Creating a place to belong is at the heart of Johnston-Taylor’s work
August 23, 2026
Nketti Johnston-Taylor does not need a report to understand the challenges newcomers face in Canada.
As Chief Executive Officer of Calgary’s Centre for Newcomers, she sees them every day while leading an organization that helps immigrants rebuild their lives, find employment and participate fully in their communities.
Johnston-Taylor also understands those obstacles from personal experience.
After arriving in Canada in 2012, the highly educated immigrant struggled to enter her professional field and took what she describes lightheartedly as a job as a ‘chief cleanliness officer’. She later worked as a makeup artist before establishing herself as an economist, educator, consultant and community leader.
That combination of lived experience, academic expertise and a demonstrated commitment to dismantling barriers makes Johnston-Taylor a deserving recipient of a 2026 Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Award. The national program recognizes immigrants whose leadership and contributions have strengthened Canada’s economy and communities.
Her selection came as a surprise.
“It still feels surreal,” Johnston-Taylor said. “When I learned I had been nominated, I thought, ‘I’m not going to be selected because thousands of other people are more deserving’. Even after I made the Top 75, I still didn’t believe I would receive the honour.”
Convinced she had little chance of being selected, she did almost nothing to promote her nomination during the first six weeks of public voting.
It was not until the final week that Johnston-Taylor decided to make an effort.
“I said, ‘You know what? I might as well put it out there and see if I make the Top 25’,” she recalled. “And I did. I am still taking it all in because I can’t believe it.”
The honour carries special significance when measured against a journey that has taken her across three countries and presented repeated tests of her resilience.
Born in Sierra Leone, Johnston-Taylor was 11 when the country’s civil war forced her and her parents to flee. They settled in the United Kingdom where the young refugee faced bullying and struggled to establish a sense of belonging.
Her parents responded by constantly affirming her worth and reinforcing her confidence.
“My parents constantly spoke words of encouragement to me and about me until that positivity became ingrained in who I am,” Johnston-Taylor recounted. “You can’t make me feel bad about myself.”
That foundation of confidence would later help her confront the uncertainty of moving again.
Love brought Johnston-Taylor to Canada.
During a family visit to Sierra Leone, she met a Sierra Leonean Canadian who would become her husband. After they married, he encouraged her to join him in a country he described as an excellent place to raise a family.
Canada became the place where Johnston-Taylor built a home, raised three children and developed a career centred on widening access to opportunity.
The early period, however, was not easy.
Despite arriving with education, skills and ambition, Johnston-Taylor faced a dilemma familiar to many immigrants. Employers often require Canadian experience, yet newcomers cannot gain it unless someone is willing to give them an opportunity.
She now uses her leadership positions to interrupt that cycle.
“When hiring, I don’t see a lack of Canadian experience as a barrier,” Johnston-Taylor said. “I focus on the skills and experience candidates bring, the transferable abilities they possess, their attitude and whether they are problem-solvers. Those qualities are more important to me than Canadian experience.”
She is also keenly aware that many internationally trained professionals are underemployed. Newcomers may arrive with graduate degrees and decades of experience, only to find themselves in entry-level positions with few opportunities for advancement.
“I know many immigrants are underemployed,” Johnston-Taylor said. “Some arrive with master’s degrees or PhDs and 20 or 30 years of experience, yet they are often placed in positions that do not reflect their qualifications. I try, as much as possible, to place people at a level that matches their skills and experience rather than telling them, ‘You are new, so you must start at the bottom and work your way up’. Too often, people become stuck in those positions and never get the opportunity to reach their full potential.”
She joined the Centre for Newcomers as CEO in 2025 after serving as executive director of the Calgary Region Immigrant Employment Council where she championed the integration of internationally trained professionals into the labour market while overseeing substantial organizational growth. Its operating budget increased by more than 300 percent and its team expanded by over 200 percent during her tenure.
At the Centre for Newcomers, Johnston-Taylor leads about 250 employees who provide settlement, language, employment and family supports to thousands of immigrants and refugees.
Her qualifications include a bachelor’s degree in management economics, a master’s degree in development economics and a multidisciplinary doctorate in international politics, economics and society. She has taught business, economics, politics, community development and research at post-secondary institutions in Canada and the United Kingdom.
Johnston-Taylor is also the founder and CEO of Mason Vanguard Consulting and has served on several boards. As co-chair of the Alberta government’s inaugural Black Advisory Council, she helped amplify community concerns and address systemic barriers facing Black Albertans.
Through Rotary International, she designed an initiative and secured $100,000 to support Sierra Leone’s first program dedicated to diagnosing and treating cervical cancer among marginalized women.
Her community leadership has previously earned her recognition as one of Calgary’s Top 40 Under 40 and a place among the finalists for the 2025 Calgarian of the Year Award.
Johnston-Taylor said Canada has benefited enormously by attracting immigrants and their children, who make important contributions in medicine, business, education, technology and many other fields.
“Canada gets it right by bringing in some of the greatest minds and greatest people we have living in the country,” she said. “Often, when you look at great things happening in Canada, they are being done by immigrants or the children of immigrants.”
She is concerned, however, by growing anti-immigrant sentiment and the ways it can restrict access to employment and other opportunities. While she recognizes the need for professionals to meet Canadian standards, she said that legitimate requirements should not be used to justify unnecessary barriers.
“We want to make sure that everyone, especially people in certain professional roles, is absolutely qualified,” Johnston-Taylor said. “But it is also about removing some of the unnecessary barriers that a lot of professionals face when they come here.”
Her experience has shaped a leadership style grounded in empathy, openness and a willingness to recognize ability that conventional hiring practices may overlook.
“I think I am more open and more aware,” she said. “I give more opportunities to people and don’t view barriers the way a conventional Canadian might view them.”
Johnston-Taylor encourages newcomers not to wait for others to validate their place in Canadian society.
“You don’t have to wait for permission,” she said. “You belong. This is your home. Find your community and flourish within it. As long as you wait for someone else to give you permission, you surrender your agency and allow others to decide whether you belong. I walk into a building as though I own it because I know I belong there. If you don’t like me, that is your problem.”
That confidence was nurtured by the family members whose sacrifices and encouragement helped make her achievements possible.
Johnston-Taylor credits her late father, Dan Mason, and her mother, Gwen Mason, with instilling the self-belief that sustained her through displacement, bullying and the challenge of repeatedly starting over. She also acknowledged the unwavering support of her husband and their three children.
“Many of the achievements you see would not have been possible without my husband giving me the freedom to fulfil my dreams and do what I needed to do to make an impact,” she said. “He has been so supportive.”
Fourteen years after arriving in Canada and taking a survival job, Johnston-Taylor is now in a position to open doors that were initially closed to her.
The Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Award recognizes more than her ability to overcome those barriers. It celebrates her commitment to ensuring that the newcomers who follow her do not have to face them alone.
