Denise Siele
100ABCWomen Database
Denise Siele is an award-winning public affairs professional and the President of SEMgroup Public Affairs, a strategic events firm through which she has successfully collaborated with a top range of government, business and civil society leaders and stakeholders. Her diverse clientele has included heads of states, the Governments of Canada, Alberta, Ontario and the Yukon, the United Nations Association in Canada and the Canadian Union of Public Employees. Also, as Director of Strategic Initiatives and Operations at Equal Voice, she manages Canada-wide efforts to get more women elected to legislatures across the country.
Born in Nairobi, Kenya, Denise moved to Ottawa as a young teenager accompanying her mother on a diplomatic posting. At the conclusion of the term, her mother returned to Kenya to run for public office, the first woman in her community to do so. Denise, then 18 years old elected to remain in Ottawa where she continued her education while setting course for a dynamic contributing journey — launching SEMgroup in 2004, and balancing entrepreneurial excellence with philanthropy by donating countless hours to many local and international community initiatives.
Fond highlights include her tenure as Dean’s list student at Carleton University’s Arthur Kroeger College of Public Affairs and Policy Management, during which she founded one of the most successful student organizations which earned her the Association of the Year Honours, and helped establish Carleton’s Race and Ethnicity Hall.
My top three major accomplishments have been 1. My self-financed training as a classical soprano of world-class status. 2. The founding Artistic Director of the charitable organization, No Strings Theatre which has impacted many emerging artists. 3. My Master’s Degree in Community Music and Narrative Research Capstone on using music to build cultural bridges.
Diane Walters Working tirelessly for those who are homeless or marginally housed and witnessing the fruits of my labour being the successful creation of permanent and transitional housing units. Being the first Executive Director of Margaret’s Housing and Community Support Services and growing the agency to a multi-service agency serving individuals who have mental illness and living with a substance use issue and those who are homeless or marginally housed. The creation of a support Group for Parents of children of African descent. The creation of Margaret Trudeau Mental Health Advocacy Award – given out at the Mad About Margaret Annual event. Being mother to my daughter Nefisa!
I am a Group Benefits Underwriter/Analyst. Some of my accomplishments include being accepted to present my paper on the disparities faced by women and minorities in STEM. I also consulted on the G7 summit addressing job creation and how to support the marginalized. My work focuses on advocacy and knowledge creation in the community.
Becoming a mother of 2 amazing socially conscious people.
Becoming one of the few Black midwives in Ontario
Becoming a leader in the midwifery community by being a Practice Partner & having a seat at the table to represent the Black community on the Boards & Committees that I’ve served on.
I am proud to have raised 3 very independent girls. Althea, Pamela and Breann. All are university/college graduates with jobs in their fields. I believe they are my three major accomplishment. When speaking of academic or professional accomplishments, completing my Masters of Science in Nursing and a Masters Certificate in Health Care management and becoming a Certified Healthcare Executive rank up there with being appointed the Vice President of Clinical Operations and the Chief Nurse Executive at the Center for Addictions and Mental Health. I’ve also receive the Alumni of distinction award from the University of Wester Ontario one of 10 recipients in 100 years.
Djanet Sears was born Janet Sears in London, England to parents of Caribbean descent; her mother is Jamaican and her father is Guyanese. She lived in England until 1974, when her family moved from London to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in Canada. Her family then relocated to Oakville, Ontario in 1975 and Djanet remained there until 1977. She then moved to Toronto, Ontario to attend York University and there, received an Honours Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre. She also studied at the Canadian Film Centre and New York University in New York. In the 1980s, questioning her place in Canada as member of a visible minority and in search of her ancestral roots she traveled to West Africa. It was a cathartic experience, when she came across a plateau area called Djanet. This inspired her to change her name to Djanet and embrace her African ancestry. She returned to Canada and constructed the play Africa Solo, a semiautobiographical one-woman show about her path of self-discovery from childhood through her time in Africa. Published in 1990, it was the first play by an African-Canadian playwright to be published. The Canadian Broadcasting Company Radio produced the play and she won the International Armstrong Award for Outstanding Radio Play, which brought her national recognition and a lightning rod to galvanize a force for the African-Caribbean theatre movement.
