“I’m not here to be the ‘diversity.’ I’m here to open doors for individuals whose talent hasn’t been recognized,” said Cameron Bailey, BA’87, LLD’18.
For the chief executive of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), creating opportunities for underappreciated people to shine is one of the most consequential responsibilities of “leading while Black.”
It helped guide Bailey’s work at TIFF long before he was the CEO. Bailey shared his insights at a talk, the opening event of Western’s Black History Month celebrations, on Feb. 5.
The Western grad who has spent much of the last 35 years shaping TIFF’s vision, influence and prestige told the audience, “I never imagined myself a leader.”
His beginning as a freelance programmer showcasing underrepresented filmmakers morphed into leading roles developing TIFF into a renowned cultural brand that now attracts 700,000 visitors annually.
Bailey’s leadership extends well beyond TIFF. He has impacted the global film industry and contributed to the boards of educational, civic and media organizations, including Western’s Board of Governors, and as a voting member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. For 13 years running, he’s been named among Toronto’s top 50 most influential people.
All this from a young man who never had his eye on the top job.
Path to leadership at TIFF
After an 11-year stint freelancing with TIFF, Bailey still hadn’t given serious thought to his potential for leadership. But then, a close friend set him on a new path with two simple but powerful inquiries.
“He was the first person to ask me, ‘Did you ever think of being in charge?’” Bailey recalled. When he told his friend he hadn’t considered it, the reply was, “’Well, why not you?’”
In his talk at Western, Bailey urged Black students to ask themselves that very question.
His observations resonated audibly with students in the audience, who applauded, laughed and nodded in recognition of shared experiences, such as “practicing the essential Black art of diplomacy when someone says something quietly but definitively racist to you.”
Cameron Bailey, CEO of the Toronto International Film Festival, spoke to students about his journey to leadership. (Colleen MacDonald/Western News)
Opportunities for Black leaders
Bailey recommended young people in the audience nurture their networks of family, friends and colleagues. He noted his own ascent to leadership was supported by the mentorship of a colleague at TIFF who treated him as an equal, providing a valuable apprenticeship for several years.
That guidance ultimately yielded monumental progress for the TIFF brand, for up-and-coming filmmakers in Canada and abroad and for Black leadership. But in today’s polarizing political climate, Bailey sees that progress under threat.
In an interview with Western News after his talk, Bailey shared his views on the responsibilities falling to the next generation and his own challenges as a leader.
Bailey said recent political events, particularly south of the border, are a reminder of how “brutally unsurprising it is that consensus around diversity, equity and inclusion can collapse.”
The weaponizing of language is also compelling to Bailey, who reflected on the division caused by co-opting the word ‘woke’ as a slur. He said it’s especially troubling given the phrase ‘stay woke’ began as an expression in African-American Vernacular English warning of the need to remain ever aware of the potential for racist violence.
“It’s important not to change how you express yourself because of how you think the political climate has changed,” Bailey said.
Students navigate new social dynamics
Parenting keeps Bailey connected to the character and aspirations of young people, he said. He got a personal glimpse into their interactions when he took his 15-year-old son and a friend to a Taylor Swift concert.
That same son wants to pursue an MBA.
Bailey hopes post-secondary students will also explore the arts, given their power to broaden perspectives and complement other disciplines.
“Studying the arts and humanities helps build the empathy that comes from opening yourself to the uncertainty culture demands of you. It considers all the messy nuances and complexities of the human experience,” he said.
“It’s empowering to learn about human beings, their cultures and their highest achievements. It helps us understand how distant events are connected to what’s happening today, and that’s more important now than ever.” – Cameron Bailey, Toronto International Film Festival CEO
Bailey said his time as a Western undergrad in the mid-80s opened possibilities he pursued free of the uncertainties young people face now, amid shifting political and economic ground.
Though Bailey sees more anxiety, he also sees young people cultivating deeper connections among their peers than he experienced, leaving him optimistic about the networks they’re already building.
“I am inspired by what I think is a more evolved notion of friendship. For kids my son’s age and older, their friend groups are really important to them. They’re not limited to a single romantic partner. They’re focused on the complex dynamic of a group of friends leaning on each other and uplifting one another. I keep seeing this powerfully expressed friendship dynamic, particularly among girls.”
Cameron Bailey (centre) wrote for Western’s student newspaper The Gazette in the 1980s. (Western Communications)
The challenges of leadership
Bailey said he believes these friendships and connections bode well for young people who aspire to lead, though he views leadership as a never-ending challenge, even for veterans of a top office.
“The hardest part is managing people as individuals and teams, dealing with conflict, motivating and galvanizing people every single day past the finish line. It’s not an exact science. If there’s a lesson to take, it’s not to beat yourself up over mistakes, but to learn by fixing them.”
He’s still learning on the job at TIFF, Bailey said.
“I’m still figuring out what it means to lead while Black and how to do it better. I’m certainly learning from younger people, too, and finding inspiration in the passion they bring to their work.”
