YEAR IN REVIEW: As we head into a new year, the NOTL Local is looking back at some stories published throughout 2024. This story was originally published on March 16, 2024.
The trophy shelf at the Ivri home in St. Davids is becoming a bit crowded. The multitude of soccer and wrestling trophies and medals won by children Elijah, Michaiah, Ezekiel and Zachariah recently had to make room for major tokens of recognition for the community work being done by the two Ivri women.
Rochelle Ivri was recently named one of the 100 most influential Black Canadians at a ceremony hosted by Afroglobal Television in Vaughan, Ontario. Her 18-year-old daughter Michaiah, meanwhile, was the recipient of the Niagara-on-the-Lake Chamber of Commerce’s 2023 Dan Patterson Youth Leadership Award at their annual spirit awards.
The recognition for Rochelle comes on the heels of her being presented in November with the Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce’s Community Impact Award for her work as a citizenship judge, swearing in new Canadians. It was part of the GNCC’s annual Women in Business Awards.
Afroglobal Television is a worldwide broadcasting conglomerate that showcases the best of African heritage through programs that inspire, educate and entertain.
“It was truly a blessing to be recognized by them,” says Rochelle, who swore in her 100,000th new citizen last year. “I was flabbergasted to be mentioned alongside the others on the list. To be in that esteemed company was just beautiful.”
Among the other 99 names were members of Parliament, Canadian senators, Olympians, famous actors and musicians, doctors, lawyers, and high-ranking executives from Canada’s largest banks.
Two of Rochelle’s inspirations and role models, former Governor General of Canada Michaëlle Jean and Jean Augustine, the first Black Canadian woman to serve as a federal Minister of the Crown and Member of Parliament, were also on the list.
“Neither of them was able to attend the event,” says Rochelle, who has met and worked with both women previously. “What was really important to me, though, was to be able to meet people in the community there who are doing amazing things. I didn’t even know that the CEO of TVOntario was a Black man (Jeffrey Orridge).”
The awards presentation took place near the end of February. Rochelle attended with her father, her brother, her sister-in-law and her husband, Eldean.
“It was a very proud moment for my family,” she admits. “Lots of pictures were taken. It was a beautiful event. I had so many people coming up to talk to me, really affirming me. It was a really wonderful event.”
Rochelle, who also teaches in Mohawk College’s Paralegal program, says that the timing of the presentations, known as Afroglobal Television's Black History Month Showcase, was perfect.
“I think it’s important during that month to not just talk about enslavement but to also talk about people who were just like us back then, doing good things,” she says. “The focus on Black excellence and Black achievement ensures that our kids see the possibilities both back then and now.”
Another proud moment for the Ivri family came on February 27 at the 2023 Spirit Awards, when Niagara College president Sean Kennedy presented Michaiah with the Dan Patterson Youth Leadership Award.
“I was almost completely in tears when they started reading her bio,” says Rochelle, getting emotional talking about it. “We didn’t know she was getting the award. She is a kid who works so hard at everything she does, whether it’s in school or the work she does in the community. She is such a good person, and for her to be recognized by her community just made me cry.”
The Grade 12 A.N. Myer Secondary School student’s list of community work is exhausting. As the most recent chair of the Lord Mayor’s Youth Advisory Committee, she organized a mental health conference for youth and partnered with the Lions Club to conduct a community clean-up. Her tribute to the children discovered in unmarked graves at residential schools was published and read at Town Hall in a special ceremony.
As a past president of the St Davids Leos Club, she helped raise over $150,000 for the McMaster Children’s Hospital Teen Zone. She founded the Roots Club at her school, designed to teach Black excellence and achievement. Also a skilled soccer player, she recently acquired her coaching credentials and is an assistant coach of the girls U15 Ontario Players Development Team.
“I just do what I do,” says a humble Michaiah. “I am happy that people find it inspiring. I hope that it inspires people to make an impact in the Niagara region and in other communities where they live. I believe in leading by example.”
It’s also important to Michaiah as a young Black woman that she helps to break prejudices and works toward a more inclusive community.
“There are not a lot of Black people in Niagara,” says the future architect, who is involved with a program called Building Black Success by Design out of the University of Toronto. “Just having representation is very important. We should always have different ethnic groups and different cultures intertwined with everything we do.”
Mother and daughter, by the way, are inspirations to each other.
“Both of my parents have been inspirations to me,” says Michaiah. “They’ve encouraged me to find myself. They have both been involved in their community both here and in the GTA. Seeing their example inspired me to begin volunteering at a young age.”
“I know she’s my child, but I really like her as a person,” Rochelle laughs. “She needed some character references to apply for some scholarships recently. I can’t tell you how many people stepped up to write these letters. And what they wrote made both of us cry.”
As Michaiah speaks to The Local, she points out that her Youth Leadership Award has actually found a spot on a bookshelf that is prominent in the family’s living room. She placed it there so it would find space next to some of the family’s inspirational reading material; books such as Michelle Obama’s Becoming, Lawrence Hill’s The Book of Negros, and Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson.
That’s good company for someone following in her Mom’s footsteps in trying to make the world a better place.