[00:00:00] Ellington Brown: Welcome to SpeakUP! International with Rita Burke and Elton Brown!

[00:00:16] Rita Burke: Yesterday we spoke with a person from Atlanta. On SpeakUP! International, we have the good fortune of speaking with people from all over the world. Today we will be talking with a well-known Canadian woman. Her name is Dauna Jones-Simmonds. Now Dauna is the co-founder and architect of A Hundred Accomplished Black Canadian Women, co-author of five books, an executive producer of a hundred A B, C. Women Fireplace Chats, symposiums, awards, ceremonies. She has received numerous awards including Brilliant Minded Women, A Hundred ABC Women, Vanguard Lifetime Achievement Leadership Award, Afro Global Black Excellence, Lifetime Achievement Award. Now Dauna is and did many more things, but as we say and SpeakUP! International, our preference is for our guests to tell their stories and it will happen organically. And so today, I welcome you to SpeakUP! International, Dauna Jones-Simmonds!

[00:01:39] Dauna Jones-Simmonds: Thank you Rita! 

[00:01:41] Ellington Brown: It's so good to have you here with us this morning. Even though you are a lady who doesn't drink coffee, she drinks tea. Yes. There's gotta be, that's just gotta be something to be said about individuals who drank. Tea as opposed to coffee. And I probably shouldn't have said that because you and Rita will probably jump on me for accusing you of not drinking something a little stronger like coffee.

You have received so many a awards and really elevating women to heights that they probably never thought they would be able to reach. How did you wind up in this position of great resources that you are able to provide to black and brown women? 

[00:02:33] Dauna Jones-Simmonds: Of all. Thank you, Elton, and for having me here today.

It's a pleasure and honor. My journey began, say over the past seven, eight years. And it happened over a series of breakfast conversations with one of the co-authors of 100 accomplished black Canadian women, Dr. Denise O'Neill Green. She had recently arrived from the United States to Canada to take a position of Vice President of Toronto Metropolitan University.

During our talks, Denise will say, to be Don, I'm looking for certain people to do certain jobs. Do you know anyone? I realized I wasn't familiar as familiar rather with many of the brilliant black women in Canada as I should have been, and more specifically the kind of individuals Denise wanted to inspire and hire.

So we decided to bring in my good friend Anna Rabbi, Dr. Jean Augustine, and together the three of us began having rich brainstorming sessions that laid the foundation for what now has become 100 A, B, C Women. We carefully crafted our mission and our vision and our mandate, and hosted a community engagement session that drew over 20 committed volunteers to support us, and that's how it began.

Now, five bi biannual book launching galas and award ceremonies later. Our database now housing houses, 500 remarkable honorees from across Canada. They're talented, accomplished, and deserving of celebration. That's where we began. 

[00:04:23] Rita Burke: That is quite a story in itself and you speak so proudly of it that obviously you have internalized, you have embodied, and you walk the hundred A, B, C, black women.

That is truly wonderful. Dauna, thank you so much. That is wonderful. There's a tendency sometimes to say and to think that we don't. Unite that we don't pull together. I think that the opposite is true and what we're seeing here with the hundred black women that obviously you have pulled together to make this into something to reckon with and congratulations!

[00:05:09] Dauna Jones-Simmonds: Thank you very much. Appreciate that! 

[00:05:12] Rita Burke: You are the past chair of Access Employment. What was your mandate when you were with that organization? 

[00:05:23] Dauna Jones-Simmonds: Very interesting question, and it started even before I began 100 A, B, C Women. My primary mandate was to uphold and advance the organization mission, which was helping new Canadians secure and sustain employment that matched their qualifications.

One of our most successful initiatives was one that was called Speed Mentoring Program, which connected new newcomers directly with potential employers. Very successful. They got employment within less than six months, for example, because some employ employers were very committed to hiring these individuals.

I also co-authored the program that they call Speak English Cafe. I. Recognizing that language essentially, or especially conversational nuances and Canadian workplace lingo could be a barrier in the workplace. The program helped newcomers build their confidence level and better integrate into the workforce.

