The Canadian Black Experience
Too often we hear and see news and stories of Black American trials and tribulations repeatedly reported all over television and online platforms. As Canadians, these events have an impact on us, not only because of their physical proximity to us but because we have grown accustomed to internalizing the Black Experience as being something universal.
But what is the Canadian Black Experience?
The injustices that are currently being widely exposed in the United States have brought many to question their own experiences. This leaves some Canadians saying – “That does not happen in Canada!”; while some resonate all too well with the struggles of our American neighbours, as well as our own Canadian issues.
How does our history, culture and country affect our experience as Black people here in Canada? What is our cultural identity and how does having such diverse backgrounds affect the way we interact with each other and the communities we live in?
We all have a lot of questions. Our goal is to start with open dialogue from within black community leaders in order to find out where we stand and where we’re going.
Hosted by Collective Society 360 in co-operation with GroupM and Black Taxi
Our Panelists
Sandra Bonnick
Managing Director, Client Leadership | Theo
(https://www.mindshareworld.com/)
With 20 years of industry experience, Sandra is a well-rounded media professional who has held various management and client leadership positions across numerous categories including; CPG, Automotive, Toys, Telecommunications, Retail and Banking. Sandra is currently the Client Lead on the Dyson and also oversees the Performance Media across all our clients actively engaging in search, social and programmatic.
Nadege Dalle
Programmatic Lead – Quebec | GroupM
Born in Cameroon, a country in Central Africa, Nadege arrived in Canada in 2015 as a Black Immigrant with her family. She is a mother of three, married to a man from her home country. After 1 year of studying to get her Master’s in e-commerce at HEC Montreal, Nadege started a new career as a Digital Marketing strategist. She is now working at GroupM in its Montreal offices.
For the past three years, she has been the only Black person and Black leader in her office.
Stephanie Small
Creative Operations Manager – Toronto | Taxi
Stephanie is the creator of the private group People of Colour in (Canadian) Advertising & Marketing/POCAM on LinkedIn. The group has amassed a membership of just under 600 people. She is also the creator of Black TAXI. Part talent incubator, part employee resource group the goal of Black TAXI is to find, hire and retain Black talent in the Advertising industry. Her passion clearly lies in taking steps to effectively making changes in creating diverse and inclusive workspaces in the Advertising industry now and for years to come.
Savanna Hamilton
Host and Producer at Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment
(https://www.mlse.com/); Raptors Night Cap; Behind The Scenes
In front of the camera, she hosts a segment on the daily Raptors show, Raptors Today Extra and is a featured host on the show NBA XL aired on NBA TV Canada. She is also the social media reporter for the Toronto Raptors post-game show called Raptors Night Cap. Behind-the-scenes Savanna has contributed to shows such as Budweiser Stage at Home, The Hangout, and many MLSE shows and productions.
Erskine Forde
Film Director/Writer
Owner – Indever films Inc.
IMDB; Indever Films
An enthusiastic reader and writer from a young age, a chance meeting with a casting director landed Skin an eye-opening job as a stand-in working alongside Lawrence Fishburne and started him on a path that has propelled him around the world seeking stories and the vivid images that accompany them. After returning to Toronto in 2009, he joined the Director’s Guild of Canada where his diligence and dedication led to becoming the 1st Assistant Director on the hit show Suits and immediately followed by an invitation to run the floor on Amazon’s The Expanse. Skin currently sits on the board of the newly formed International Black Film Alliance whose mission is to create training and placement opportunities for the BIPOC community while continuing to write and create his own narrative work through his company Indever films & entertainment Inc.
Keith Johnson
Principal – TDSB
Brampton Warriors article; Jr.NBA
As a Black principal in the TDSB, Keith Johnson understands what it was like growing up as a young black male in Canada. Giving back to the community through education and mentorship is something that he feels is important for youth to see and leads by example. Keith’s passion for coaching and youth development led his U14 Brampton Warriors undefeated girls team to the 2019 Jr.NBA, securing the title of International Champions, trophy presented by Dwayne Wade. They returned home with acknowledgement and certificates from the City of Brampton for their achievements.
Our Host
Melissa Langley
Melissa’s priorities and passion are helping clients build a comprehensive brand identity, coupled with successful project management and delivery. As a radio host and producer for the past 27 years, Melissa has developed marketing initiatives for a number of radio stations in the highly competitive, and culturally diverse Toronto market. She has been recognized as a pioneer, both as a female on-air personality, and has played an integral role in the overall emergence of Black Music within Canada for the past few decades. Melissa has made it a personal mandate to ensure the voices of the underserved are heard and pushes to make this happen through her volunteer work, and in her professional life.
