Unsung heroes honoured for changing lives in Canada and Jamaica

October 25, 2026

Their names may not be familiar in every household, but their work is known to the child who gets a ride to an appointment, the newcomer who finds a path into employment and the young person who discovers that leadership is within reach.

Verna Andrade, Diana Burke, Maureen Henry, Dwayne Holness and Dionne Sinclair were recognized for that service at the second Jamaican Diaspora Impact Awards (JDIA) on October 23 at the Toronto Botanical Garden.

Longtime educator and community builder Trevor Massey received the JDIA Icon Award.

Organized by the Consulate General of Jamaica in Toronto, the celebration honoured people who have used their time, skills and resources to improve lives in Canada and Jamaica, often without expecting public recognition.

Andrade’s contributions include practical work like making sure a child reaches an appointment.

She has volunteered for more than two decades as a driver with children’s aid organizations, transporting children and young people to appointments and other essential commitments. Some journeys have involved travelling as much as 500 kilometres in a day.

“When I give back, I feel like I am receiving,” Andrade, 83, said.

Born in Johnson Mountain in St. Thomas, she came to Canada as a domestic worker, continued her education and became a registered nurse.

Her commitment to education has extended to financing a basic school in Jamaica and establishing a primary school library. She has also supported churches in her home parish.

As president of the Canadian Friends of St. Thomas Health Care Organization, Andrade helps provide eye testing and free eyeglasses in Jamaica.

The same belief in creating opportunities has guided Massey’s decades of work in education and community leadership.

A former Centennial College registrar, he has helped people access post-secondary education, supported skilled immigrants through Colleges Integrating Immigrants to Employment and founded the Toronto-based Lifelong Leadership Institute.

Through its Leadership by Design and SummerUp programs, the institute supports the educational advancement and leadership development of Black youth.

Massey, who received an honorary doctorate from the University of Guelph last year, shared credit for the award with those he has worked alongside during nearly six decades in Canada.

“Everything that I am being credited for comes by my association with wonderful people,” he said. “Everything I do tends to be done in teams. I am here to represent them, so to speak, because without them, I am not going to get an award of any kind.”

Massey pointed to the Wolmer’s alumni community, the institute and the work surrounding Jamaica’s 50th anniversary of independence as examples of collective effort.

“Being recognized by my fellow Jamaicans here in Canada means a great deal to me,” he noted. “Jamaica laid the foundation for who I am, and this honour gives me a deep sense of pride and connection to home.”

His public record of service exists alongside a profound family loss. Massey and his wife lost a son to gun violence in 2012.

Sinclair also knows the devastation of losing a loved one to a shooting.

In 2015, her older brother, Steve, was fatally shot outside an after-hours club. A sheet metal worker and accomplished bass player, he was a protective brother whose care extended to young people in need of guidance.

“When we came to Canada, we were in the same class and the only Black kids,” Sinclair recalled. “My brother was always there to defend me if anyone got in my way. He was very protective of me.”

She remembers him as someone who welcomed troubled youth into his home and mentored them.

“He was one of the nicest people you would ever come across,” she said. “Losing him was hard for the entire family.”

In her own work, Sinclair has made mentorship and representation priorities.

As vice-president of clinical operations and chief nursing executive at Toronto’s Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, (CAMH) she has worked to expand opportunities for Black students and nurses.

Sinclair launched CAMH’s Career Day to connect students with Black health care leaders and help them explore career options and founded the Canadian Black Nurses Network.

“I want to be the role model and lead by example,” she said.

That commitment to representation extends to patient care.

“Especially in mental health and addictions, there is a Black patient population, and it’s super important that they see themselves in the staff,” Sinclair pointed out.

Burke’s commitment to opening doors was shaped in part by her aunt, the late educator and community advocate Dr. Mavis Burke.

She recalled a school initiative that encouraged children to share their cultural clothing, food and books. Inspired by that example, she organized a similar activity in her workplace.

“I really admired that, and I created that in my company,” Burke said. “I had Diversity Week, and I had all the staff do the same thing. I had little Jamaican booths, Indian booths, Ukrainian booths, and music and food.”

The activity helped colleagues in a technology department where dozens of languages were spoken learn more about one another.

“I was very proud,” she said. “Now I’m continuing her work in PACE.”

A former senior banking and information security executive, Burke has applied her experience to early childhood education through PACE Canada, the Project for the Advancement of Childhood Education.

Her contributions include pioneering a mobile computer laboratory program for young children in remote Jamaican communities. During the pandemic, PACE distributed educational devices that allowed children to practise reading, writing and mathematics without an internet connection.

