Event connects, empowers Black professionals

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This article was published 12/02/2025 (264 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It began with a talk in Toronto.

It ended — or, perhaps, began again — with a conference in Winnipeg, tables filled with Black entrepreneurs, corporate leaders and changemakers.

“This space today is unapologetically Black,” said David Simmonds, Canada Life’s senior vice-president, chief marketing and communications officer.

Tuesday marked the arrival of Toronto-based Black Talent Initiative’s Ignite conference. The event is meant to connect and empower Black professionals.

Simmonds was asked to speak at the first-ever Ignite program, which happened in Toronto last year. Some 450 people gathered over a three-day span. Simmonds was inspired.

“I wanted to stay involved,” he said.

He needled Canada Life and Black Talent Initiative. And so, for Black History Month a year later, the insurance firm and the non-profit drew Black professionals to Winnipeg’s first Ignite.

Building sustainable pathways for Black talent, community impact and resiliency were among the topics slated for the day-long event. It sold out, capping around 150 attendees.

Black entrepreneurship has gained steam in recent years, noted Hildah Juma, Black Talent Initiative’s executive director. The Black-Manitobans Chamber of Commerce recently pegged the province’s Black-owned business count around 1,500 — a sharp jump from 500 in 2022.

Meanwhile, Canada Life has clocked an increase in Black job applicants.

“I’m hopeful that (Tuesday) gives that affirmation to the participants — that they can be whoever they need to be in the workplace,” Simmonds said. “That includes being proudly Black.”

He offered opening remarks to kick off the conference alongside Mark Harrison, Black Talent Initiative’s co-founder.

Simmonds outlined three things Black professionals wrestle with: hyper-visibility, isolation and “code switching,” where people change their behaviour and appearance based on who they’re with. His comments were met with rumblings of agreement by the crowd, sitting within the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.

“We fall into this trap that if we work hard and we play by the rules, everything will come together,” Simmonds said on stage. “That’s just not the way it works.

“Being Black demands you to work harder, and to be smarter, and to always be on time.”

He encouraged attendees to create space, step into their identity and centre Blackness as a point of pride, not vulnerability.

“Having (these) connections and sharing information, it makes us stronger as a community,” said Nadia Thompson, a conference-goer.

She’s been with Black History Manitoba for nearly 16 years. The number of Black-focused organizations in the province has grown over the past decade, she noted. She’d like to see more events bringing the groups together.

Both Black Talent Initiative and Canada Life indicated a desire for future collaboration. If Ignite has an impact, Canada Life will continue to support it, Simmonds said before the conference.

The event came as U.S. President Donald Trump slashes the American government’s diversity, equity and inclusion policies. Employers like Walmart have scaled back their own DEI initiatives.

“There are organizations that are still committed to doing the work,” Juma stated.

She pointed to Canada Life, which she described as “doubling down” on diversity. DEI policies aren’t necessarily facing the crisis headline-readers may think, Juma said.

“(We’ll) continue to walk with the people who support us,” she continued. “I’m not worried about the headlines. I’m worried about how we can continue to bring new people into (Black Talent Initiative’s) space.”

Black Talent Initiative began in response to the 2020 death of George Floyd. Riots and a “Black Lives Matter” movement broke out following the death of Floyd, a Black man; he’d been pinned under the knee of a police officer for more than nine minutes.

Black Talent Initiative hosts virtual community gatherings every Friday, drawing Black professionals from across North America.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com