The Canadian Council of Business Leaders Against Anti-Black Systemic Racism announced its Board of Directors and Committee Chairs this week, with Brock University President Gervan Fearon named Co-Chair of the Education Committee.

He will serve as Co-Chair alongside Carl Everton James, Jean Augustine Chair in Education, Community and Diaspora at York University.

The BlackNorth Initiative was created by the Canadian Council of Business Leaders Against Anti-Black Systemic Racism to combat anti-Black systemic racism in corporate Canada. The initiative challenges senior Canadian business leaders to commit their companies to specific actions and targets designed to end anti-Black systemic racism and create opportunities for all of those in the underrepresented Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC) communities.

In total, a team of 12 Committee Chairs were announced this week to enable and oversee specific, high priority workstreams.

The Board of Directors of the Initiative is Chaired by Wes Hall (Executive Chairman and Founder, Kingsdale Advisors) along with co-chairs Rola Dagher (President and CEO, Cisco Canada); Victor Dodig (President and CEO, CIBC); Prem Watsa (Chair and CEO, Fairfax). Other members of the Board include R. Maxine Adwella (Executive Director, National Collaboration for Youth Mental Health); Dr. Upton Allen (Professor of Paediatrics and Chief of Infectious Diseases, SickKids, University of Toronto); Jordan Banks (President, Rogers Sports and Media); Donette Chin-Loy Chang (Communication Strategist and Philanthropist); Right Honourable David Johnston (Former Governor General of Canada); Dr. Jennifer R. Jackson (President, Capital One Canada); Barry McInerney (President and CEO, Mackenzie Investments).

More than 200 organizations representing 30 percent of the companies on the TSX 60 and $1 Trillion in market capitalization have pledged to take actions aimed at addressing anti-Black systemic racism.

“The announcement of the BlackNorth Initiative’s Board of Directors and Committee Chairs is again borrowing business best practices — creating a governance structure that is built for success,” said Wes Hall, Founder and Chairman of the Canadian Council of Business Leaders Against Anti-Black Systemic Racism. “I am extremely proud to see the extent to which the leaders across Canada are committing their time to end anti-Black systemic racism.”

Each committee will establish an action-oriented mandate, a set of key performance indicators and a series of short-and long-term deliverables that focus on removing barriers to opportunities that Black people face.

“For most of my professional life, I have advocated to have the right leaders in place – those with the right experience and skill sets to drive an organization forward,” said Hall. “I am very proud to stand with the Board of Directors and Committee Chairs we have named today for the BlackNorth Initiative.”

The inaugural BlackNorth Initiative Summit took place Monday, July 20, where leaders were asked to sign a CEO Pledge and deliver a statement regarding what their organization will do to combat the issue and to make our society free from anti-Black systemic racism.

During the Summit, Fearon and James spoke to the importance of education in supporting students’ success and their scope for contributing to the social prosperity and economic competitiveness of Canada. An inclusive education system will be crucial for the Black community and all Canadians to realize the full potential of the society. The Education Committee will look at proposing concrete measures for supporting these outcomes.