So it was all about integrating. It was all about leveling the playing field and making meaningful employment fully accessible for them. And that was my mandate from my perspective anyway.

[00:06:42] Ellington Brown: You are an individual who look for qualities in women that would put them in a position to win such an award. Am I correct? 

[00:06:56] Dauna Jones-Simmonds: That's correct. They're nominated. 

[00:06:58] Ellington Brown: So what qualities do you and your group look for in, women who are eligible for such gold?

[00:07:11] Dauna Jones-Simmonds: For the 100 A, B, C Women, we look for women who have worked with young black girls, for example. And or women who will I marginalized situations or black, just plain black women. So it's a black community we are trying to support to uplift them because that's what we are focused on.

Black women uplifting their causes. And we look for people who have demonstrated leadership skills within the community. So it's not just about doing things for girls, but it's about your leadership skills and elevating them. Elton, we found that many black women are brilliant, talented, but nobody knows about them. So our goal is to uplift them, spotlight them, and showcase your talent.

[00:08:00] Rita Burke: So Dauna, based on what I'm hearing from you and based on your bio, I'm feeling and seeing and hearing a common thread running through your story that you serve people, you have worked with people and continue to work with people who are, dare I say, maybe disadvantaged.

You work with people who are newcomers and something interesting that happened earlier this week, I was invited to talk to a group of students at George Brown College, and it turns out that many of them are newcomers to the country and still need something like what you did way back when. I don't know how long ago it was, sometimes I, I get the sense that the story is not changing. That newcomers still need people to connect them to people like you who will allow them to hold your, their hands and maybe pull them along, push them along, help them along, something like that. What you did was amazing, and I'm hoping that there are still people around who are doing that.

Do you know of any groups that are doing that to help newcomers along? 

[00:09:19] Dauna Jones-Simmonds: Access still? Does it? Access still? Does it They can always contact Access. A-C-C-E-S? No, not two Ss. Just one. They can contact them and they would help them. I've sent people to them. I refer people to them all the time. And they get employment, they get employed.

As a matter of fact, Rita, I found that through access, for example these people get promoted really at high levels when they actually get their foot in the door. And Access has a good reputation, so it's easier for them to get in there. So I would refer 'em to access. I like to maintain my reputation, so that's why I refer to Access because I know their capabilities.

[00:10:02] Ellington Brown: So you are an influencer, of sorts you are a trend setter. You have a lot of influence over what happens in terms of lifting women to the point where they are part of this 100 accomplished black women, black Canadian women project. You also co-authored a book named 100 Accomplished Black Canadian Women.

Can you tell us a little bit about that, please? 

[00:10:41] Dauna Jones-Simmonds: Sure. Actually so we. We are uplifting these women because they do need uplifting, and I'm gonna tell you right up is that a lot of them have been, since they've been through our program, they've gotten promotions, they've had speaking engagements. Rita would tell you, just not too long ago, I took a whole bunch of women to an event that CIBC had.

So I am pulling them together to get them some visibility. I don't if you call that influencer, I am just. I'm just somebody help, somebody helping others. So I don't know if you call it influencing, but I wanna make sure that their voices are heard. We have five books. You said one, it's just this five now, because we've worked hard at getting them out.

Every year we have an award ceremony. We publish a book. About them. So you can always read about these women. One of the things that this differentiate us from a lot of organizations is that we have the information documented, and that's one of the challenges we found Denise and I found nothing was documented.

Some was documented, I shouldn't say nothing. Some were documented, but a lot wasn't. For example, unsung heroes were not documented. And when I tell them that they have been selected to be an honoree, they said, me, I've not done anything. I said, yes, you have in the eyes of others. So you can see how people feel.

Suddenly important. They feel empowered, but just being part of the 100 A, B, C family, because we recognize them, we tell them we value you. And it's not because we make that selection. We get there from the nomination process, and the stories are real relatable and meaningful to many. So we continue to uplift and spotlight these women through a fireside chat.

