Public Profile Database
1. Establishing two charities dedicated to supporting and developing the welfare of girls and women by providing avenues for further education and fostering self-sufficiency.
2. Establishing the Archbishop Desmond Tutu Bursary in Divinity Studies with the University of Toronto. This prestigious award is a tribute to Archbishop Tutu (Hon. LLD 2000) and his profound impact on spiritual and human rights leadership in Canada and globally.
The bursary aims to empower promising young humanitarians at the University.
3. Leading a delegation and creating a program supporting forensic testing for sexual abuse victims. The program addresses and combats violence against women, providing essential support and resources to survivors. Collaborators include the Centre for Research in Women's Health, Sunnybrook Hospital, and Women's College Health Centre.
My top three major accomplishments are, in this order (i) completing my degrees, (ii) attaining the position of Vice-President in a multi-billion dollar company before age 40, (iii) launching my business and sticking with it through the first decade of its existence., (iii)
1. Holding a Canada Research Chair in Africana Development and Feminist Political Economy.
2. Founder of the Diverse Solidarity Economies Collective, a group of feminist economists scholars
3.Coining the concept and advancing scholarship on the Black Social Economy
Carolynn Wilson, co-owner of the Sheffield Park Black History and Cultural Museum in Clarksburg, Ontario, February is not the only month when Black History is celebrated. It is a prominent part of the whole year, and Carolynn together with her sister Sylvia, are kept busy moving artifacts, setting up displays, giving talks and arranging presentations. Carolynn co-founded the museum in Collingwood with her late Uncle Howard Sheffield and it moved to Clarksburg three years ago. The Wilson and the Sheffield families were two of the first to settle in Collingwood. Both families were famous in the Grey County area in the late 1700s. “We’ve been here” said Carolynn, adding that the community always accepted her family. She also said that, although as a young girl, the portrayal of Black people in books-caricatures with exaggerated facial features - was difficult; her parents worked extra hard to ensure that she knew her self-worth.
1) Raising three Black 'Renaissance' young men to be successful leaders. 2) Coming to Canada with a young family and starting over from high school to complete a Master of Social Work degree. 3) Co-founding and co-managing an organization that uses Black Caribbean culture to nurture Canadian youth in a unique, iconic contribution to the landscape of the Canadian community for the past 17 plus years.
A Career Strategist, Retirement Coach, Corporate Mentor, Speaker and owner of Cosmic Coaching Centre and ProMentoring; Cecile appeared numerous television networks, including Global News, BNN and CTS. As well, her career management advice has been featured in; The Wall Street Journal, The Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, Canadian Living, HR Professional, Women's Post and scores of online and offline publications.
Cecile has turned over 17 years of corporate management and mentoring experience, into two highly successful career management companies. Her team of career experts’ work together with her to create, develop, and manage career initiatives for Middle Managers, Mid-Career Professionals and Executives throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. Hundreds of professionals have successfully navigated their career path towards their next level of career success through the services her companies provide.
Cecile has written a number of career development e-books, and has a weekly Internet talk show on BlogTalkRadio.com. She is a committed volunteer in the community and sits on Non-Profit Boards. She is a mentor to youth in Toronto, and voluntarily provides free workshops aimed at helping young women and youth in at-risk communities. She has done much work for new college and university graduates, helping to prepare them for their first jobs. Her primary goal has been to follow the advice of Henry Kissinger: “The task of a leader is to get his people from where they are to where they have not been.”
Cecile has been a volunteer, and a community program leader, for most of her life. She has worked tirelessly on issues important to Toronto and its residents, especially the disadvantaged amongst us.
In addition to my role as a dedicated mother of two African Nova Scotian boys, my proudest professional achievements include earning my master's degree during the pandemic, spearheading legacy programs for young black youth across grassroots organizations, and being appointed to the Expert Advisory Team for the Online Safety Bill by the Federal Government of Canada. These accomplishments highlight my commitment to academic excellence, community empowerment, and contributing to impactful legislation.
In 2021 I was selected by the City of Toronto to serve on the Confronting Anti-Black Racism Advisory Committee. In 2020, I graduated from OISE/UT with my Ph.D. in educational leadership and in 2016 I was selected by the City of Toronto to become a member of the Toronto Seniors' Forum.
Charmaine Althia Crooks, C.M, OLY was born in Mandeville, Jamaica, immigrated to Canada at a young age with her parents and siblings. She is a five-time Canadian Olympian and Olympic Silver Medalist (Athletics), a Member of the Order of Canada (C.M), entrepreneur, speaker, and a long serving advocate for sport, community and Athletes. She was the first Canadian woman to run 800 meters in under two minutes. She won gold medals at World Cups, the Pan-American Games and the Commonwealth Games and was named Flag Bearer at the Opening Ceremony of the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games, held in Atlanta, Georgia.
