Michelle S. Henry
100ABCWomen Database
Michelle Henry is a Partner in the Toronto office of Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, where she practices management side labour and employment law.
Michelle advises both private and public sector employer on various employment-related matters, including disability management, restructuring, discipline, occupational health and safety matters. She represents clients in litigation, including wrongful dismissal actions, injunctions, human rights and other administrative tribunal proceedings. On the labour relations side, Michelle acts on behalf of employers in grievance arbitrations, matters before Labour Relations Boards, and in collective bargaining. She co-authored Dismissals in the Unionized Workplace. She is also frequently retained to conduct employee training and independent investigations involving complaints of harassment and discrimination.
I am so proud of creating my own line of products Tricho Solutions. Been a example of for my 4 sons by working hard, you can achieve anything. Getting peoples to know trichology in Canada and able to help my community.
Millicent Olayinka Olu-Cole is President of Annie Walsh Memorial School Old Girls Association (AWOGA) of Ontario. The school, established 1849, is a prestigious all-girls secondary school located in the eastern area of Freetown, Republic of Sierra Leone. Millicent leads, organizes and raises funds for the girls to help fulfill their educational goals which are of high importance to her. She is proud to lead this organization because her Alma Mater has made her the strong educated woman she is today. She wants the girls in Sierra-Leone to have the same opportunities she got through empowerment and education. She will continue to advocate for girls to be educated just like boys to get equal opportunities in life. Her goal is to pay it forward by educating one girl at a time.
Millicent is a small business owner of Yinkus Sizzling Hot Sauce, which she launched in the summer of 2017 with lots of encouragement from her daughter and her sister.
Mitzie Hunter is the Associate Minister of Finance, responsible for the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan, and the Member of Provincial Parliament for Scarborough-Guildwood. Mitzie currently leads the development and implementation of the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan (ORPP) as a member of Premier Kathleen Wynne’s Cabinet. The ORPP will help provide a secure retirement income for the millions of Ontario workers that don’t have a workplace pension plan.
Making the decision to immigrate to Canada despite being successful in my career in my home country took some courage. Attaining 2 professional designations in USA and Canada while working a full time job and raising 3 young children was remarkable. This past year, I was honored with a Humanitarian award of excellence for over 10 years of volunteering with an organization dedicated to sickle cell awareness in Canada.
I am proud that I raised two beautiful black women who are confident, proud and successful in their chosen professions; I built strong relationships with the policing community as a leader; influencing process and policies for diversity awareness; Becoming an advocate for racialized rights and human rights, specifically for the black community.
Mosa McNeilly spins her livelihood as an artist, educator, and editor, while holding it down as a single parent.
Born in Canada, Mosa is part of a generation of Black women artists who have laid a foundation. 2019 marked the 30th anniversary of the first exhibition of Black women artists in Canadian history – Black Wimmin: When & Where We Enter. Recognized at The Feast at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO), Mosa was one of the artists and one of the members of DAWA (Diasporic African Women Artists) who collectively curated the 1989 exhibition tour. The DAWA Collective has since regrouped to mark this historical event, with Andrea Fatona as the curator, and A Space Gallery confirmed as the first venue of the 2021 exhibition tour.
Mosa was one of the Toronto 2019 Acker Award recipients, becoming part of a legacy of artist/activist trailblazers and changemakers. Her artwork has been shown in venues such as Harbourfront, Toronto; Articule, Montreal; Eyelevel, Halifax; Houseworks, Ottawa; Grey Roots, Owensound; XChange, Victoria; Marryshow House, Grenada; and the World Youth Festival, North Korea; and featured in publications such as Cosmic.
Currently, Doreen works as an Infection Control Practitioner (ICP) in which she had to do additional studies to obtain a Certification Board of Infection Control (CBIC) certificate. Her role as an ICP is designed to educate Healthcare providers to understand the principles of Infection Prevention and Control (IPAC) to guide appropriate infection prevention practices.
She has mentored many nursing students as a preceptor during her nursing career and have worked with youths for years, encouraging, guiding and empowering them in community church programs. She volunteered for the Sickle Cell Awareness Group of Ontario (SCAGO) for over ten years. Her roles included the following: Vice President, President, Outreach Coordinator, member of the Board of Directors and currently the Volunteer Manager.
Nadia Thompson was born and raised in Winnipeg Manitoba. Her parents immigrated to Winnipeg in the 70’s from Jamaica. Nadia grew up in the North end of the city. As a visual minority growing up in Winnipeg and going to school as one of the few black children, staying connected to her roots was a challenge. During the early years, Nadia was involved in many extra circular activities as a child including ballet, gymnastics, baton, piano and swimming. At the age of 12 she became a member of the Jamaican Association of Manitoba dance group. She participated in many events throughout the city performing at Folklorama, Black-O-Rama, at schools and senior home. This would be the start of many years of volunteering and community activities for her.