Sears has earned international fame as a talented writer, director and performer. She has written critically acclaimed plays, in addition to Afrikca Solo, Harlem Duet and the Adventurers of a Black Girl in Search of God-a work for which she won Canada’s highest literary award, The Governor General’s Literary Award, in 1998. She has directed and produced numerous other plays and has won several awards. There are central themes present in all of Sears’s plays. The most obvious themes presented have to deal with race relations, with gender issues, with individual as well collective identity searching and with political action. All of her main chapters are women, and while most of their struggles are universal, they do face certain issues that are specific to being woman. Djanet also belongs to a number of organizations and is the founding member of the Obsidian Theatre in Toronto, a theatre dedicated to producing works by authors of African descent living or working Canada.
Dominique Dennery – Growing up in the 60’s in Canada with forays into the American segregated south, exposed Dominique to the challenges faced by Black people in all aspects of their lives. She gained inspiration from her parents who are first-wave Haitian immigrants. They had to earn their degrees again, with children in tow, to practice their professions. She pursued a Master of Arts degree instead of following in her parents’ footsteps in the medical field.
In the 80s, she joined the federal public service and was one of a few Black employees to reached senior levels. Dominique used her position at the Privy Council Office to advocate change with a group of executives tasked with reviewing HR practices and proposing ways to break the “visibility ceiling” for visible minority groups. She also brought executive women and men of colour forward for Governor in Council appointments and advocated for women in the top echelons.
Linda McCurdy is one of the greatest high jumpers in Windsor / Essex County track and field history. In addition to an All-American career at the University of Texas El Paso, (UTEP), she successfully represented Canada on the international stage around the world.
Born and raised in Windsor, Linda first started high jumping at age six and quickly became adept at the discipline, winning a bronze medal at the 1997 OFSAA championships as a grade nine Vincent Massey student. The following year, Linda attended school at Lansing Everett while her mother completed her master’s degree at Michigan State. While at Everett, Linda lettered in track and field and finished fifth in the Michigan state track championships. She returned to Windsor the next year and finished her high school career at W.D. Lowe High School, where she was a multi-sport star for the Trojans and a record-setting three-time OFSAA champion in the high jump. Outside of school competition, Linda also claimed the Canadian National Junior High Jump Championship in 1980, was a silver medalist at the 1980 Junior Pan American Track and Field Championships, and won gold at the 1981 Canada Summer Games.
“Headed several campaigns and projects which in total have awarded over 600 student scholarships in Canada and the Caribbean. Built two schools in Jamaica and was part of the team that built over 50 schools and homes. Along with the Food For the Poor Canada team, we shipped food, medicine and school supplies to the most vulnerable in Haiti, Jamaica and Latin America.
Donna initiate the Nubian Book Club, an intergenerational community initiative that encourages minority youth, their families and community leaders to engage in a rich dialogue about literature to support the advancement of the participating youth. The Nubian Book Club was also able to support the Hohle Intermediate School in South Africa to fill its library with hundreds of books through donations, and has subsequently renamed its library after the Nubian Book Club, in honour of this ongoing support.
Donna Wellington was born in Windsor, ON, Canada. Her parents are Jamaican and immigrated to Canada. Her mother taught her the importance of hard work, education, and achievement; also not to expect handouts but to outperform her peers in order to overcome the societal disadvantages of being female, a visible minority, and the child of immigrant parents. She took this to heart and excelled in school, athletics and her career.
She graduated from W.F. Herman Secondary School, earned her Bachelor of Science, Nursing (BSN,) and Masters of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Windsor, 2004.
Donna began working at Henry Ford Health System in Detroit in 1996. She has held numerous roles, starting as a registered nurse in the Ambulatory clinic to Vice President of Operations for Henry Ford’s flagship 800+ bed hospital to her current role as Chief Operating Officer of the Henry Ford Behavioural Health Services division.
Donna has 20+ years’ health care experience and recognized as an effective leader in complex, high-stake situations in Healthcare. She has led in all aspects of health care delivery including Primary Care, Pediatrics, Urology, Women’s Health, Dermatology, Inpatient and Outpatient Nursing and Behavioural Health.
