Dear readers,

I have spent almost two amazing years as the managing editor of Yonge Street Media, so it is with mixed emotion I write today to announce I am stepping down to pursue other opportunities. I am proud to introduce Kelli Korducki, a longstanding contributor to Yonge Street who has also written for the Globe & Mail, Hazlitt and many other publications, as Yonge Street's new managing editor. Her first issue as editor will be October 29, 2014. 

Over the past 20 months I have fallen deeper in love with this city. I have interviewed poets and sculptors, chefs and city councillors, innovators and inventors, and I have had the deep pleasure of telling and sharing some of Toronto's most fascinating and important stories. I have learned about our neighbourhoods from east to west—we are the city of neighbourhoods after all—and all the eccentricities that make each one unique.  I have met the families behind some of our most beloved local markets, the visionaries behind some of our most cutting-edge technologies, and the brains behind some our most lauded academic contributions.  I've gained an appreciation for Toronto's Business Improvement Areas (BIAs) and I respect these individuals and organizations that work hard to keep our businesses—and city—sustainable and strong. 

Working at Yonge Street gave me the opportunity to see Toronto from behind the scenes. The curtain was lifted and the energy I felt gave me a new understanding of the passion that runs this city. We are a city of dreamers and doers, advocates and artists, people who not only come up with great ideas, but who turn those ideas into meaningful work that vastly improves the lives of others. Our city is shaped by people who aren't afraid to take chances, ask questions or try new things, and we are a better city because of it.

For these reasons it was a hard decision to leave Yonge Street, but the time felt right to move on to a new adventure and challenge. I am switching my efforts to concentrate on my freelance writing and the development of an online women's magazine called Blonde. 

I would like to thank Yonge Street's publisher Ritu Bhardwaj, my wonderful team of editors Hamutal Dotan, Bert Archer and former civic impact editor Katia Snukal, all of our amazing contributors and especially my go-to's Sarah B. Hood, Igor Bonifacic and Andrew Seale, Yonge Street's many sponsors and partners, and lastly Lee Chilcote and the Issue Media Group team. These individuals have helped make Yonge Street what it is today and it has been a pleasure and an honour working alongside them. 

I know Kelli will usher Yonge Street into this exciting new era while continuing to tell the stories that make this publication so unique. Please join me in welcoming her to the team. 

To everyone, thank you for reading. 

Sincerely,

Sheena Lyonnais