On Our Minds Spotlight on Black Excellence in North America: 6 Outstanding Black Entrepreneurs, Artists, Community Leaders, and Medical Professionals to Watch. Sehar Manji On Our Minds 13 mins read 8 months ago February may mark Black History Month across Canada and the US, but it’s important to acknowledge the significant impact and influence of Black/African individuals in our society, communities and work year-round. If you’re not already aware, now is the time to learn, support and amplify Black voices and their contributions, and understand why Black History is so important. In this blog, we’ve chosen to bring attention to 6 Black Canadian and American trailblazers who have made their mark in their respective fields. But First… The Origin and Significance of Black History Month Black History itself represents the respect, traditions and rich cultural heritage of Black communities all over the world. Although it has its roots in the dark history of America, Black History and its influence is a crucial part of World history and how our society operates as a whole. This history deserves recognition, celebration and understanding – not only in February. Black History Month originated in 1915 with the founding of the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History by Carter G. Woodson and Jesse E. Moorland. Its aim was to promote the achievements of Black Americans and African descendants. February was chosen to commemorate the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass, important figures in ending slavery. Making Black History – Their Way Each of the individuals below on our list have accomplishments across artistic, tech, health and government industries. We’ve included a bit about their story, their Why and links to their work. Mohannad El-Barachi (Montreal, Canada) Co-Founder & CEO of Wrk Successful tech-entrepreneur, investor, executive and business strategist, Mohannad El-Barachi is originally from Egypt, and now based in Montreal. He holds a degree in Computer Science and Political Science and has a proven track record of success with expertise spanning multiple industries, notably automotive, telecom, and digital marketing. He co-founded SweetIQ Analytics Corp., a successful digital marketing platform that saw over 300% growth under his leadership before being acquired by Gannett. Today, in addition to being a strategic advisor and investor to technology companies and venture capital firms, he serves as the Co-Founder & CEO of Wrk.com, a platform that helps businesses scale the delivery of work through automated workflows. About Wrk.com El-Barrachi founded Wrk.com by combining his expertise in business strategy with a passion for making a meaningful impact. “You can be as aspirational as you want but if there’s no true business model to it then it doesn’t matter.” Through decades of experience, he recognized that scaling a business involved managing a large volume of repetitive, time-consuming tasks that could be manual, automated or hybrid. After considering existing solutions that automated work processes, he found them to be either too basic and limiting or too complex. And so Wrk.com was created to help business operators who didn’t have technical skills but had a lot of tasks that needed to be done in order to grow their business. Wrk.com harnesses the power of “Wrk actions,” the building blocks that mimic the human actions that make up day-to-day workflows (e.g. open an excel file, remove duplicates etc) to custom-build digital versions of internal business processes for companies. The Wrk.com platform allows users to completely delegate their workflows to a human or machine! To learn more about Wrk, visit Wrk.com Claudine Gay (Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA) Harvard University’s 30th President and First Black Female president Claudine Gay is a professor, political scientist and university administrator at Harvard University, and to no one’s surprise was elected the 30th University president, a role she will officially step into on July 1, 2023. This makes Gay the first Black president and woman of colour, and the second woman to lead an Ivy league school! Born to Haitian immigrants, her parents believed that education opened every door. However instead of taking the lawyer-doctor-engineer route, Gay obtained an undergraduate degree in economics from Stanford (1992), and a Ph.D. in government at Harvard in (1998). “From the moment she finished her Ph.D. in Government at Harvard nearly 25 years ago, Claudine Gay was one of the most sought-after young scholars in the country.” writes Miles J. Herszenhorn and Claire Yuan, The Crimson Gay is a renowned expert on American political participation and is a Wilbur A. Cowett Professor of Government and of African and African-American Studies at Harvard University. Prior to joining Harvard, Gay was an assistant professor of political science at Stanford University (2000 to 2005) earning tenure in just 5 years, and an associate professor from 2005 to 2006. Claudine Gay’s work Gay’s research focuses on the impact of social and economic factors on political views and voting behaviors. As the founder of Harvard’s Inequality in America Initiative, she explores the effects of child poverty and deprivation on educational opportunities and examines American inequality from a global perspective. In addition to her notable achievements, Gay’s character, impact and curiosity has garnered high admiration from friends, colleagues and admirers. Penny Pritzker, senior fellow of the Harvard Corporation and chair of Harvard’s presidential search committee, noted “…even more impressive are Claudine’s personal qualities — her quality and clarity of mind, her broad curiosity about fields beyond her own, her integrity and fair-mindedness, and her dedication to creating opportunities for others. She will be a great Harvard president in no small part because she is such a good person.” Visit the Harvard website to learn more about Claudine Gay Mae C. Jemison (Alabama, USA) Doctor, Engineer, First Black Female Astronaut Mae C. Jemison is an Engineer, Physician and former NASA Astronaut. She is also the first African American woman to travel to space. As the youngest of three children, Jemison grew up watching the Apollo airings on TV, noticing the lack of female astronauts in the field. Her determination to one day travel to space was further inspired by Star Trek’s Lieutenant Uhura, played by Nichelle Nichols, an African-American Actress. Jemison’s Limitless Trajectory Her impressive trajectory began way before that. At just 16 years old, Jemison enrolled in Stanford to study Chemical Engineering and got her M.D. from Cornell at 25! Throughout her academic studies, Jemison experienced racial discrimination at school. Her medical work path took her to Cuba, East and West Africa and South East Asia, after which she settled in Los Angeles and took graduate level engineering courses. In 1987, Jemison, determined to go to space, applied to NASA and was one of 15 candidates selected out of 2000 applicants to join the astronaut program. In 1992, at 36 years old, she became the first Black woman to travel into space when she served as the science