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The second annual Impact Awards will be held at the Ontario Science Centre on Sunday October 15.

Ten persons will be presented with awards at this year’s event.

The Caribbean Camera and the Black Indigenous Business Development Association (BIBDA) have organized the Impact Awards to celebrate the achievements of outstanding Caribbean people.

The following are this year’s awardees:

SPORTS – Patrick Husbands

Patrick Husbands who received his jockey’s license when he was 14 years of age, went on to win the Barbados Gold Cup at 16, becoming the youngest rider to do so.

Then, 17 years later, he climbed aboard Seaside Retreat for the 132 running of the Kentucky Derby, becoming the second Black jockey and the first from the Caribbean to ride in that race since the turn of the century.

In Canada, he guided Wando, the 2003 Horse of the Year, to triple crown victory.

He has won two Queen’s Plate and one King’s Plate.

 

 

 

ARTS & CULTURE – Lindy Burgess

Lindy Burgess is in his 48^th year as artistic director of La Petite Musicale of Toronto and in his sixth year as musical director of the Thornhill African Caribbean Canadian Association Steel Orchestra.

He taught the art of playing steelpan and the history of Caribbean music at York University’s faculty of music.

In 2017, he retired as an itinerant music instructor for the Toronto District School Board, a position he held for 30 years.

 

 

 

 

ENTERTAINMENT – Brownman Ali

Brownman Ali, an acclaimed jazz/hip hop trumpet player, is the leader of the BROWNMAN ELECTRYC TRIO which has won two national jazz awards, three Toronto Independent Music awards, a SOCAN music award, a CBC Galaxie Rising Star award and an Independent Award for the 2015 Jazz-Funk album of the year.

He leads eight unique ensembles, including the BROWNMAN ELECTRYC TRIO and the award-winning CRUZAOlatin-jazz quintet.

Brownman Ali has launched his own record label, Browntasauras Records, which has become a home for all his ensembles and a platform for emerging jazz artists.

“Juggernaut”, his flagship release with the BROWNMAN ELECTRYC TRIO,” reached number three on the iTunes USA jazz charts.

Brownman Ali is highly sought after in the studio world, with over 300 CD appearances to his name. He has collaborated with a wide range of artists, from Guru’s Jazzmatazz to Quincy Jones.

COMMUNITY – Judith James

Judith James, pastor of the Revivaltime Tabernacle, is the founder and CEO of The Beautiful Foundation, a charitable organization that provides assistance to women and children who have survived domestic violence and substance abuse, as well as families from marginalized communities.

She recently led an historic movement which provided shelter for more than 1000 African refugees and asylum seekers who were living on the streets of Toronto.

COMMUNITY – Mahantji Dr. Balliram Chadee

Mahantiji Dr. Balliram Chadee, a consultant in the Ontario Public Service, is the founder of the Hanuman Temple and Centre for Religious and Cultural Research.

He is also a volunteer in various non-profit organizations which provide social support to persons in Canada, the United States and the Caribbean.

He is the recipient of many awards for assisting people from various ethnic and religious backgrounds.

 

 

 

 

EDUCATION – CARL E. JAMES

Professor Carl E. James is one of Canada’s leading scholars in equity in education, Black youth studies and critical studies in race and ethnic relations.

He holds the Jean Augustine Chair in Education, Community & Diaspora in the Faculty of Education at York University where he is also the Equity Advisor to the Dean.

In addition to teaching in the Faculty of Education, Professor James holds cross-appointments in the Graduate Programs in Sociology, Social and Political Thought, and Social Work.

 

HEALTH -Vivienne Flynn-Dickson

Vivienne Flynn-Dickson is the Chief Executive Officer and one of the three founders of A-Supreme Nursing and Home Care Services Inc.

Since 2005 A-Supreme Nursing & Home Care Services Inc. has been providing professional quality services, enabling nurses and staff to excel in their work in serving the health care needs of a growing seniors market in Toronto.

A-Supreme Nursing and Homecare Services is a community-driven company that is people-oriented. To accomplish its mission, it operates by trying to understand the issues that affect seniors by working collectively with community leaders.

Dickson maintains a deep commitment to her clients, employees and the communities in which her company operates.

 

 

 

MENTAL HEALTH – Claire Kirk-Cape

Claire Kirk-Cape is the founder of Mindyourlife & Associates.

A graduate in psychology from York University, she received her training in psychotherapy from Lifespace Institute of Transformational Psychotherapy in Toronto.

With over three decades of experience working in both public and private sector in Canada and the United States, Kirk-Cape combines her passion for the arts and experience as a psychotherapist to serve others.

 

 

 

 

BUSINESS –Kenny Peter Chitolie

Soon after Kenny Peter Chitolie arrived in Canada from St. Lucia in 1975, he obtained a position in Operational Management in the steamship industry.

He gained tremendous experience in container control, import/exports as well as sales and marketing.

And with his experience in these areas, he decided to open his own company, KLC Freight Services, in 1982.

KLC is now the largest consolidator to the Caribbean with offices in Toronto and Montreal and a distribution center in Saint Lucia where he services the hotels, supermarkets, and retail outlets.

KLC offers full container shipments anywhere in the world and ships weekly to the Caribbean.

Chitolie is well known for his generosity to the Saint Lucian Diaspora in Toronto and the wider Caribbean community.

 

CARNIVAL ARTS – Walter Elliot

At the age of 22, Walter Elliot started building and designing mas’ costumes in his native Trinidad.

And design quickly became his calling.

Over the past 50 years he has designed costumes for carnivals bands

in St Vincent, Montreal, and Toronto where he now resides.

He has also created kings and queens of carnival, and on one occasion, designed and built six queen costumes in one carnival competition.

Now in his 70s, Elliott is still active in the mas’ camps designing and building costumes.