Greatest Accomplishments
“Having both a family and a satisfying career. I was always very close to my mother and grandmother and it gives me a real sense of accomplishment to have that same special bond with my daughter and grandson. Lots of women are mothers but not all can say with total confidence that their children love them and that the feeling is mutual.”
Dr. Jarvis says she was lucky to have found a career that combined her two passions: working with children and medicine. Born in Jamaica, she became a Doctor in 1969, graduating from the University of the West Indies, (U.W.I.) Kingston, Jamaica. She lived on the campus, and refers to her relationship with U.W.I. as a family affair and very close to her heart. After her internship at the U.W.I. Hospital, she worked for two years as a Casualty Officer at Holberton Hospital, Antigua, and had a part-time family practice. Dr. Jarvis migrated with her husband to Canada in 1972 and completed paediatric training in the Department of Paediatrics, University of Toronto. Certified by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada in 1976 she joined the Department of Paediatrics and The Hospital for Sick Children (Sick Kids) and remained until retirement in 2010.
At a Toronto Gala in 2014, where she was being honoured, she recalled one of the highlights of her career was, when she had the opportunity to work on the late Dr. Mustard’s team. He was the first cardiac surgeon in the world to save children with complex congenital heart disease. Until Dr. Mustard perfected his surgical techniques, most of these babies died. It was a game-changer – just marvellous. She also noted that another career highlight was being part of the development of “Emergency Medical Services”. She went on to say that “When I came to Canada, they didn’t have paramedics; the service started in 1984, and I was very lucky to have been invited to teach some of the first groups of paramedics. That was a whole adventure and certainly, I never thought working in paediatrics, I’d have a chance to be part of that.”
Dr. Jarvis held a succession of academic appointments at the University of Toronto, in addition to hospital appointments. Leadership positions included Associate Dean, Health Professions Student Affairs, Faculty of Medicine and Medical Director of Sick Kids Emergency. The recipient of a host of teaching awards, her trainees now work as leaders in clinical, education and administrative positions around the world. She served as an examiner for the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, invited lecturer to countless education events across Canada and member of the National Task Force that led to the accreditation of Paediatric Emergency Medicine (PEM) by the Royal College. A leading proponent of Paediatric Life Support education, she trained providers and instructors through the Michener Institute Program 1984-2015.
Dorothy Abike Wills, B.Sc., M.S.W., M.A., PhD., LL.D., DHL (Honoris Causa), C.M., retired in June 2000, as the Dean of the Faculty of Applied Technologies at Vanier College, Quebec. She was born in Dominica, West Indies. She was left orphaned at an early age and with the bequest from her parents, she migrated to Canada at seventeen and enrolled at Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. There, she completed the Bachelor of Science Degree in 1956, and was awarded the Governor General’s Gold Medal for the highest academic performance that year. This was the beginning of a truly remarkable career of one of Dominica’s renowned daughters, who earned the distinction as “one of Canada’s leading educators and community leaders”. As an outstanding student, Dorothy continued her education at McGill University while working full time, and sometimes holding down two jobs, and raising her children. She earned a Master’s Degree in Social Work, and a Masters in History from Howard University. She however, found her passion in teaching and education and went on to do a Master’s Degree in Education at Concordia University and later earned her PhD in Philosophy of Education from Pacific Western University in California. She has since dedicated her life to being an Educator in the areas of Business Education, Social Work and Andragogy (the method by which adults learn) and encouraging the integration of visible minorities into Canadian society. She taught at the High School (CEGEP) and University levels.
Dr. Butler is a member of the Social Program Evaluation Group (SPEG) at Queen’s University. She is currently working on a 2018-2021 program evaluation for the Ontario wide Youth Job Connections/Youth Job Connections Summer program. The evaluation includes a combination of both qualitative data from interviews and quantitative data analysis of surveys administered to over 2,000 youth. In addition, Dr. Butler is a co-evaluator for the Ministry of Children and Youth Services 2018-2020 program evaluation of Innovative Supports for Black Parents with Turner Consulting.