We invite these women to come and speak. Because we want your voices to be heard. It's not about me. It's not about honorable Dr. Jean Augustine. It is not about Dr. Denise, Neil Green. It's about the women spotlight in them. We could come on any stage and say yes. Rita Burke was a good person.

Doesn't make sense. So we want them to hear from Rita Burke and show her talent. That she is who she is and understand her personality to understand what she brings. I'm telling you, it's been working. It's been working. They've been getting calls from people to do speak engagements. Be on boards and all kind of good stuff.

We promote them through our newsletters. About, I would say at least 15 women so far have won the King Charles a medal, a medal recently. So the C King Charles's medal, it, I think that's what it's called, right? Very recently. So it's catching on! People are recognizing these women. I am just so thrilled and inspired!

[00:13:49] Rita Burke: There is a woman that I nominated about three or four years ago. I can call her name, Marley Stan. She's a lawyer in Ottawa. Yes. And I'll tell you that getting involved with that group or being accepted or nominated has made a world of difference in Marley's life. Every time something new happens at work, she will send me an email and let me, Rita, guess what has happened.

So it is a marvelous movement. I see this a movement now that you are quite right about that. It is elevating the lives and bringing to the fore what these women have contributed what they've contributed to our community and to Canada. So a hundred A, B, C Women is doing a marvelous amazing job.

But I'm hearing a thread. Several threads or themes run into what you're saying, and I'm hearing the importance of mentoring. Talk to us about what you consider to be the importance of mentoring. 

[00:14:57] Dauna Jones-Simmonds: I'll start off with how I started mentoring as a black woman in senior roles. For example, when I worked at American Express, CIBC, TD, I was often the only one who looked. Like them in the room. The visibility made me approachable from their perspective for others to navigate. And, in similar spaces, many colleagues, especially black professionals, often sought out my career advice or guidance about their workplace dynamics because sometimes they don't understand the workplace dynamics and that could be a barrier for them.

All of them were brilliant. So I often spend time with these individuals. We would set up time for coffee, for example, and talk about where you are at, how are you doing, what you're doing, talk about scenarios and how you dealt with those scenarios. And I would provide my 2 cents worth. And I said, you don't have to take what I'm telling you, but here is what I would advise.

But often when they came out, they realized the value or the importance of them advocating for themselves because I can't always be there. They have to do it for themselves. They just needed that guidance. And so that's my approach in terms of mentoring, provide that guidance and they can tap into me.

From eight o'clock in the morning to midnight, whatever time they wanted, they knew they had that resource available to them. And that's important from a mentoring perspective. If you have a crisis, you're trying to deal with it, you know somebody's there in your corner. I often joke about this one.

I often seldom, one day I could, you could be my boss and it actually happened. 

[00:16:43] Ellington Brown: Oh God! 

[00:16:44] Dauna Jones-Simmonds: It actually happened! One of my mentees said, we have a job open. Do you want it? I said, I'll try. I did. So you never count yourself out. You never count people out because you never know what would happen in life.

[00:16:57] Ellington Brown: I think that is the best medicine that can be given to women and men for that matter. I think that's extremely important. So what are some of the biggest challenges that black women face in leadership today?

[00:17:15] Dauna Jones-Simmonds: I think one of the, some of the challenges they face are things like. They deal with the issue of tokenism. And I said, if you're gonna be a token, be a good token. Don't use it with your head high in the, I have to be a token all the time. All the time. But if we don't be that token, we'll never get to that next step.

It sounds like it's a sad story, but it is our reality. It is our reality. And you get judged by your color. Still. Nothing has changed over the last a hundred years. It's still the same. I keep saying, but I thought 30 years ago I taught that stuff. Why is it still surfacing people's mindsets have not changed.

And they see it from a business perspective and they can see it as a good thing and they can see it as a bad thing. So some senior leaders, and especially nowadays, you are hearing about, from the US perspective anyway, affirmative Action. Canada does not have affirmative action. We have employment equity.