Nadia graduated from Glenlawn Collegiate in 1995 with Graphic Arts major and Fine Arts minor. After having her daughter she went back to school to attain her Business and Office Administration Diploma from CDI College. She started her career with the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority in 2007 in which she has been in various administrative positions and is currently a scheduling clerk for the Palliative Care Unit.
Nadia Hohn, born in Toronto, is an Author, Performer, Educator, and a Diversity in Children’s Literature Advocate, Toronto, ON, Canada. She has a Master of Education, Sociology and Equity Studies in Education (Culture and Communication), Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) at the University of Toronto, 2005. She earned her Bachelor of Education, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto. 2002 and her Bachelor of Arts, Honour’s Psychology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario in 2001. She also has Intermediate/Senior Level Vocal Music and Dramatic Arts, Additional Qualifications: Intermediate Level English, Primary Basic, Junior Basic, French-as-a-Second-Language, Teacher-Librarian; Primary and Junior Music Specialist completed through Primary/Junior Vocal Music Part 1, Orff Level 1 and 2.
Nadia’s is a committed and creative educator. She has taught in Toronto public schools since 2003. In 2009, Nadia was one of the inaugural teachers at the Africentric Alternative School, the first school of its kind in Canada. She was known for the way she integrated African- and Caribbean-history and culture into her lively lessons, incorporated community through guests and assemblies, and planning of educational experiences for her students both in the classroom and outside on memorable field trips. In 2016, Nadia went to Abu Dhabi and Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) where she taught early years music.
Nadine Spencer is the CEO of BrandEQ Group Inc., a global agency specializing in marketing, communications and PR. Nadine has earned a reputation as an experienced professional who accelerates strategic growth and brand visibility for clients. Through her “People Matter” concept, she has expanded market growth and increased revenues for various multinational enterprises by amplifying their messages to a wider audience.
Nadine has held a variety of senior positions throughout her career. Clients and partnerships include Burberry, Mercedes-Benz, Merchandise Mart, Four Seasons Hotel and Resorts, The World Bank, Ontario Justice Education Network – an initiative by The Law Society of Upper Canada, Jamaica National Building Society, and Holt Renfrew. Celebrity collaborations include Sean “P. Diddy” Combs, Colin Cowie, Art Smith (former chef to Oprah Winfrey), Chef Selwyn Richards, and Padma Lakshmi.
Recent projects include creating Canada’s first world class food event, the Delicious Food Show, securing the Food Network as media sponsor in its first year. She managed all aspects of the show’s production and strategic direction. The show was acquired by conglomerate Informa and is now the Toronto Wine & Food Show.
-My marriage and three amazing children-Having had a positive impact on healthcare over the last 20 years -Being a positive role model to young Black girls.
I received the Deeds Speak Award from York Regional Police, opened for Mrs. Obama, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and the former GG of Canada, and being the proponent in the Enslavement of Africans in Canada being named a historic significant Canadian event.
Helping others see and realize their own potential; using my voice, strategic thinking and influence to challenge organizations and drive more equitable outcomes; helping to redefine the ideas of leadership in my professional and volunteer work.
Nalda demonstrated leadership is her ability to build bridges linking many diverse communities. She has initiated and helped to developed programs and projects to enhance the learning capacity of students at all levels. Nalda views community building as a process for societal change and says “it means change in the level at which people participate in the social, economic and political life of the society and also, change in the ways they have access to societal resources.” It is said that Nalda is always on the prowl for new projects and ideas which she believes would benefit her community. She appears to be tireless and unrelenting in pursuit for social and political justice for minority women and others who are disenfranchised by the system. Her vision and tenacity contributed to getting Canada Post to issue its first commemorative postage stamp, in recognition of Black History Month in February 2009. Her knowledge of the challenges that face individuals with HIV/AIDS in particular ethno-cultural communities, promoted Nalda to institute and implement counselling and health-related activities relevant to their situations.
Nancy Falaise Owner, founder and teacher at Salon et Academie Nancy Falaise. She has been a stylist for over 20 years. She has worked and taught in New York, Switzerland, Montreal, and London Ontario. She teaches professionals everything from washing, coloring, cutting and styling curly hair. Nancy also does speaking engagements, sharing her knowledge and experience. She is involved with a couple of Montreal schoolboards giving seminars and workshops. She also has a program with Social services of Montreal working with social workers and foster families with no experience with afro hair to teach them how to wash, manage, take care and style their foster children hair.
My top three accomplishments are the launch of ref, and AfroQueer- and the ability to ground my practice with community work that centers and drives Black cultural production and gathering, graduating from OCAD with my MFA, and the opening of Sankofa: African Routes, Canadian Roots at the Museum of Anthropology UBC.