In October 2017, she was awarded a grant from the Ministry of Education’s Parents Reaching Out program to conduct focus group research for immigrant parents in low-income GTA communities. From 2016-2017, Dr. Butler was part of a program evaluation team in the School of Nutrition at Ryerson University for Rainbow Plate. Rainbow Plate is a nutritional intervention program for children and youth in Toronto to promote healthy eating.
As Strategic Development Director of the non-profit, Collective Community Services, located in Verdun, Montreal, Dr. Williams works to develop innovative programs and partnerships to improve the lives of English-speaking residents. She has worked as an historian, author, educator, researcher, content developer, and consultant.
Dr. Williams specializes in Black Canadian history and has authored three books and contributed to other scholarly and academic publications. Her first book was Blacks in Montreal, 1638-1986: An Urban Demography, was written at the behest of the Quebec Human Rights Commission in 1989, during their study of racism in Montreal’s housing market. Her second work, published in 1997, The Road to Now: A History of Blacks in Montreal, remains the only chronological study of Blacks on the island of Montreal. Her most recent book in 1998, Les Noirs à Montreal, Essai de demographic urbaine, was a translation of Blacks in Montreal.
With a strong afro-centric focused perspective, Dr. Williams’ Ph.D. thesis, “Sankofa: Recovering Montreal’s Heterogeneous Black Print Serials,” explored the range of Black print culture in Montreal. In addition, she has penned popular articles in magazines and newspapers about black culture in Canada. In addition, Dr. Williams has contributed to various refereed anthology volumes, such as D. Brundage, M. Lahey, eds. Acting on Words: An Integrated Reader, Rhetoric and Handbook and in two volumes of the University of Toronto Press, History of the Book in Canada/Histoire du livre et de l’imprimerie au Canada. Moreover, Dr. Williams has published in professional journals in her doctoral field of Library and Information Studies, such as Canadian Journal of Information and Library Science.
Dr. Eugenia Duodu is a scientist, STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) advocate, speaker and community builder. She attended the University of Toronto where she earned an HBSc in Chemistry and Biology (2010) and a PhD in Chemistry (2015). She is also a graduate from Harvard Business School Executive Education with a focus on Strategic Perspective in the Non-Profit Management (SPNM)
During her PhD, she coordinated week-end science clubs for Grade 4-8 children living in TCH developments and was a member the VoSNL Board of Directors.
Dr. June Marion James, O.M, Hon. Dip (RRC) BSc, BSc (med), M.D. FRCPC, FAAAAI, born In Trinidad and Tobago came to Canada in 1960 for university studies in Manitoba, with a career goal of Medicine. She completed her Bachelor Degree of Science in 3 years, and was accepted to Medical schools in the United States and Canada. In addition to cost, June learnt that she would be breaking new ground by being the first woman of color admitted at the University of Manitoba School of Medicine, so she made the decision to remain in Winnipeg.
Following her graduation in 1967, Dr. James did her residency training in Paediatrics, then became a Paediatric Fellow in Hematology /Oncology. At that time, chemotherapy options for children were limited for Blood Cancer and clinical outcomes were poor. An immunoglobulin discovered almost simultaneously in Japan and Sweden named Immunoglobulin E (IGE) was now found to play a pivotal role in Allergy and Asthma. She changed to this new medical sub-speciality entering in 1972 as a Clinical Fellow.
Dr. Kimberley Tavares, an educator for more than 15 years, is currently a Vice-Principal in the York Region District School Board (YRDSB). In February 2013, Kimberley was appointed an Equity Consultant, supporting African and Caribbean youth in the York Region District School Board. While in the position she worked with schools, and families to ease the often difficult navigation that can be schooling in Canada, while supporting schools in the development of equitable curricular practices. Prior to this appointment, she served as Head of the Department of English, at the York Region District School Board and was seconded to the Faculty of Education at York University for nearly three years. She attended York University, where she received the degrees: B.A., B.Ed., M.Ed., and PhD in Education. She is the Co-Chair of the Alliance of Educators for Black Students, an organization of educators that focus on the academic and success of Black students. Her recent research focused on what education can learn from the experience and expertise of those most likely and willing to support the educational aspirations of marginalized learners – the Canadian Black Women teachers.