That's completely different, and it's based on merit. But what we do here is that we make sure that they are presented in a leadership position for the opportunity and you can do what you want, succeed or fail at that opportunity. But it is there. But they still have a difficult time getting through the door.

But having said that, I will say 100 A, B, C Women have helped along the way! 

[00:18:49] Rita Burke: No question about that. No question about that. You talked about one of my most disliked words, tokenism, and very often, as you said, people get positions and promotions because of merit, because of what they, their experience, because of their credentials and everything else.

I was hired in at Fleming College in Peterburg to be a nursing professor. And I was the only black woman in the college, the only black person in the college, the only black person in the nursing program. And I guess when people looked at me, they assumed that I was a token. But you know what? I walked with a stride and with a swagger because I knew that I was not a token.

So whose ever mindset made them think that I was, that was their issue to deal with. And I think perhaps it's not bravado, but one needs to have that confidence that you were hired because of what you were bringing to whatever position it was or it is. And so you stretch your stuff and that's what got me through.

That tenure at that college, but on SpeakUP! International, we want to profile people who we consider to be community builders, and there's no question that Dauna Jones-Simmonds is one of those people, but I wanna go back to Dauna Jones-Simmonds when she was about 20 years old. Tell us about what you were doing, exciting things you were doing at that time.

[00:20:23] Dauna Jones-Simmonds: Oh God, I'm so old now. 20 years ago. You challenging my mental acuity. As mentioned I was living in st. I didn't come to Canada until age 22. So I was already working at the bank as a loan officer at age 20 helping to raise five children. My two of my brothers had given me one, gave me three, gave me four children, and one gave me one.

So I had five children to look after, make sure they went to school and they were fed, et cetera. So I was mothering at that age. I was also very active in church and was a Sunday school teacher, so I made sure that they knew their manners and they behaved properly. I was very involved in sports netball in particular.

Don't if you ever heard of netball, but I was a netballer and I was deeply engaged in the community. For example, with youth, I. We try to get youth into car washing, get them busy during the summertime so that they don't get into trouble. I also honed my skills in cooking and baking because I love cooking and baking.

But I think though that all of these experiences helped build my resilience. It sharpened my leadership skill and shaped the person I am today. So age 20. I'm not sure if a lot of people did all that at that age, but I'm sure they did more because that's how Caribbean mothers parents taught you to live.

[00:21:57] Ellington Brown: You, hit a warm spot for me and that's the fact that you cook. We'll leave that till a little later. 

[00:22:05] Dauna Jones-Simmonds: You don't wanna eat now? 

[00:22:06] Ellington Brown: No, I don't want to eat now. I wanna get some stretch pants on. I really wanna, I wanna get comfy. Yeah. You have taken on so many positions.

In your illustrious career, I wanna dive into your role as the chair of the board of the A-C-C-E-S employment, and what initiatives are you most proud of that helped immigrants integrate into the Canadian workforce? 

[00:22:42] Dauna Jones-Simmonds: One of the programs that I did for them was called speak English Cafe. A lot of new immigrants who come to Canada.

English is not always your first language, and if you are in the workplace, we use a lot of lingos. Like I would say, for example, oh, you live in my neck with the words. And I would go, huh, what is that? So a lot of things we say they don't understand. So what we embarked on was building up that program called Speak English Cafe, help him down to understand the English language better.

And I'm telling you it worked and understand the nuances that they had to deal with in the work environment. We say things that. I'm going, where did that come from? I do have a niece who just returned, just came here to Canada from the United Kingdom, and she talks about taking the lift and I talk about taking the elevator.

So it's those little things that we have to help them to integrate into the Canadian society that would help make them successful and make it seamless for them that they belong. Because feeling like you belong in a work environment is so critical.

[00:24:06] Rita Burke: I like that you included the word belong in your response because I. In my day when I was in the workforce, it was important to feel a sense of belonging. But in the year 2025, it's more important for people like us to feel like they belong. 

