The head coach of Athletics Canada, the president of the Carpenters Union Local 27 in Toronto, a GRAMMY Award winning musician and a human rights advocate are among ten persons who will be presented with Impact Awards at the Memorial Hall in Toronto on Saturday October 19. impactawards.net/2024-winners/
The Caribbean Camera and the Black Indigenous Business Development Association (BIBDA) have organized the annual Awards to celebrate the achievements of outstanding Caribbean people.
Receiving the award for his role in sport will be Trinidad-born Glenroy Gilbert, head coach of Athletics Canada.
Gilbert started playing soccer with the Ottawa Lions in the mid-1980 and was a national team athlete from 1988 until he retired from the sport in 2001.
He made his international debut at the 1988 Summer Olympics in the long jump and over the next few years, became a key figure in Canadian athletics, competing in the Commonwealth Games and the Summer Olympics.
His first major success came in 1993 when he secured a bronze medal in the 4×100 metres relay at the World Championships.
In the 1994 Commonwealth Games Gilbert won gold in the 4 × 100 meters relay and finished fifth in the 100 meters
Gilbert’s career peaked in the mid-90s, with a gold medal in the 100 meters at the 1995 Pan-American Games and a historic victory in the 4×100 meters relay at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
In addition to his track career, Gilbert also competed in bobsleigh, finishing 15th in the two-man and 11th in the four-man bobsled at the 1994 Winter Olympics.
Jamaica-born Chris Campbell, President of the Carpenters’ Union Local 27 in Toronto, and the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Representative of the Carpenters’ Regional Council (CRC), will receive the award for leadership.
Campbell has been a member of the Union for 35 years and has served on several industry and local community boards, including the Jamaican Canadian Association.
He fosters effective relationships with local partners around the province of Ontario, building relationships with women and various equity seeking groups.
Campbell also plays a major role in recruiting youths from his community to pursue careers in the construction trade.
He has led several volunteer philanthropic construction “builds” both locally and internationally, to assist the less fortunate and is the recipient of numerous labour movement and community services awards and accolades.
Larnell Lewis, a GRAMMY Award winning musician, composer, and producer, will receive the award for his role in entertainment.
Lewis who was born in Toronto to Kittitian parents, is one of the most versatile and in-demand drummers on the music scene. Along with his long-standing position behind the drums in Snarky Puppy, Lewis has led many highly successful groups of his own and toured the globe with some well-known names in the music industry.
His immense talent, fierce creativity, and continually evolving musical style has kept him at the top of the list as a musical collaborator for artists across the globe.
Lewis’s vast talents, not just as a musician but as a producer, landed him the opportunity to act as Musical Director for a performance during the Toronto International Film Festival’s premiere of the critically-acclaimed documentary of Quincy Jones, “QUINCY”.
His talents can be seen worldwide via his various social media platforms, which have a combined total of almost 500,000 followers.
Trinidad-born Nicholas Thompson is a human rights advocate, non-profit executive, and keynote speaker, widely recognized for his diplomacy, tact, and data-driven approach to combating systemic discrimination.
He will receive the award for his role in activism.
As the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Black Class Action Secretariat (BCAS) which he founded in 2020, he is a leading figure in the fight against anti-Black racism. on the global stage.
Thompson also serves as the Director of Social Action at the World House Project, a global initiative focused on social justice and equity.
He has held several leadership roles within Canada’s largest federal union, the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) and has played a critical role in addressing systemic racism within PSAC.
In 2020, Thompson ignited a national movement to combat anti-Black discrimination in the public service by mobilizing workers and launching a groundbreaking $2.5 billion class action lawsuit against the entire federal public service of Canada, encompassing 99 departments and agencies.
The lawsuit was a pivotal moment in highlighting the systemic barriers faced by Black employees and led to historic changes within Canada’s public service, promoting equity and inclusion.
Thompson has taken his advocacy to the international stage, intervening at the United Nations on three occasions to bring global attention to Canada’s discriminatory practices against people of African descent.
He led a successful effort to hold the Canadian Human Rights Commission accountable for its discriminatory actions against Black employees by spearheading the Coalition Against Workplace Discrimination’s formal complaint to the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI), a UN- affiliated body responsible for accrediting human rights institutions worldwide. This initiative resulted in a historic decision to launch a special review of the Canadian Human Rights Commission’s accreditation.
Thompson’s ongoing dedication to social justice and equality continues to inspire and lead the charge for a more inclusive and equitable society.
Tickets go on sale on Monday 23 September 2024 at impactawards.net/tickets
