KITCHENER -- Colleen James, a professor at Conestoga College and principal consultant at a local equity and inclusion firm, has been named of the Top 100 Black Women to Watch by the Canadian International Black Woman's Event (CIBWE).
The award recognizes Black women across the country who are strengthening families, communities, corporations and society.
She was named to the honour at a virtual ceremony on Oct. 17.
James was born and raised in Kitchener. Her family immigrated from Antigua and St. Kitts in the 1970s.
She teaches at the Conestoga College School of Business and is the CEO and principal consultant at Divonify, an equity and inclusion firm that started in 2015.
“It is an honour and extremely humbling to be recognized on a national level. I have to thank my parents who were determined to raise their children with the mindset that being Black was something to be celebrated and that we belong in all spaces, especially the ones that have historically excluded us," James said in a news release issued by Divonify.
James is a member of the Mayor's Task Force for Equity Diversity and Inclusion and was a moderator for the Region of Waterloo's Anti-Racism Townhall.
James and her husband recently started a scholarship through the Caribbean Canadian Association of Waterloo Region, which will help students of Caribbean heritage who are pursuing graduate studies in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
She lives in Kitchener with her husband and daughter.