[00:24:28] Dauna Jones-Simmonds: And I say that, I'm glad you mentioned that too, because my, my, she's only 30, but she knows how to integrate.

When I came to Canada. I didn't know how to integrate. It was, you mind your own business. You be polite, you don't, you speak when you're spoken to. She doesn't speak when she's spoken to. She goes and she initiates a conversation. Initiate. This is completely different. I'm going, whoa, this is so different.

I wasn't like that at her age. It was like I was a shy person because I was afraid to make mistakes. They're not shy anymore. It's, there's a big difference. But she doesn't have to deal with the English language. Many of her new Canadians have to deal with the English language issue.

[00:25:12] Rita Burke: Yes, that's so true. And I was reminded of that earlier this week. As I told you, I spoke to a group of new Canadians, many of them. Are melanated people and there's no question that something, they're struggl, they're struggling. They're struggling with that, with. Now you present as a very joyful, quote unquote person, A person who has done a lot and you are still doing a lot, but I want you to single out something.

Something that makes your heart sing and share that with our listeners. 

[00:25:49] Dauna Jones-Simmonds: What makes my heart sing? I have five grandchildren. I look too young for that. I know. But they're the love of my life. Watching those. And I think back about work, I think about life. I think about what's happening today.

And I watch these kids with their various perspectives and personalities. Each of them is so different. One of them, she's just turned two and they play a monster game with their grandfather. And the four the three of them are older than her. And she, they were afraid of the monster, and she went and she pushed him aside I'm gonna take over here.

And she goes to the monster my, to my husband. I'm the person gonna protect these kids. This makes my heart sing. To see these kids who have these kind of personality, it's a leadership quality. I go, where did she get that? Where did she get that? Another one. She says, you're not supposed to do this.

You're not supposed to do that if you do it. I'm gonna tell mom the integrity that they're building and demonstrating to the others. It's incredible these moments. These are the moments when watching these kids how they evolve. It is so meaningful to me. It makes my heart sing work. Forget work. These, you have to think about your legacy, your children, the ones you, the ones who are coming up after you.

And if this is what they're displaying. I'm gonna sing all the day, all day long. 

[00:27:36] Ellington Brown: I think many people will be singing right along with you in chorus, to have such a jump in kids. And I think also normally when kids were growing up and when they displayed these leadership qualities, they were like hushed by their parents.

They told to stop doing that! Go play with your doll or trucks. Yeah, whatever you're doing, go on over there. Don't come back over here with that. And now most parents are stepping out of the way because they see these traits and they don't want to smother them. They absolutely, basically want them to grow.

I wanna go back to. That ugly word that Rita hates most. And that's tokenism. You are a mentor. So how do you approach facilitating conversations about race and inclusion in corporate settings? 

[00:28:39] Dauna Jones-Simmonds: You I've been in a fortunate position in that my background is in diversity training. So from the get go, I get a little bit of respect.

I was hired for that role, so I get a little bit of respect that I understand what this means and how it is done. I often tell my mentors, sorry, mentees, you gotta think about the business aspect of it. See it as a business case. You speak several languages, for example. This is what you have to bring forward, your language skills.

Tell 'em how you can help them in the business, how you can help them in the organization. And more and more people are speaking different languages and they can't be understood. You can help them from that perspective. Don't make race your issue. Make it something that, yes, it is something I can't do anything about.

You have other talent, you have other things you bring to the table for the organization that will help them to see you differently. You can't make race the issue. You are not gonna get anywhere. It's been there for God knows how long. You just have to say, what am I gonna bring that they can respect? And when I teach training, I teach about diversity training, I talk about the business case.

How they can help your organization, how they can avert some of the challenges you may have. I don't talk about you gotta treat these people because they're Black, or they gotta treat this person this way because they're White. No, it's, we are all in this together. We are in this together, and if we get into that pot, we can have a better relationship.

I talk about how you integrate people who are different into your organization and how they wanna be integrated into the organization. And we work, we worked on how, what courses or what. I also brought forward people who they can tap into that, I call them buddies. Buddies, you can tap into if you have questions.