1. Motherhood
2. Creating a business in a male + white dominated industry
3. Opening my trade training school
Her Master’s Major Research Project (MRP), Lend Me Your Ear: The Voice of Early African Canadian Communities in Ontario Through Petitions, investigated the current state of the teaching of African Canadian history in elementary and secondary public schools to understand why it has remained virtually unchanged for decades, despite gains in policy revision. It includes a curriculum unit developed around six petitions penned by individuals and groups of African-Canadians. This was done with the intent of bringing the voices, opinions and experiences of African-Canadians into classrooms as a way to model how their counter-narrative can be incorporated within the existing curricular framework and also advocating for compulsory learning expectations on Black history and experiences in the Ontario curriculum.
Nerene Virgin’s decades of work in television have established her as a role model and an inspiration. She is a journalist, performer, educator and presenter. Nerene is guided by words her mother instilled in her as a child. “You come into this world owning your dignity and decency and you will leave with those traits intact unless you forfeit them along the way”. When few Black women were regularly seen on Canadian television, Nerene splintered barriers, railed against prejudice and stereotypes, plotting a course for others.
As a child, growing up in a white neighbourhood in Toronto, Nerene experienced the isolation and degradation of bigotry. Determined to seek solutions, she became a teacher, lending support and encouragement to children. She’s certified as a teacher of English as a Second Language and Special Education; the Intellectually Gifted, resolute that education is an underpinning of power. In 1980, she accepted a role that proved the most meaningful of her career-“Jodie” on TV, Ontario’s internationally acclaimed educational series, “Today’s Special” – watched by millions across Canada, the United States and globally. Fans and mainstream through celebrities who watched as parents of children constantly approach Nerene to commend her as a role model and express gratitude for so many cherished memories. Jodie represented strength, caring and integrity – qualities Nerene values. She is praised for instilling a positive perception of Black women in impressionable youngsters.
Nerene continued to play numerous principal roles in commercials, movies and television. In 1988, an executive producer recognized Nerene’s popularity with families and convinced her to join “Newsday” as Ottawa’s community reporter. Her family stayed in Hamilton, but insisted she accept the challenge. Ratings tripled when Nerene arrived. Soon CTV-Toronto (CFTO) asked her to relocate and host “Eye On Toronto”. Many saw Nerene’s hiring as a breakthrough for a station lacking on-air diversity. A boss later told her she was hired because she wasn’t really “Black”. This was repugnant to Nerene but she recognized it as an effort to erode her self-esteem. Two Black female co-workers shared painful stories of discrimination and eventually resigned. Nerene persevered, spurred by her mother’s words ‘Pick yourself up, dust yourself off and get back out there”.
Raising three amazing childrenCurating my skincare line Organic Skin TherapiesCo-founding BC’s first Black led business organization.
My top 3 major accomplishments are my children, the Nikki Clarke Show, and starting the first Black Music /Urban Showcase with Canadian Music Week in 2014.
i) One of the few Black women producers in film, television and performing arts in Canada ii) Independently create, write and produce the first Black a cappella large scale Opera in Canada which is set to tour in South Africa 2024 iii) Building a nation as a mother of two beautiful children and mothering a generation to create, My hwrite and produce works that represent the Africa Diaspora in our own way.
Nicole Waldron’s multifaceted career, commands over 25 years of experience in project management, marketing, arts and administration, sponsorship, public relations, social advocacy and production management. This expansive career has enabled her to work throughout Canada, the United States and the Republic of Trinidad & Tobago. Nicole has developed a keen understanding of the needs and goals of her clients, which complements her professional and personal one on one style. Always passionate, she believes in working on projects that edify individuals to be the best they can be and organizations that have a positive impact on society. She works to raise awareness on Affordable Housing issues, Violence Against Women, Mental Health and Health Issues affecting the African-Canadian/Caribbean Communities such as Sickle Cell.
Nicole served as a consultant to several organizations. These include, but are not limited to, Exclusive Entertainment, Joan Pierre & Associates, Amoi Magazine, Darren Sheppard (Pannist), YMCA Greater Toronto – Self Employment Program, Sunrise Caribbean Restaurant Franchise Corporation, Dance Caribe, GTFA Learning Centre and Let’s Celebrate Liberia Organization.
Nicole has been actively involved in the design and implementation of various Festivals and Special Events such as: The Truth Conference, the Pinball Clemons Foundation, Panamania (TO2015 Pan Am Games) – Cuttin’ Style Caribbean Fashion-Toronto; Afrofest, Full Capacity Concerts in conjunction with World Vision, Trinidad & Tobago Heritage Group Projects – Toronto; The African Canadian Achievement Awards, the Aroni and Bikila Awards; The 1994 World Championship of Basketball, The Regent Park and The Reel World Film Festivals – Toronto and The Power Within Conferences in Toronto / Atlanta / Calgary to name a few.
My top three major accomplishments? Firstly, raising two incredible humans, my pride and joy. Secondly, forging a career path as a black woman dedicated to driving positive change. Lastly, simply cherishing being alive – navigating life’s challenges, embracing growth, and relishing every moment.