Kitchener Educator One of Canada’s Top Black Women to Watch

By Lauren Scott, Originally published on The Record

Born and raised in Kitchener, inclusion advocate and educator Colleen James has experienced the good, the bad and the ugly parts of Waterloo Region.

The community doesn’t look the same as it once was when her family immigrated to Canada from the Caribbean in the 1970s. But there’s still a long way to go. James is at the forefront of that push, spearheading local efforts to make the region a more welcoming place for others, including her three-year-old daughter.

“I’m passionate about community and we all need to feel like we belong,” she said.

“Kitchener is home to me and I want to make sure that this community is thriving.”

At a virtual ceremony on Oct. 17, James, 40, was recognized by the Canada International Black Women Event as one of the top 100 Black women to watch in Canada in 2020.

The nomination, which came from an anonymous community member, came as a surprise, James said. The win left her “completely humbled.”

James is a professor at Conestoga College’s school of business while running local equity and inclusion consulting firm Divonify, which she founded in 2015.

She is a former board president for Focus for Ethnic Women and currently serves as a member of the mayor’s equity task force. In July, James moderated the Region of Waterloo’s anti-racism town hall meetings.

At Divonify, a portmanteau of diversity and unify, James provides workshops, training and guidance to make workplaces more inclusive.

“Representation matters. In the corporate world there are so few visible minorities in leadership roles and what does that say to our kids?” she said.

“We shouldn’t have to change who we are to fit into an environment. It’s that environment that needs to change.”

Those close to James say that while they are proud of her accomplishments, the award doesn’t come as a surprise.

Her mother, Naomi Sargeant, who moved from Antigua to Kitchener with her St. Kitts-born husband and three children in 1974, says even from childhood it was clear that “Colleen was going to go somewhere and be successful.”
“She was always that voice for the ones who do not have a voice,” Sargeant said of her youngest. “She was always that child to reach out.”

Sargeant said that she was a strict mother, pushing education as a virtue. Now three of her four children work as educators and she “could not be more proud.”

However, with few Black families in Kitchener-Waterloo at the time, the classrooms could feel isolating, James said.

“Growing up in the school system here and not seeing anybody who looked like me in an educator role, it’s huge,” James said. “My role as an educator is to empower others.”

For some of her students, seeing James at the front of the class was life-changing.

Debbyon Mitchell, who took the office administration executive program at Conestoga, says seeing James behind the podium was “the best thing that ever happened to me.”

Growing up, Mitchell never had a Black teacher.

“That day when I walked in and I saw Colleen, I knew there was purpose for me to be here,” she said.

“I’m just so grateful and thankful that I had a positive professional role model in Colleen.”

With James recognized as one of the most successful Black women in the country, Mitchell says she feels encouraged to strive further.

“As a Black woman, seeing her win that, it just feels like we all won it,” she said.

It’s been difficult being the only Black person in the boardroom, James said. But that’s never stopped her from pursuing her dreams, a resilience she says her mother taught her.

“It hasn’t been easy.” But it’s never made me want to give up. At the end of the day it’s always made me want to keep going.”