Understand the environment, the corporate environment, because it's very different. Every organization is different, but I'm telling you, corporate is really good. And how do you manage within those? And don't go in and think that you're gonna change. The world. Ain't gonna happen. You gotta go in with, we can work together.

I can bring something to the table for you. It's, it is very different. Race is not a winning topic. 

[00:31:26] Rita Burke: You are so right. I concur. Don't necessarily make race an issue, although there's no question that is issue for most people, but there are ways around that. There are strategies to propel what you want to do.

Shifting that aside sometimes, but for some people it has to be. The issue. I wanna shift and to ask you a question, and that question is, could you think of a time when you had to say enough, when you have to say enough, whether it's personally or professionally, or career wise tell us about that time.

[00:32:13] Dauna Jones-Simmonds: I never say. No, I never say enough is enough. Say no is not something I do easily, is one of my biggest challenges. I admit that I always look for a way to make things happen, especially if it means supporting someone else's growth. For me, enough. Feels like you're giving up. I'm not willing to do that. How can we work this out?

How can we go out, do it a little differently if it's if you've hurt me, if enough is enough, then I'll probably walk away. But I'm not willing to walk away until I've given it my best try. You gotta give it your best try. I said I did my best and no enough is not enough, but I'm not willing to do it until I've done that.

I've had situations where I could have just walked away, but I'm not gonna give them the sa. I always tell my mentees, don't give them the satisfaction of walking away. Make sure to pay you if you're gonna walk away, sorry, I can give you severance at minimal. 

[00:33:25] Ellington Brown: There is another skill that I think we. Need to learn and that's reframing things. So when conversations are leading into that area of race and we don't want it to go there because it's not about that, then we need to be able to reframe some of the questions or statements that they're going to ask you. What what do black people eat during the holidays?

You need to reframe that, as an American or as a Canadian, this is what we do and leave it there because you don't want it to get to the race part. But you can certainly say. Whether or not this is a nationalistic point of view, which is what I think is the best way to handle it.

And yes, and you are right. I do think that you, we really need to not talk about our race. I know when I worked at Oracle, I was the only black person there. There were 10 floors and I went on every floor looking for a friend, and no one. I think that is an important question you raise, which is not allowing race to be an answer, not allowing us to fall into that trap. And to not to be thought of as a token, but as a beacon of light to let these individuals know that we are just as good if not better than you. It's just taking you a little more time to, to see that. 

[00:35:00] Dauna Jones-Simmonds: The only thing I would say though is that sometimes they don't know what they don't know. Yes. And sometimes you have to education. 

[00:35:11] Ellington Brown: Yes. And usually you can sense that you can pick that up very easily and that makes it even easier for you to yeah, mentor this individual even if it's just for that 60 second period to get in there and steer them in the right direction.

Can you share a particularly memorable moment? I'm looking for a success story from your work of mentoring and or consulting. 

[00:35:43] Dauna Jones-Simmonds: There are several. But the one that I told you about where the person became my boss. Was for me the biggest success.

But I've seen, and there's numerous situations where these people get promoted just by having these conversations. I remember ina anonymously, she came to me every single day talking to me about the challenges she was having at work, and I was looking at her profile just very recently, and this was 10 years ago, we started these conversations.

And she's now in a senior position. I remember when I was at American Express, I was having these conversations with a certain person and she became president of American Express Canada. So I don't wanna call him. It's very difficult because it's probably easy to identify. But I've done a lot of con have I, I've had a lot of conversations with individuals talking about.

Making themselves accessible and just staying on topic. Just staying on topic, deal with the issues. A lot of these noises just noise. Just don't deal with the noise, deal with the essence of the issue and move along because then people begin to respect you for that and you get promotions. It might sound like ideal, but it's a way to do it.

And you, after a while, you realize you can't fall into the trap as you, you said Elton can't fall into the race trap. You just gotta move on and say, appreciate you what you've said. However, let's go back to what we're talking about. 

