Blazing the Trail of Black Excellence: Celebrating the Past & Building a Strong Future

Join the Office of Diversity and Human Rights on February 29 for an exciting online panel discussion at noon, in celebration of Black History Month. 

Join our AVP, Indira Naidoo-Harris and three amazing Black Canadian trailblazers as they share their stories, their perspectives and their hopes for a strong future.

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About the Panelists

Hamlin Grange

Hamlin Grange is a diversity and inclusion strategist. He is President/CEO and founder of DiversiPro Inc., a workplace diversity and inclusion consulting company based in Toronto. 

Hamlin was appointed to the Order of Canada by the Governor General - the country's highest civilian award - for his "pioneering work in diversity and inclusion and a passionate change agent for social justice."

He speaks eloquently and passionately about the power and promise of diversity and the benefits of creating inclusive environments that value the perspectives and life experiences of everyone. 

For nearly 25 years, Hamlin has been a 'trusted advisor' to a wide range of clients including arts and culture, private corporations, not-for-proft organizations, the public sector, media, health care providers, law enforcement, and other organizations looking for ways to meet the challenges and reap the rewards of a culturally diverse marketplace. 

A strong believer in building communities, Hamlin has served on several important boards, including The Toronto Police Services Board, a Trustee of the Royal Ontario Museum, the YMCA of Greater Toronto, and Samara Centre for Democracy. Until Recently, he was the Chair of the Board of the Responsible Gamling Council where he is currently the Immediate Past Chair.

Before starting a career as a diversity and inclusion strategist, Hamlin had an outstanding career as a journalist. At CBC Television, he was a news anchor, program host, interviewer, assignment editor and municiple affairs reporter. He was also a reporter at Global Television and the Toronto Star. Hamlin also hosted two popular television current affairs programs: Workweek, on CBC Newsworld and TVOntario and the CBC's More to the Story.

Rosemary Sadlier

Rosemary Sadlier OOnt (Order of Ontario) is a diversity, includion and equity consultant, a social justice advocate, researcher, writer, and international speaker on Black History, anti-racism, and women's issue. 

She is the past President, serving for 22 years as the unpaid leader of the ONtario Black History Society. She was the driving force of the secured commemoration of February as Black HIstory Month at all levels of government; she secured August 1st as Emancipation Day municipally in 1995 and provincially in 2008 with a national declaration recently passed now making this a national commemoration in Canada. She saw to the creation of the national day for the Hon. Lincoln Alexander. She has given deputations to the UN Rapporteur on Race Relations, the Federal and Provincial Governments and provided consultative work for the Royal Ontario Museum, the CMHR, the Ward Heritage Interpretative Group, the Bi-National Study of the Underground Railroad and heritage conferences. Previously she served on the final selection committee of the national Mathieu Da Costa Challenge for Canadian Heritage and the Canada Post Stamp Advisory Committee. An educator, she has developed and contributed to African Canadian curriculum, national exhibits and publications. She was an appointed member of the College of Early Childhood Educators and currently serves on the Registrations Appeals Committee of the Ontario College of Teachers. An author, Dalier has written 7 books on African Canadian history. A consultant, she has worked with government, corporations and social agencies to efect DEI awareness and projects, and recently was appointed Equality Lead for the Americas and the Caribbean with the Royal Commonwealth Society. She serves on the Rogers Group with Funds. Sadlier is dedicated to social justice and using the frame of Black History, seeks to educate and empower others. 

Noëlle Richardson

Noëlle Richardson is an accomplished senior executive who has led the creation and implementation of a diversity and inclusion strategy for both the Ontario Public Service (OPS) and the justice agencies of the Ministry of the Attorney General.

In 2008 Noëlle was hired as the Chief Diversity Officer of the OPS, the first such position in any public sector organization in Canada. As a result of her seminal work on creating an inclusive public service, the OPS has been recognized as one of Canada’s Best Diversity Employers since 2008.

Noëlle has extensive knowledge and experience in organizational change strategies within large and complex organizations, both nationally and internationally. Prior to her work as an inclusion strategist, Noëlle was a broadcaster who reported, anchored, and hosted news and current affairs programs for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), CTV NewsNet and Vision TV.

Since leaving the Ministry of the Attorney General, Noëlle has returned to her work as a consultant in organizational change strategies to maximize human potential and speaks on a number of related topics including the challenges in democratizing our organizations.