Kimberley is known for the passion she brings to the classroom, her encouragement of individual students and for her creative teaching techniques. Tavares, mother of three, said that her motivation to understand why a disproportionate number of Black male youth disengage from the school system, began with the birth of her son. It was then that she really began thinking and questioning what was happening to Black youth, specifically boys in our Society, especially when she projected her thoughts to twenty years “down the road” and it generated a huge fear in her. These thoughts provided “meat” for her ground-breaking research for her PhD in Education. It was her assumption, in following along with media and popular notions, that young Black men needed Black male role models in schools. She, however, discovered that the theory was misguided, as the Black males she interviewed, credited the Black women in their lives for their success, consequently allowing her to realize that care, more than gender (or even race) can determine a child’s success. In 2013, she received the Cornerstone Leadership in Action Award. This Award is given each year to recognize graduating teachers who demonstrate exceptional potential and values-based teaching, such as, honesty, integrity, creativity, courage and humility amongst other related values.
Education is one of the key bridges to equity. This belief guides Nancy’s work in the areas of anti-violence, anti-discrimination, literacy, human resources, and human rights. Her contributions to social justice demonstrate that education is of enormous importance in the task of dismantling inequity. From Nancy’s perspective, inequity takes the form of attitudinal, institutional, economic, and cultural barriers that diminish every person’s quality of life, regardless of race, gender, socioeconomic status, religion, and any other social locations.
At the Jane-Finch Literacy Centre, Ms. Simms taught first language literacy to Caribbean and Latin American women; moreover, she taught and developed courses in the assaulted women and children’s program at George Brown College. During her time at the Ministry of the Solicitor General and Correctional Services, she was the manager for sexual assault centres across the province of Ontario. As a human resources manager at Dynamex Canada, Nancy played a pivotal role in developing and introducing policies that made the corporation markedly better at complying with human rights and anti-discrimination legislation.
Dr. Vincella Thompson is a long time resident of Fort McMurray, Alberta. She was born in St. Andrew Jamaica but immigrated to Toronto Canada with her family as a teenager. She is the mother of three grown children and grandma to 6 grandchildren. Vincella holds a degree in Honors Psychology and a Bachelor of Education from Western University. She earned her Master’s Degree in Leadership in Special Education from San Diego State University and her PhD in Education from Capella University in Minnesota, USA. After graduating with a teaching degree she went to the Bahamas to teach the first grade at a private school. She moved to Alberta in 1981 to continue her teaching career. After 17 years she began her own consulting company Vincella Thompson Consulting Services working with school districts to provide supports as the Behavior Consultant for children with special needs as part of a multidisciplinary team.
Her desire to see people improve their skills allowed her to train many support staff who provided educational intervention for children ages 3- 6 years old. Her love for children and their families fueled her to design unique programs to support the early intervention goals of many children. Over the course of that time Vincella has worked with hundreds of children and their families providing hope and innovative programming for skill development. Early intervention works, and today many of these children are attending post -secondary institutions and achieving their life goals regardless of their diagnoses.
In 1995 Vincella saw the need for a Christian School in Fort McMurray and along with two other families she was instrumental in starting the Fort McMurray Christian School with 7 students two of whom were her own children. She was asked to serve as the principal as she was the only member of the parent group with a teaching credential. She would not know that today the school would flourish with several hundred students from well over 15 countries.
Over the past 6 years, i rose through the ranks to become the first African woman to attain tenure and promotion to Associate Professor and Acting Director at the School of Nursing at my place of work. I published 26 peer reviewed journal articles: 16 since my appointment in 2017 and 7 of which as first author. I have also published a book chapter and presented at local, national, and international conferences.
Ebonnie Joan Romessa Rowe is dedicated to the growth of others and supporting charitable causes with a positive community impact.
She has volunteered with, founded and directed organizations that cater to the needs of some of society’s overlooked groups including the Each One Teach One mentoring program for Black Youth and PhemPhat Entertainment Group. It is a dynamic all-female non-profit company that provides promotional, mentoring, networking, educational and performance opportunities for upcoming female artists and supports and promotes women’s charities.