[00:37:24] Rita Burke: Yes. And also, I guess you can make it very clear that you can't speak for all black people.

Yeah. Yeah. Because we're not homogenous in any way. We are people. We're people. 

[00:37:36] Dauna Jones-Simmonds: Yeah. 

[00:37:37] Rita Burke: There are people over and over again. 

[00:37:39] Dauna Jones-Simmonds: So you, I can talk to one of the black situations where I mentored somebody and they came and they told me down after, so that happens too. That happens too.

I gave them all my 150% when my boss and I told my boss is gonna hire this person, and she said, if you hire this person, I don't like her. It'll be on your head. I hired her anyway and really it was on my head eventually because she came and she back stabbed me. But these are some things you take a risk on, right? It's just a risk. 

[00:38:11] Rita Burke: Opportunity to grow and to learn and to move forward. 

[00:38:15] Dauna Jones-Simmonds: Absolutely! 

[00:38:16] Rita Burke: Yes. No question about that! 

[00:38:17] Dauna Jones-Simmonds: She did come back and apologize after she said she was desperate. That's why she did what she did. However, what she did. 

[00:38:25] Rita Burke: Yeah. All of our stories can't be glad stories, but I'm sure you've benefited tremendously and your soul has been warmed and massaged because of what you've given to people. And so you celebrate as well. 

[00:38:41] Dauna Jones-Simmonds: Absolutely! 

[00:38:42] Rita Burke: So I need to say to you, to ask you this question. What three gems would you offer to a group of women? A group of melanated women who are starting their first career? 

[00:38:59] Dauna Jones-Simmonds: One, grab every opportunity You can never say no. Every experience adds value. Bank. That knowledge that you're gonna get from it, it'll serve you good later.

I say this because I was, American Express was shifting me to Utah to work and live, and I had two young children and a husband back home in Canada. And I'm saying, how am I gonna do this? And I said, you know what? I'm gonna take the opportunity. I'm gonna work things out, gonna see what, what comes of it I did.

And it served me very well. Uphold your integrity. Choose a career you love. Important and stay true to it. You don't wanna reach to age 50. I regret your career path and say, oh Lord, I chosen something else. Stick to it. Stay with it. Make it big. Make it better. Do something with it. The other part of it is balance, work and life.

Your kids would remember you if you weren't there. I'll never forget. A time when both of my kids were graduating. June 6th was a date. They were both graduating. One was going to Peterborough and his graduation was at 2:00 PM sorry, at 11:00 AM my daughter went to University of Toronto. Her graduation was at 2:00 PM Now you have to understand the geography here, and then I was having a party for my anniversary that evening.

So I said, how am I gonna do this? And they were sure I was only gonna show up to one. And as far as a concerned, I was gonna be showing up to the favorite. I had no favorite. I love my kids the same. So what I did was there's, Buttonville used to be close to where I live and I called them and I said, do you have any planes that would take me to Peterborough and then take me back to Toronto and to UFT?

They said, yes, we can help you there. Let's organize it. So they chartered a plane for me to go to Peterborough. The plane stayed on the grounds at the airport close by, and then they off ordered a taxi to take me to the school. So they arrange all of this for me. Cost me an AM leg, by the way. And then when it was over, they took me back to the plate and I flew to Toronto, the downtown airport, and then they had a taxi waiting for me to take me to the school, to UFT.

My daughter was shocked to see me there. Like I, you, it takes about two hours, two hours to get to Peterborough. So she was shocked to see me there. The bottom line is I did both. I made it to both ceremonies and no one felt left out. That's what balancing looks like. It's always, it's not always easy, but it is possible. So my bank account was empty, but I satisfied my two children. 

[00:42:12] Ellington Brown: What a heartwarming story from the time you started. I couldn't stop smiling. I'm giving you a thumbs up. This is a very heartwarming story and I thank you for that and I'm sure our audience will appreciate that as well.