Charmaine is a resident of West Vancouver, and is the Founder and President of NGU Consultants Inc. (1994), a global strategic marketing, management, production and corporate consulting company, which provides strategic cross-sectional advisory and business development services to a variety of national and global sectors, from technology, sports, to major events. She is a Corporate Director, serving on a variety of profit and non-profit Boards, including the national Board of The Heart and Stroke Foundation and currently, 365 International Sport Foundation (co-founder), Big Sisters BC Lower Mainland, Canucks Autism Network and a global champion for Peace with Peace and Sport.
Charmaine Headley Co-Founding Artistic Director of COBA, Collective of Black Artists, Charmaine Headley is a champion of Africanist dance. Through her work as an artist, choreographer, teacher and mentor she advocates for the recognition and inclusion of the contributions of ethno-cultural dance practices in Canadian dance history and culture today. Headley pushes for a broadened societal appreciation of these art forms and advocates for reflexivity within Canadian curricula.
On leave from her PHD Studies at OISE, University of Toronto, Headley's focus is on the contribution of Black Dance on the concert stage to Canadian Dance History. A graduate of the School of Toronto Dance Theatre and a strong believer in the healing power of dance, she holds an honours diploma in Gerontology/ Activation Coordination and has created a movement-based senior’s program for her Master’s thesis at York University. Headley implemented and ran an intergenerational program in collaboration with Malvern Family Centre and COBA, where seniors and elementary students in the Malvern area are brought together to explore and share their story through dance.
Ms. Cherie Alexa Ann Daniel, born in Toronto has worked as a sole practitioner Lawyer and in-house Counsel for a National Tax Law Firm. She earned her LL.B (Liverpool), LLM (Osgoode), M Ed (University of Toronto (U of T) – Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), and is a PhD student (OISE).
She worked as the 1st Black Program Coordinator for a Post- Graduate Certificate in Community and Social Diploma Program at Mohawk College – McKeil School of Business in the Community and Social Services Management.
She was appointed by Mayor John Tory as a part-time Hearing Officer in the first and newly formed Administrative Penalties Tribunal and was also appointed by Attorney General Michael Bryant to the Justices of the Peace Review Council.
Mother to my daughter and seeing her growing into an amazing young adult
Cheryl Blondell-King is a criminal lawyer in Toronto, ON. She is a child of the Caribbean, born on the island of Antigua but with family roots on the island of St. Lucia. She immigrated to Canada as a child with her immediate family and has resided in Toronto and surrounding areas most of her life.
She has two daughters, ages 21 and 23, who she is extremely proud of. Cheryl obtained her undergraduate degree at York University in Political Science (specializing in international relations and third world politics) and Sociology.
She says York was an awakening for her. She was exposed to all kinds of young women with brilliant minds and walked away with not only a Bachelor of Arts with Honors but friendships she has maintained to this day....friends she considers family.
Driven by a passion of travel, language and culture, she travelled to Paris, France where she lived and studied French for a year.
Cheryl Kerr is the Founder and Managing Director of Medex Health Services Incorporated.
Born in Jamaica, Ms. Cheryl Kerr came to Canada in 1984 where she settled in Montreal while working and attending Dawson’s College. After successfully completing her program as a registered nurse, she launched a full-time career spanning more than 25 years in the healthcare field.
The re-launch of Sway Magazine - an inspirational and aspirational magazine devoted to the black community in Toronto.
Raising to an executive level as a black worman in Toronto
Community involvement in the Caribbean community, including Barbados Canada Association, Tropicana Community Services, The Grant Morris Foundation
Chioma Ifeanyi-Okoro is an award-winning strategy and growth consultant focused on delivering business growth and personal brand building strategies to students, professionals, women entrepreneurs, large enterprises and business associations across the world.
She is also the founder of My African Corner a 3000+ community of black professionals and entrepreneurs spread across Canada, United States and Europe. The organization has partnered with CIBC, Facebook, Shopify, City of Toronto, MaRs Discovery District, Sandbox by DMZ, Ryerson University and more to connect black students, professionals and entrepreneurs with access to resources, skills and networks to grow in their respective careers.
