Thursday 15 October 2026
Canadian Women of Colour Leadership Network hosts Networking and Awards ceremony
by Asantewa Nkuah, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Thursday October 15, the Canadian Women of Colour Leadership Network (CWCLN) hosted PAMOJA, a networking breakfast and award ceremony held at Rideau Community Hub. Coinciding with Global Peer Support Day, the event celebrated five years of CWCLN’s peer support initiative, Pamoja, a Swahili word meaning “together.” The word was chosen to reflect the importance of shared experiences and mutual support.
Global Peer Support Day initiated in 2014. In the words of Sophia Jacobs, Founder and CEO of CWCLN, peer support means “community-based circles that lead to healing.” Peer support is devoid of hierarchy, trauma-informed, and rooted in lived experience. Peer support is also caregiving, work that often goes unacknowledged.
The Canadian Women of Colour Leadership Network (CWCLN) was established in 2018 as a grassroots organization and Ottawa-based community network. Through an intersectional feminist framework, CWCLN provides racialized women and non-binary professionals with the necessary skills, tools, and connections to overcome systemic barriers. Their programs include peer support groups, training, education workshops, and mentorship.
After an opportunity to network over breakfast, the program began with a land acknowledgement. Recognizing the Algonquin Anishinaabe Nation, the ancestors of African, Caribbean, and Black communities and their histories, contributions, and resilience were also honoured. The work CWCLN does is about healing and justice. “The care and vision of our ancestors live on in our service.”
CWCLN Founder and CEO Sophia Jacob delivered opening remarks highlighting the importance of peer support and CWCLN’s peer support achievements since the launch of Pamoja in 2021, including training nearly 100 peer support facilitators and workers across three unique cohorts.
System Navigation & Community Support Lead Asli Mahdi then led the participants in a community reflection activity. She posed the question: “What has peer support and caregiving mean to me?” Participants were invited to write their answers on sticky notes. This was followed by small group discussions where attendees shared their experiences with peer support. They were tasked to answer three questions: “What supports us? What do we need more of? What could we grow together?”
While discussing, Rawlson King arrived to share a few words about the importance of community and peer support. As Councillor of Rideau-Rockcliffe and the Council Liaison for Anti-Racism and Ethnocultural Relations Initiatives, peer support played a key role in the creation of the Anti-Racism Secretariat for the City of Ottawa. “It came from people like you at tables like this.”
Reflections were shared with the wider group afterwards. There was excellent discussion about how to develop peer support going forward. Key themes included more funding and recognition, self-care, collaboration, allyship, and bridging gaps between generations. One participant shared a particularly powerful statement: “Communication creates community. Action sustains it.”
PAMOJA was also a chance to honor community leaders, peer supporters, graduates, and partners. The program concluded with a recognition and awards ceremony celebrating individuals, communities, and organizations who have made a difference through peer support in Ottawa.
The Agency Award was given to Colours of Mama in recognition of their commendable peer support work for community members.
CWCLN Youth Peer Facilitator Claudia Sendanyoye received the Community Changemaker Award for her peer support and social justice advocacy work. Disability justice and fighting ableism are causes dear to her heart.
Aya Gadi received the Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) Youth Peer Support Award. This award recognized the volunteerism of a BIPOC youth peer support facilitator between the ages of 18 and 30.
The African, Caribbean, and Black (ACB) Peer Support Award was given to a ACB trained peer support facilitator over 18 years of age. The award was given to Sylmadel Coke, a Peer Support Specialist and Trauma-informed Facilitator who has been working for over a decade. Black Ottawa Scene warmly congratulates all award recipients and extends congratulations to CWCLN and the attendees of PAMOJA for a fantastic, insightful day.
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