Henry has similarly used her professional experience to help others gain skills and independence.

She has taught financial literacy to Grade 8 students, served for more than 15 years on the board of Community MicroSkills Development Centre and supported internationally trained professionals through employment counselling and mentorship.

Her involvement with the Jamaican Canadian Association, Caribbean African Canadian Social Services and Opportunity for Advancement has included governance, mentorship and advocacy, particularly in support of women and newcomers.

Holness creates opportunities in a different setting.

The founder of Corex Creative brings young people onto professional production sets, giving them access to mentorship and experience that can help turn creative ambitions into careers.

Together, the recipients illustrate what Consul General Kurt Davis hoped the awards would recognize.

“Across the Greater Toronto Area, Jamaicans and friends of Jamaica are mentoring young people, building organizations, preserving our culture, supporting families, creating opportunities and opening doors for others,” he said. “Much of this work is carried out quietly, consistently and without any expectation of public recognition, yet its impact is profound.”

Jamaica’s Consul General in Toronto, Kurt Davis, conceived the Jamaica Diaspora Impact Awards with support from his wife, Suzanne Robinson-Davis, who celebrated her birthday on the day of the ceremony (Photo by Ron Fanfair)

Davis said he wanted Jamaica and its representatives to acknowledge those contributions and express gratitude to the people making them.

He said the choice of the word ‘impact’ was deliberate.

“Achievement describes what someone has accomplished while impact reveals whose life has changed because that person chose to act,” Davis added.

The judging process sought evidence of that difference.

Speaking on behalf of the judges, University of Guelph Chancellor Mary Anne Chambers described the challenge of selecting five recipients from more than 35 individual nominees, some of whom received multiple nominations.

She welcomed the opportunity to recognize people whose contributions often go unnoticed, describing many as unsung heroes motivated by caring for others and helping them succeed.

Judges considered how nominees had improved lives, used creativity and innovation to address community challenges, created lasting benefits and inspired others. They also assessed their visibility within the community, whether in leading or supporting roles.

Mary Anne Chambers (Photo by Ron Fanfair)

Chambers encouraged future nominators to provide concrete examples of a candidate’s work and its results.

“While many individual nominees might be worthy, not all nominations did their nominees justice,” she said. “Nominations that make a strong case for recognition by including evidence in the form of substantiated examples of the individual’s contributions and impact receive high scores.”

The process, Chambers added, also introduced judges to people who had spent years sharing their time, expertise and experience beyond their workplaces.

That spirit of contribution extended to the businesses supporting the celebration.

Couples Resorts joined the awards as a first-time gold sponsor.

Francine Allen, the company’s director of sales for Canada, said its Jamaican identity and connection to community made the partnership meaningful.

“It was important for us to attach our brand to this event this evening because, of course, it’s community,” she said. “We are a Jamaican brand.”

Allen said the company hopes to continue its involvement and strengthen its relationship with Jamaicans in Canada, including welcoming them to its resorts when they visit the island.

The sponsorship reflected the evening’s wider call for businesses and individuals to invest in the communities with which they identify.

“Your support is more than an investment in an event,” Davis told sponsors. “It’s an investment in recognition and encouragement and in community building.”

Other sponsors included the VM Group, Grace Foods Canada, the Jamaica Tourist Board, LIUNA Local 183 and Porter Airlines which is scheduled to launch non-stop service between Toronto Pearson and Montego Bay on November 23.

Jamaica’s High Commissioner to Canada, Marsha Coore-Lobban, urged guests to follow the recipients’ example.

Marsha Coore-Lobban (Photo by Ron Fanfair)

“Your accomplishments remind us that impact is not measured solely by professional success, but by the lives we touch, the communities we strengthen and the opportunities we create for others,” she said. “Let us continue to invest in our communities, mentor the next generation and strengthen the bonds that unite us as one Jamaican family.”

Delivering the keynote address, Jamaica’s Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett said the diaspora’s everyday interactions also help shape perceptions of the island abroad.

“Long before any tourists from Canada visited Jamaica, they met a Jamaican somewhere,” he said. “You are our greatest marketers and our greatest advertisers. Nobody can sell Jamaica like you.”

Davis encouraged guests to carry the evening’s message beyond the gala.

“Tonight is a celebration, but it is also an invitation,” he said. “It invites each of us to consider what more we can contribute, whom we can encourage and what doors we can open for others.”

The awards gave public recognition to work often done quietly. The challenge now is for those inspired by their example to turn admiration into action.

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