‘We are being asked to become the fullest expression of who we are’ – World Council comes to an end on final, frenetic day
Date: 25 July 2026
21st YMCA World Council, Toronto, Canada – Friday 25 July 2026
World Council ended with an Ojibwe drumroll today, as delegates from nearly 100 YMCA National Movements headed home at the end of an intense last day of World Council.
Looking forward was the theme of the early-morning ‘Tomorrow Party’: 16 facilitated breakouts which challenged participants to imagine where the world and the YMCA will be in 2028, in 2030, and in 2034. Each person was asked to say how they would like to be able to nominate themselves for a YMCA Impact Award in that last year: in just one of over 1000 dreams and wishes, a small-town YMCA in mid-Ontario envisaged itself being at the centre of the community’s wellbeing, working in close tandem with a local hospital, mental health centres, probation services and more. Nearly 60 YMCA people facilitated the conversations which had been developed by Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.
Denise Hatton, CEO of YMCA England & Wales, and Antonio Merino, Secretary-General of YMCA Latin America and the Caribbean, presented the first stage of the YMCA-wide Global Impact Report 2026. For the first time since 2017, National Movements were asked directly how Vision 2030 is showing up in their work. Nearly 60 responded, these reaching 27.9 million people directly in the most recent reporting year – 9.6 million of them young people – through 5,440 local YMCAs and branches. The research will be finalised by October 2026.
Jonathan Belolo, cultural entrepreneur and President of the Loveforce Foundation, spoke of his father Henri, co-creator of The Village People in 1977 and co-writer of the disco anthem YMCA in 1978. ‘What I see in the YMCA, wherever I go, is its warmth and kindness’, he said.
Martin Houghton-Brown, Secretary-General of the The Duke of Edinburgh International Award, underlined a historical inflection point in which AI will magnify all that is good and all that is bad for young people, calling on the YMCA Movement to ‘do what you do best and continue equipping young people. And we’ll all tell governments that … you’re the best thing since sliced bread!’
Outgoing World YMCA President Soheila Hayek was given life membership. She farewelled the 2022-2026 Executive Committee and conducted a final governance debate in which a motion put forward by YMCAs Sweden and Mexico proposed to ensure sufficient candidacies from the different YMCA regions to positions on the Executive Committee. World Council mandated the incoming Executive Committee to explore this further.
Chris Lewis (YMCA Australia) took the Presidential oath and gave his acceptance speech. ‘If we do not evolve, we will not endure’, he said. ‘That is not a criticism of where we have been. It is a call to courage about where we must go and what we have done for much of history. As we change, we must be grounded in where we came from and the timeless values that shaped our Movement. In faith, in hope, in love. We are not being asked to abandon who we are. We are being asked to become the fullest expression of it.’ Read the full text here.
World YMCA Secretary-General Carlos Sanvee thanked the many hundreds of people who had ‘given of their time, energy and talents to make an unforgettable World Council’, including over 320 Canadian volunteers. In his closing address, he said: ‘By 2030, the world should be able to look at this Movement and see three things. First, that young people trust us with their future: we want to be the organisation people turn to first on youth empowerment. Second, that our resources match our reach. Like most organisations, we are badly underfunded against the need and against our aspirations. Third, that we are one Movement, not 120 fragmented federations.’ Read the full text here.
He ended: ‘We are right to be proud that, 182 years in, we are still a Movement that responds in the moment and advocates hard for lasting change.
He cited the sacred teachings of the First Nations of Canada, revolving astound respect, courage, love, truth, humility, honesty, wisdom. ‘That is the YMCA’s ‘body, mind and spirit’. And it is a fair description of what it takes to lead this Movement well.’
