President

GEMMA RAEBURN-BAYNES

Gemma Raeburn-Baynes is a Senior Auditor with the Bank of Montreal (BMO), where she has worked since 1973. She has also been active in business, community development and charitable initiatives. At BMO she has held a number of managerial positions and made significant contributions to the Bank's development in the areas of equity and diversity and initiated several programs promoting education and employment skills for Black and visible minority youth, people with disabilities and aboriginal youth.

Gemma is an avid fundraiser for numerous charitable organizations. With over 40 years of work and volunteer experience in the community she has set up several non-profit organizations and projects aimed at bringing to light the rich culture of the Caribbean. Gemma is President and Founder of Playmas Montreal Cultural Association and A Taste of the Caribbean Festival, the largest Caribbean Food Festival in Quebec. Some of her many initiatives include: Triumph Through Adversity, a culinary scholarship program for disenfranchised and unemployed youth, The Montreal Ebony Models, the first Black Modeling agency in Quebec, the Miss Black Quebec Pageant, and Montreal's Caribbean Carnival. She was a founding Board Member of Dalhousie University's James Robinson Johnston Chair in Black Canadian Studies. Gemma also sits on several boards, including the Black Community Editorial Board of the CBC.

Among her many awards, she was made a "Woman of Distinction" by the YWCA in 1997
for community service and awarded the Montreal Business and Professional Women's Club "Woman of Achievement" award in 1998. For promoting her beloved community and human dignity, Gemma received the Martin Luther King Jr. Legacy Award in 2008 and the Jackie Robinson Montreal Association of Black Business Persons Award. Most recently she received the Community Service Arts and Culture Award from the Consul General of Grenada to Canada and was featured in the 2011 Black History Month Calendar, celebrating 20 years. Gemma is featured in the first and second edition of "Who's Who in Black Canada". Most recently she received the Community Service Arts and Culture Award from the Consul General of Grenada to Canada, The Award of Honor from the Grenada 27th Anniversary Independence Committee and the Honorary Consul for Grenada in Montreal saluting her dedicated and inspiring service to the Grenadian and Montreal Community. Gemma was featured in the 2011 Black History Month Calendar, celebrating 20 years. Gemma is featured in the first and second edition of "Who's Who in Black Canada". In October 2011 she received the distinguished Sheila and Victor Goldbloom Award for Distinguished Community Service given to her by the QCGN (Quebec Community Group Network) for which she was recognized at the House of Commons by the Sub-Committee on Official Languages.