last 25 years, she has been president of the first shelter for immigrant women, President of the Peel Police Race Relations Committee, and a member of numerous task forces and public forums that have looked at improving the quality of life for women, immigrants, and members of racialized communities. She is frequently called upon to deliver presentations to government, the corporate world, and to other community agencies to speak about diversity issues, and various topics concerning newcomers, women, youth, and other disadvantaged people.

In recognition of her contribution to the community, Kay has received many awards, including the Women of Colour Community Award, the Ontario Race Relations Award, Jamaica's 100 Women of the Century Special Recognition, Seventh Day Adventist Youth Society's Leadership Award, the Innovations Canada Entrepreneur of the Year Award (2003), the OCASI Leadership Award (2003) ), Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Award - Trailblazer (2004), and the YWCA Woman of Distinction - Community Leadership (2006). Most recently, Kay was honored to receive the 2007 Premier’s Award in the Community and Social Services category for exceptional achievements in and outstanding contributions to her community.

Kay holds an MBA with a specialization in Leadership from Royal Roads University, and is currently an Ed.D. candidate at OISE/University of Toronto.