Jamaican Canadian receives excellence, lifetime achievement awards

TORONTO:

Although Loris Thomas retired 12 years ago from corporate Canada where she spent almost 40 years, her drive to volunteer within the black community has not gone unnoticed. She believes that she is called to serve and intends to continue doing it, as she is equipped with transferable skills.

In February, the regional president of the Congress of Black Women of Canada (CBWC), Ontario Region, was presented with an award capturing two accomplishments – the Mississauga Black Excellence and Legacy Lifetime Achievement awards.

Citing her “significant contribution to the black community”, the award reads, “For many years, you have worked tirelessly to improve the quality of life for residents of our beautiful city by going above and beyond, often without recognition, to positively impact the people of Mississauga. Your achievements and dedication to excellence are felt, admired, and celebrated through Mississauga and beyond.”

Presented by members of the council and the Black Caucus Alliance, the Legacy Lifetime Achievement award is the highest community-based honour bestowed on an individual whose “continued commitment has uplifted the lives of others”.

Nominees are individuals who have made significant contribution to the black community for 15 years or more. The candidates would have improved the quality of life for citizens or brought recognition to the city of Mississauga through their accomplishments.

A resident of Mississauga, Ontario, for 42 years, Thomas grew up in May Pen, Clarendon, and Manchester in Jamaica. She attended the May Pen Secondary School and then St Monica’s Academy.

Thomas spent much of her formative years with her grandmother – her stepmother’s mother – “a woman who loved and cared for me, and I think I got a lot of my values from her”.

She taught at a school in St Elizabeth for a year as a pre-trained teacher, with the intention to attend Shortwood Teachers College, but soon migrated to Canada in September 1970 with a student visa to pursue teaching.

Her plans changed, however, when she was told that there were already too many teachers in the education sector, so she enrolled at Humber College in an executive administration course and then went to Ryerson, now Toronto Metropolitan University.

Thomas initially worked as the assistant to businessman, theatre impresario, and philanthropist Ed Mirvish at Mirvish Theatre in 1977 before moving on to a bank in the financial district on Bay Street as a junior marketing manager. She worked at Nabisco Canada in 1979 until 2001 as an executive assistant to the president of the corporation, and Bell Canada for 10 years. In 1999, she was one of three employees who won the president’s award for excellence at Nabisco, which had 3,800 workers. “I tend to throw myself into whatever I do, and do it at the best of my ability,” said Thomas, noting that the award was “for showing remarkable initiative, achieving outstanding results, demonstrating the Nabisco Canada’s values, and outstanding personal and professional growth”.

In 2003 at Bell Canada, she was among a team of 10 that won an award for “demonstrating exceptional qualities” and having “a major impact on the communities”.

SATISFACTION

A member of the CBWC for the past 25 years, including serving as president of the CBWC, Mississauga Chapter, Thomas also sits on the board of the Blackhurst Cultural Centre: The People’s Residence in Toronto.

Founded by social activist, broadcaster, and actor Kay Livingstone in 1973, the Congress of Black Women of Canada is a national nonprofit organisation dedicated to improving the lives of all black women and their families in their local and national communities.

Thomas said she has received many commendations for her work with the CBWC, and it gives her a lot of satisfaction to volunteer with the organisation.

“Sometimes we’re out there working in the corporate world, but we’re not being fulfilled. It’s not all about money, it’s about giving back. It’s about seeing what you can give to the community. Service is important and I say to people, find a way to give something back, find a way to serve.”

Thomas is mother to two adult sons, grandmother to a 10-year-old grandson, and a mother-in-law.