Written by Jalene Moman, Marketing and Communications Coordinator, The Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce
4-minute read
While YMCAs across Canada are selling their downtown locations, the YMCA-YWCA of Winnipeg is making the bold decision to stay – investing in our downtown with a $20 million capital campaign and a leadership approach grounded in radical optimism.
For President and CEO Cordella Friesen, this optimism isn’t a mindset, it’s a strategy for community connection, action, and organizational growth.
Ahead of our first and sold-out Member Luncheon of the 2026-2027 season on September 25, The Business of Belonging: Our City’s Future, we sat down with keynote speaker Cordella to talk about what radical optimism means to her, the Y’s action-first approach to serving the community, and what attendees can expect.
Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce (WCC): To start things off, can you share what inspired you to join YMCA-YWCA of Winnipeg?
CF: One of the things I’ve always loved about the Y is that almost everyone has a Y story, whether it is child care, swimming lessons, day camps, Camp Stephens, fitness or basketball on the courts. And I sometimes think we take the Y for granted because it’s been around for 147 years in our city.
When I joined in 2022, it felt like there was an opportunity for us to do more. The Y is in a pretty unique position in this city. We’re open every day of the week, from early morning until late at night, and people come through our doors for all kinds of reasons.
There’s some magic to that kind of predictability and reliability. People get to know each other. Relationships form. Our staff know our members and our families, and our members know each other. It becomes a community that is self-propelled by the people in it. That’s a pretty fun thing to be part of.
WCC: The Y has made a significant commitment to investing in downtown Winnipeg at a time when many organizations are wrestling with its challenges. What gives you confidence in downtown’s future?
CF: When I started, YMCAs across the country were selling their downtown locations. We decided to stay.
For us, it really comes down to the most basic fact that we know we’re needed. The Downtown Y has been there for 113 years and every generation of the Y has adapted to the needs in the community for their era. There is a resilience and adaptability to that kind of longevity. You can look at all kinds of business measures, and of course we do, but the Y was created to serve its local community. Downtown is part of our community and it was our job to find a way to financially sustain our presence while meeting needs for the next generation.
We’re now in the middle of a $20+ million capital campaign to invest in that location. We’re not pretending downtown doesn’t have challenges. It does. But we’re also not waiting for someone else to figure it out. We are a part of the solution.
One of my favourite things about our Downtown Y is the community that already exists inside that building. People look out for the place and they look out for each other. That’s something worth investing in.
WCC: You’ve described yourself as a “true radical optimist.” How do you define radical optimism, and how has it helped shape your leadership style?
CF: Radical optimism, to me, is the idea that most problems are solvable if we’re willing to work together to solve them.
That doesn’t mean being unrealistic about the problem. It’s actually the opposite. You have to understand what’s happening, but then you have to decide you’re going to do something about it.
That’s been a big part of how we’ve worked at the Y over the last few years. The whole Y team is completely committed to our community, it is awe inspiring for me to witness on a daily basis.
That’s what makes our journey so special. None of what we’ve accomplished would have happened without the Y team believing in where we’re going.
WCC: Why do you think Winnipeg businesses should infuse this radical optimism into their organizations?
CF: Because I think people want to work somewhere where they feel like what they’re doing matters. We’ve seen that at the Y. We know who we are, we know what we can contribute to our community and we are all committed to making that happen.
And that’s not unique to the Y. Every organization has this ability. The question is whether we’ve created an environment where we have centred our role and opportunity.
That’s where optimism becomes useful. It’s not just saying things will get better. It’s deciding we’re going to participate in making them better.
WCC: What should our members expect from you at the September luncheon?
CF: The world around us is in a tough state, people are feeling disconnected and lonely. I am going to share some core social health information and hopefully a call to action of how each of us have an opportunity to respond within our community. I’m going to talk about belonging and why I think it matters to Winnipeg and to our businesses.
We’ve learned some interesting things at the Y over the last few years about what happens when people feel connected to an organization and to each other, and I’ll share some of those experiences.
But I don’t want to give away the whole presentation here. You’ll have to come for lunch.
Tickets for our September 25 Membership Luncheon are sold-out. If you’d like to join the waitlist, click here.
