Marva Wisdom, a senior equity and leadership practitioner, accepted the honour acknowledging her ‘teams’ or ‘the many people who have helped along the way’ as responsible for her success.
Wisdom is one of 26 new appointees for the year 2022 announced by outgoing Lieutenant Governor of Ontario and Chancellor of the Order of Ontario, Elizabeth Dowdeswell. The new lieutenant governor, Edith Dumont, will bestow the Order of Ontario to the new appointees in a ceremony on November 27.
The Order of Ontario recognises exceptional leaders from diverse fields of endeavour whose impact and lasting legacy have played an important role in building a stronger province, country and world, notes the Office of the Lieutenant Governor. Dowdeswell said: “As Chancellor of the Order of Ontario, I am proud to recognise the Order’s 2022 appointees.
“These remarkable Ontarians demonstrate outstanding merit and excellence in many diverse disciplines, including the arts, science, education, sports, and human rights. In reflecting the best of Ontario, they inspire the best in ourselves.”
Wisdom said she was overwhelmed, grateful and surprised at the recognition. She recalls that when she was informed via a telephone call, she initially thought it was an offer to sit on the awards committee for volunteers across the province, a body she once served on for a few years.
She said she was ready to say ‘no’ given her several other obligations, but instead was gobsmacked by the news. Originally from Red Ground, St Catherine, in Jamaica she attended St Jago High School for one year and migrated to Canada in 1974 with three of her siblings and father, Edward, to join their mother, Eva Bailey, who had migrated to Canada as a domestic worker when immigration opened up under Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau.
“My roots as a Jamaican person have shaped who I am, and the work that I do is partly due to my parents’ understanding of the importance of service, and others around me,” said Wisdom.
“As a young kid, I was always trying to show what we contribute and how we contribute; that has been critical.” She emphasised that she had been mentored and given opportunities by many individuals.
She thanked her parents, whom she described as “very hard-working people who loved us unconditionally”, and her siblings, Henroy Bailey, a retired teacher; Hainsley Bailey, a project manager; Garvia Bailey, a journalist, broadcaster and Massey Fellow in Journalism at the University of Toronto; and Andrew Bailey, a prolific drummer who was born in Canada. Wisdom made special mention of her aunt, Linette Wilson, who was living in Canada and had facilitated the family’s move overseas.
Fired up by her passion for service to the community, Wisdom said she became involved in the Black Experience Project (BEP) doing significant community engagement work to ensure that the study captured the lived experiences of the community. The project started in 2011 and was released in 2017.
She describes it as “a study of our people by our people, even though it was initiated by Environics Institute that has the experience in studying communities that are often not studied in a way that is from their perspective”. She had been inspired by a presentation on the contribution of immigrants to Canada by Michael Adams, president of the institute.
Having once served as the vice chair of the Canadian Centre for Diversity, she confirms that the study has been widely used by the three levels of government — federal, provincial and municipal. An alumna of Centennial College and the University of Guelph, she became the founder and former president of the Guelph Black Heritage Society.
A senior fellow at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, University of Toronto, she is also the co-author of the book, ‘Collecting Courage: Joy, Pain, Freedom, Love: Anti-Black Racism in the Charitable Sector’. Another Jamaican, Senator Rosemary Moodie, a 2020 appointee, will also be invested at the ceremony.
“On behalf of a grateful province, congratulations to the 2022 appointees of the Order of Ontario,” said Michael Ford, minister of citizenship and multiculturalism.
He added: “The Order of Ontario honours and celebrates impressive leaders and trailblazers who represent the best of our great province from a variety of sectors. Their outstanding dedication, achievements and lifetime of service have made a difference in their communities and in building a stronger Ontario.”
Ontario residents may nominate a deserving individual for the 2024 Order of Ontario. The nomination deadline is March 31, 2024.
Appointments to the Order are made on the recommendation of an independent advisory council based on the merit of accomplishments of nominees put forward by members of the public. Since its establishment in 1986, some 849 people have been appointed to the Order of Ontario.
