Thanks to the efforts of Team Cboe Canada, three years ago the NY-based Wall Street Rides FAR event went global and Bay Street Rides FAR in Toronto was born.  Team Cboe Canada captain Chris Caminiti, chair of the company’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee, says his team is proud to have been a founding sponsor and is thrilled to be returning again this year because the Ride’s mission aligns perfectly with the company’s mission.

“What we do with the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee at Cboe Canada, as well as what we do as a business, is use our position and platforms to make a difference. We’re bringing bold ideas to the business world but we’re also trying to bring bold ideas to improve our communities every day as well. We’re proud to do that in support of the autism community.  Also, as part of the wider Cboe Global Markets organization, we’ll have colleagues from our firm participating at Rides FAR events all over the globe. We’re going to be in Canada, we’re going to be in the US, but excitingly, we’re also going to have a presence in Amsterdam, London and. Bringing people together from diverse backgrounds to create solutions is critical to business and critical to the autism community.” 

Chris emphasizes that Bay Street Rides FAR, which exceeded expectations last year with close to 150 riders and walkers, will likely grow to 200 participants or more in 2023, with team CBOE Canada again leading that expansion.  “Engagements have already started, and communications are out, so it’s going to be a great day.”

The Toronto ride was launched because the founder and president of NEO Exchange (now operating as Cboe Canada), Jos Schmitt, had deep connections with the Rides FAR team and felt passionately about the Autism Science Foundation’s work.  “Jos felt called upon to support people with autism all over the world, but especially here in Canada”, Caminiti said.  “We have such great relationships with people directly and indirectly connected with our industry here. We wanted to leverage those relationships to make an impact in the autism community in Canada.” Jos now serves as the board president of Autism Science Foundation Canada.

Chris also has a family connection to autism that gives his participation even deeper meaning. “About 20 years ago, one of my family members was diagnosed with autism. Our family was told that they would never walk, would never talk, but the child’s mother didn’t accept that. She did everything she could to make sure that that wouldn’t be the reality for her child… and this person has just recently graduated university, and is such an inspiration.”

This will be Chris’ third year riding. With a chuckle, he described his favorite moment from last year’s ride. “I was biking with a couple of my colleagues, and we were enjoying our conversation so much and enjoying the beautiful Toronto weather. We were supposed to be doing the 20 kilometer ride but before we knew it, we had accidentally gone off course. When we finally reached the finish line, everyone was saying, ‘What happened to you? You went so slow!’ We said, ‘You all did the 20 kilometer – well, it turns out we did the 40 kilometer!.’ It was just a really nice moment, coming together, being together for a great cause.”