Amongst the greatest was my involvement with the cross-cultural exchanges of students across Canada for which I received the SEVEC award. My involvement with The Congress of Black Women (KW Chapter) has enabled over thirty young people to further their education at the tertiary level through The Chloë Callender Award established since 2002. Another accomplishment was my work with The Waterloo Region Catholic School Board which effected changes in Race Relations in schools and the community at large.”
My top accomplishments are 1) Being a role model 2) Having confidence to have difficult conversations and bringing people together 3) Having the courage to start my own business and keep trying new things.
- Becoming the first black woman and youngest cabinet-appointed board member of the Francophone Television of Ontario.
- Being recognized internationally as one of the Top 100 most influential people of African descent by the United Nations General Assembly
- Selected as a leader to meet President Barack Obama
- Supported over 30 impact-focused organizations globally and co-raised over $5 million for capacity-building programs.
Christine Williams, with a career spanning over 38 years with Scotiabank, is a seasoned and highly accomplished executive, who combines incisive strategic leadership talents with a proven ability to build and develop high performance teams. She has maintained a focus on helping individuals develop to their maximum potential. As Vice President of Scotiabank, Christine is responsible for marketplace management and the delivery of retail and small business banking services in Toronto Region. Her training from The Richard Ivey School of Business Leadership program and her Fellowship with the Institute of Canadian Bankers and Canadian Securities Institute (F.C.S.I.) help her achieve Scotiabank's employee, customer, operational and financial goals.
Christine is highly regarded by colleagues and community stakeholders as a positive, vision-orientated leader and motivator, who brings innovation and resourcefulness to an endeavor. She supports initiatives in diverse communities, including the Scotiabank Caribbean Carnival, where she has represented the bank. Christine’s dedication to the community has led to sponsorships for the University of Toronto, Scarborough Campus Student Centre and The Scarborough Hospital Foundation, among others. Her community involvement includes directorship roles at The Scarborough Hospital Foundation, and The College Compensation and Appointments Council. Christine served as Chair of the Scarborough Chamber of Commerce and for the period 2001-2007, has been President of Tropicana Community Services, a social services organization in Toronto.
Having my children at 17 and 21 was not in the plan, but sometimes the greatest things come when they're unexpected. Going back to school as a mature student was daunting but also gave me an edge where I could apply my life and professional experience to my education. My involvement in infant and early childhood mental health awareness matters as it takes into consideration the parental/caregiver role, and ones community and culture.
Dr. Claudette Knight has over twenty years of experience in the Financial Services Industry as a Human Resource (H.R) professional and is passionate about delivering sustainable business results while enabling engagement and wellbeing in others. Claudette is currently VP Talent Development at CIBC where she leads a national team accountable for building employee and leader capability bank-wide. She is also HR’s Executive Sponsor for the CIBC’s ‘Run for the Cure’ and Executive Co-Sponsor for CIBC’s Black Employee Network. Claudette is an ally of CIBC’s Indigenous Employee Circle, Pride Network and Women’s Network. She presents regularly at CIBC events as well as externally, most recently the Chief Learning Officer Conference in 2019 and at the “Making Money Moves” event for the Black Professionals in Technology Network, in 2020.
Canadian born Claudette McGowan, is an award-winning, globally-focused information technology leader with more than 17 years of success leading digital transformation, optimizing infrastructure and designing new approaches that improve service experiences. She has worked in the technology industry for several organizations such as Deloitte, Metropolitan Police Services, North York General Hospital and Bank of Montreal.
She is a recipient of a 2014 Green4Good Visionary award and in 2015 she was hailed as a Black Business & Professional Association (BBPA) Exchange – Woman of Honour. She was among the Top 100 Black Women to Watch in Canada and in 2018 she was recognized as WXN Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Award winner.
Starting My Speaking Career as A Teenage Mother, Mentoring over 300 young women, Mentoring My Fellow Survivors To Become Revolutionary Speakers.
Colleen is currently an Associate Director in the Toronto District School Board with responsibility for the following portfolios: Equity, Early Years, Well-being, Schools and School Improvement. Throughout her career, Colleen has held a firm belief that education is one of the most important tools required to change lives. In particular, she has been a dedicated advocate for children’s early literacy development. Perhaps this passion emanated from the love of reading fostered by her mother, Delacy and her early teaching and leadership experiences in North York and Scarborough. Colleen quickly learned that there were systemic barriers faced by underserved students which often stalled their literacy development. She set out to dismantle the system by ensuring children had the ability to read and write, in order to give voice to their ideas. Her commitment to literacy led Colleen to volunteer as tutor of both children and adults. Principal and Teacher, Colleen mentored and taught other educators in Toronto and the United States, in effective and culturally responsive reading practices.