mission specialist aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour. Although she left NASA a year later, Jemison continued to make significant contributions to the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education and has been recognized for her efforts to promote STEM careers for underrepresented groups. Jemison was inducted into both the National Women’s Hall of Fame (1993) and the International Space Hall of Fame (2004). She has also written several books and been on several tv shows, including an appearance as an actual astronaut, Lieutenant Palmer in her own episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation! Visit the Georgia Tech website to discover more about the life of Dr Jemison. Danielle Murrell Cox (Montreal, Canada) Graphic Designer, Illustrator, Author and Founder of Zuri & Dre Danielle Murrell Cox is a Canadian-born, half-British, half-Bajan designer, illustrator and the creative force behind Zuri & Dre plush toys and several popular self-published books (“Black Queens,” “Black Kings” and “Queens & Kings Colouring Book: With Positive Affirmation,” and “Hair”). Growing up, Murrell Cox struggled to see herself represented in the predominantly white media, books or even in toys she played with. To make things worse, she was bullied for her dark skin, thick hair and full lips. As an adult, Murrell Cox became even more aware of the lack of Black mainstream influences and themes of not belonging. She (quite literally) drew from her own experiences for inspiration and created works to change this. Black Queens, Kings and Plushies A Graphic Designer with a flair for minimalism, Murrell Cox began creating and sharing her art on social media, receiving a lot of positive response. This led her to create and self-publish a series of successful Black colouring books, “Black Queens,” “Black Kings” and “Queens & Kings Colouring Book: With Positive Affirmation.” “Black Queens” and “Black Kings” went viral gaining the attention of prominent media channels, such as the CBC, Huffington Post and Vice. Murrell Cox later authored and released “Hair,” which features different hairstyles based on natural Black hair. Murrell Cox’s creative celebration of Black representation for kids didn’t stop there. She designed and released a successful line of girl and boy plush toys, Zuri & Dre, who have the dark skin colour, puffy hair, and look of little Black girls and boys. This put Murrell Cox in the local and international media spotlight once again and the Zuri & Dre toys were even picked up by Canada’s largest book retailer, Chapters Indigo! To learn more about Danielle Murrell Cox, visit her personal Instagram where she regularly shares entrepreneurial tips and day-in-the-life video content of running a small business, Zuri & Dre content and merch – including her newly released gender-neutral plush doll, Ky. DR. Alexandra Bastiany (Thunder-Bay, Canada) First Black female Interventional Cardiologist in Canada, Advocate, Mentor Spokesperson, Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada 15 years of schooling later, Montreal-Born Alex Bastiany gained recognition as the first Black female Interventional Cardiologist in Canada. Growing up in a strict Haitian household with a mum who was a nurse and a dad, a chemist, she had an early introduction to science and the medical field. Bastiany acknowledges the disparity in the representation of women in cardiovascular medicine and science in Canada, especially in interventional cardiology and especially for Black women. In a field dominated by white men, Bastiany faced challenges with bosses who didn’t understand her experiences as a Black person and student, leading to difficulties in relationships with patients and microaggressions. Mentorship and Advocacy will bring change Bastiany hopes to increase diversity in her field. She advocates for equal opportunities for Black doctors and med students, calling for a change and constructive conversations about racial bias in Canada. She is an active member of the CCS Equity, Diversity and Inclusion focus group working towards documenting the situation of visible minority CV specialists and promoting diversity in leadership and membership. Bastiany is also a dedicated mentor and role model for young girls, and engages with them frequently through social media, responding to messages from students and offering encouragement and support, “because just to hear that from someone who looks like you and who made it, for me, makes a difference.” Bastiany is currently based in Thunder Bay, Ontario and is a Spokesperson for the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada To keep up with Dr. Alexandra Bastiany, check out her Instagram. Tiffany Callender (Montreal, Canada) CEO and Co-founder, Federation of African Canadian Economics (FACE) Community Developer, Social Entrepreneur Tiffany Callender is a prominent figure in the Canadian community, known for her work as a community developer and social entrepreneur, and has worked on various initiatives to support Montreal’s Black community. In fact, despite the challenges posed by the global pandemic, Callender’s determination to create a strategy for Black businesses to survive and succeed beyond the COVID-19 pandemic paid off. In 2020, she was recognized as one of the 100 most influential people of African descent under 40 by MIPAD. In 2021, she gained recognition as the co-founder and first CEO of the Federation of African Canadian Economics (FACE), a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting wealth creation for the Black community in Canada through providing resources, loans and information. Empowering Black Canadian Entrepreneurs Growing up with Bajan immigrant parents emphasized the importance of community to Callendar. With FACE, she used this as the driving force in her efforts to strengthen and build a supportive ecosystem of sustainable resources, strategic partnerships and equal opportunities for the Black Canadian community. Furthermore, Callender envisions the integration of a wider range of diverse individuals with unique voices, perspectives and backgrounds into executive leadership positions. “When people from diverse backgrounds are represented in executive teams, this allows employees and potential partners to feel that their interests, points of view, and goals are truly reflected in leadership positions. This in turn, encourages them to engage with these organizations and businesses and to feel seen, heard and welcome within these institutions.” Stay updated with Tiffany Callender’s impact and work by following her on LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and Federation of African Canadian Economics (FACE). Black trailblazers in Canada and the US are shining a light on their domains despite limited representation. Their work, innovation, and solutions drive change, promote inclusivity and empower the next generation. We encourage you to explore our other article spotlighting Black innovators making waves in the tech industry and continue to honour and celebrate their contributions. Share This Article Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email
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