Established in 1983, the Black Business and Professional Association (BBPA) Harry Jerome Awards celebrates excellence in achievement in the Black community. This formal dinner and awards gala is the premier event in the Black community and one of the most prestigious events in Canada. A highly valued symbol of achievement, the BBPA Harry Jerome Award is a coveted possession of the business people, professionals, athletes, academics, artists and community leaders who receive it. Award recipients are selected from among Canada-wide nominees recommended by business and professional colleagues, teachers, relatives and friends. Among those present at the 2017 awards in Toronto, were Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and Ottawa’s own community leader and activist, Sarah and Onyango and Ottawa’s other favourite police officer, Debbie Miller.
ISOBEL GRANGER
A thirty-year-plus law enforcement veteran, Isobel Granger is an Ottawa Police Service Platoon Staff Sergeant for West Division Patrol “F” Platoon.
From her role as the first black officer to join the ranks with the British South Africa Police in Zimbabwe (at the age of 19) and as the first black female officer with the Ottawa Police Service; as a leader of a platoon; her supervision in the Ottawa Police Youth Section, Diversity and Race Relations and OPS Partner Assault Unit (Domestic Violence), through to her work delivering gender-based sexual violence training to UN personnel in peace operations around the world, her lifelong commitment to empowering individuals towards better lives and social change is truly remarkable. Internationally, Isobel is on the Justice Rapid Response roster, a United Nation Women’s Initiative, as one of 42 people from around the world who are qualified to Investigate War Crimes related to Sexual Gender Based violence at the international level. Isobel has a B.A. in Policing Studies and M.A. in Leadership from Charles Sturt University, Australia.
Source: BBPA
Photo credits: Isobel with Prime Minister – Brian Henry. All other pics – Debbie Miller