Two questions. For you now you, okay. I'm gonna give you the first question and then, the second question. Your hand is always in everything. I see you a lot of times on LinkedIn and you're all over the place and just like this woman is amazing.

But I want to know what upcoming projects, goals are you writing another book that you are excited about your work in diversity and inclusion? 

[00:43:02] Dauna Jones-Simmonds: Oh my goodness. When you start something, you should not stop it because you'll lose your reputation for that. I still have the fireside chances still going on.

What I do a little differently is I get a little bit of help these days because I can't do it all, but I am enjoying what I do. Again, like when I talked about your career, you gotta love what you do. If you don't do it, you're not gonna do it. If you don't love what you do, you're not gonna do it. You're not gonna do it to the best of your ability.

But the bottom line is I've taken on more. So I have another book coming up. It's gonna be the sixth book. We have a symposium coming up in September. It's gonna be on trade skills. And so we are looking at women who are in the trades, and we will continue our fireside chat for 2026. Guess what? I'm gonna be the new president for the Rotary Club of Toronto.

Oh, July 1st. The first black president in 115 years. 

[00:44:10] Ellington Brown: Way to go now. That's how it's done. 

[00:44:14] Dauna Jones-Simmonds: That's how it's done. That's how it's done. But I'm being true to what I believe in because it's all about serving people, service above self. 

[00:44:25] Ellington Brown: So are you just last question. Alright. So you are helping women move up.

[00:44:31] Dauna Jones-Simmonds: Yeah. 

[00:44:32] Ellington Brown: Do, are there women already in place where you network in order to get what you want? Yeah, I do. Without having to go through that male driven. 

[00:44:46] Dauna Jones-Simmonds: No, I've got, honorable Dr. Jean Augustine is very helpful, very resourceful. Denise is also the same, but I've got some volunteers, people who volunteer, wanna be part of this mo, this movement who see the value and the integrity built into our system.

So they wanna be part of it. So they often offer, can I help you with this? Can I help you with that? But I've got a lot of systems in place already from over the past years that have made. Very easy for us to move forward. So it's not rebuilding stuff, it's not building new, it's building on top of what we have, enhancing what we've got.

[00:45:23] Ellington Brown: Thank you so much for what you've done for women. In fact for black people, black and brown people in general, I wanna thank you for your service. 

[00:45:38] Dauna Jones-Simmonds: Thank you!

[00:45:38] Ellington Brown: We talked about so many things to today. We were all like all over the place. I kept thinking, okay, we're gonna try to be very.

Systematic about this. But of course the conversation was really good and all of us just started flowing with the conversation and just going with wherever it was taking us. And I found that to be extremely refreshing and talking about your a Hundred Accomplish Black Canadian Women project you and in the middle of diversity and inclusion and the biggest challenges that you think black women faced in leadership roles.

And also to give black women a reason for them to aspire to leadership positions. The only thing that we didn't talk about was food. That was the only thing that we didn't talk about today, but that's okay. I know I have your email address. I know how to, I know how to get in contact with you.

And it's been absolutely a delight, Rita. Please. 

[00:46:51] Rita Burke: Ms. Dauna Jones-Simmonds, I've been wanting to do this for eons, and I hesitated to approach you because I know how busy a woman you are, but I also know that you are committed to building our community, and so I. Have no doubt that this is going to be one of our best interviews, and I am so happy that you said yes.

As I said to you before we started to record people that we interview enrich my life. By sharing their stories and their stories are truly amazing and wonderful and inspiring. And so what else can I say? But thank you, thank you, for joining us and SpeakUP! International!

[00:47:46] Dauna Jones-Simmonds: My honor and pleasure! Thank you. Thank you. It was, you made it very easy for me to, by the way, so thank you! 

[00:47:52] Ellington Brown: Thank you for tuning into SpeakUP! International! If you wish to contact our guest, Donna Jones-Simmons, please be prepared to submit your name, your email address, and the reason why you wish to contact Ms. Simmons at www.100abcwomen.ca.

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