Black Canadian changemakers among honorary degree recipients
By Neil Armstrong

Convocations are happening across Canada and here in Ontario, four prominent Black Canadian changemakers will receive honorary degrees from the University of Guelph and Toronto Metropolitan University.
On June 10, Trevor Massey, chair of the Lifelong Leadership Institute, and Marva Wisdom, an advocate for social justice, equity and inclusivity will receive the degrees at the University of Guelph.
Toronto Metropolitan University will confer the degrees on B. Denham Jolly, admired businessman, philanthropist and community leader, and Debra Cox, a groundbreaking artist who became the first Black woman inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, during its convocation ceremonies between June 17 and 25.

It was Massey’s idea to create a legacy project in Toronto when Jamaica celebrated its 50th anniversary of independence in 2012. “The Lifelong Leadership Institute (LLI) is an educational organization that provides innovative leadership development to Canadian youth of Jamaican, African-Caribbean and Black heritage, so that they may fulfill their personal and professional ambitions, provide inspiring leadership to their communities and country, and make this world a better place for all.”
Its signature Leadership by Design program is a multi-year program that supports the success of academically promising Black youth in partnership with parents.
Massey has spent a lifetime working in the management ranks at post-secondary institutions. For more than three decades, he was a senior manager at Centennial College in Toronto.

His extensive history in community service and leadership includes serving as director in the early years of the Tropicana Community Services Organization, as vice-president of Jamaica 50 Celebration Inc., and as Chair of the National Scholarship Fund of the Black Business and Professional Association (BBPA).
Wisdom, a prominent equity and leadership practitioner, was appointed to the Order of Ontario in 2023 for extensive work on diversity and inclusion.
Her more than 30 years of volunteer leadership include being the founding president of Guelph Black Heritage Society, chair of United Way Campaign, fundraising cabinet member of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, and board chair of the YMCA-YWCA, long time Rotarian.

Wisdom, a fellow of the Environics Institute, was the director of outreach and engagement for the Black Experience Project (GTA) – a study initiated by the Environics Institute with partners, Toronto Metropolitan University and the Atkinson Charitable Foundation. She is also a senior fellow at University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy.

Jolly, a former publisher, broadcaster and human rights activist, is widely known as community leader and promoter of equity, social justice, civil rights and opportunity.
He started a variety of businesses including student housing, nursing homes, medical labs and was the publisher of Contrast newspaper. Jolly founded Milestone Communications, which launched Canada’s first Black-owned radio station FLOW 93.5. In 1983, he established the Black Business and Professional Association (BBPA).
His community engagements include the Black Action Defense Committee, a boys youth soccer team in Regent Park and a breakfast program at Cornwall College in Jamaica. He also contributes to scholarships for promising young Black Canadians and organized a donation of personal mobility devices to Haiti after the 2010 earthquake.
The City of Toronto has named a street in Scarborough, “Jolly Way,” and a park “Jolly Way Park” in his honour. He is also the recipient of the Order of Canada.
Cox, a Grammy-nominated recording artist, became the first Black woman inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.
“In addition to her music, Cox has been recognized for her commitment to social justice initiatives. She was honoured with the Black Music Honors’ Entertainer Icon Award for her 25 ground-breaking years in the music industry. Cox also partnered with the youth-led movement Revolutionnaire to launch the “Beautiful U R” initiative to support women experiencing housing insecurity,” notes TMU.
In 2022, Cox was given the Key to the City of Toronto and September 23rd was declared Deborah Cox Day. She also received a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame.

#BlackExcellence #Changemakers #DeborahCox #DenhamJolly #MarvaWisdom #TrevorMassey #BlackCanadianLeaders #HonoraryDegrees #TorontoMet #UofGuelph #CaribbeanHeritage #YouthLeadership #CanadianIcons