Board of Directors

Alix Adrien has been involved in the English speaking black community from an early age. At 15, as a member of the NCC Youth Coordinating Committee, his passion for community involvement and collective action were already apparent. Throughout his career in education, Alix has often been called to mentor his students, always focusing on their growth and academic development. He was a source of wisdom, teaching, and support. Since joining the Quebec Board of Black Educators (QBBE) in 1986, Alix has empowered many youths to take an active and leadership role in their community through education and sports. Alix takes a vision and applies the necessary strategies to make it a reality, which led him to sit on several Boards including the Inter-Level Educational Table (ILET), and as Vice President for the Canadian Alliance of Black Educators (CABE). Alix is an inspirational leader with a credible voice in community affairs, advocating the rights of minorities.

President and Founder, Montreal Community Cares Foundation

“Growing up, I was lucky enough to have met several amazing coach?mentors who took me under their wings. They didn’t just teach me about sports – they taught me how to live a meaningful life. They guided me and kept me focused and out of trouble. Traveling to tournaments expanded my world and my vision of what was possible in life. I became hooked… on basketball, on learning, on being the best I could be, on the incredible power of mentoring, and on giving back to the community.”

Born in Jamaica, Denburk (aka “Burky”) moved to Montreal at the age of five. While there was no shortage of opportunities to go down a different road, Denburk’s coach-mentors helped him make positive choices. He graduated from McGill University in Marketing and still holds the distinction of being the all-time leading scorer for the McGill Redmen basketball team. He is a 2016 inductee to the McGill Sports Hall of Fame.

For the past 5 years, Denburk has been working at Loyola High school as the Director of Community Relations. In the previous 5 years, he has headed up the Montreal Alouettes’ Community Relations department while raising his own growing family and mentoring youth from diverse backgrounds. (Over the past 20 years, Denburk has personally mentored more than 100 teenagers.) Denburk is also the driving force behind the Montreal Community Cares Foundation, the Red Rush/Lady Rush Basketball Leadership program, and the Montreal Community Cares Awards (an initiative that recognizes individuals, adults, and youths), community organizations and businesses actively engaged and making a difference in the Greater Montreal Area. These community engagement initiatives also continue to grow. His vision is to inspire and empower all Montrealers, in particular youth, to make a difference by getting involved and giving back to their communities. It’s a vision that fuels his tireless passion for helping others.

In 2009, a strong passion for community and education brought the Quebec Board of Black Educators (QBBE) and Nadine Collins together and it has since then developed into a wonderful partnership. Nadine brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in counselling and education. Nadine has developed strategies for community integration and collaborations which benefited not only the youth but adults of all ages. Amongst her impressive portfolio of accomplishments, a pinnacle was her work with the GROOVE. As a passionate advocate of the joy of movement and creating safe spaces, Nadine has been a Montreal ambassador who has enjoyed participating, organizing and facilitating GROOVE classes across Montreal and Toronto. Nadine is also the co-founder and Vice-President of Sister’s Keeper Organization which strives to support and empower women towards achieving their goals. Nadine will continue to campaign for minority rights as the new secretary of the QBBE.

Jamie Sylvester’s passion for giving back to the community and providing educational opportunities for children and young adults has led him to join the Board of Directors of the Quebec Board of Black Educators (QBBE). Since 2011, as a Basketball Supervisor/Volunteer at the YMCA, Mr. Sylvester has been organizing community events and programs that empower children and young adults. Mr. Sylvester, a graduate of Accounting from McGill University, along with his passion, will bring financial accounting knowledge, analytical expertise, and data analysis skills to his mandate. Mr. Sylvester will assist the organization in pulling from the raw data and make important decisions by identifying various facts and trends. As QBBE continues to digitalize, Mr. Sylvester’s valuable involvement will be to minimize processing time while optimizing communication both internally and externally.

Dr. Horace Goddard was a writer, creator, and educator who was recognized as an influencer in various organizations from the Quebec Black community. His involvement with the Quebec Board of Black Educators (QBBE) started in the 1970s. Dr. Goddard’s journey in education and community service started in Montreal where he was an elementary and high school teacher between 1977- 1987, acted as Vice-Principal of Parkdale School for three years (1990 – 1993), and finally as a Coordinator of Personnel Service between 1993 -1995. Since 1995, Dr. Goddard has been involved with the English Montreal School Board (EMSB) as the Director of Community Services. In addition to his professional accomplishments, Dr. Goddard was honoured in 2009 by the Université de Montréal for outstanding academic achievement and community contributions, was bestowed the Black History Month Calendar award in 2000, and a Medal of Appreciation from the Boys & Girls Club in 1987, to name a few.

Garvin Jeffers, one of the backbones of the Quebec Board of Black Educators (QBBE) was an activist and educator, whose passions were strengthening community institutions and campaigning for minority rights. He was instrumental in the early discussions and initiative that led to the progressive Bana program in 1972; which mandate was the cultural and educational development of elementary-level black children in Quebec. Another initiative of Mr.Jeffers was the DaCosta Hall program which was set up for the enrichment and educational support of secondary level students. The QBBE’s work in the community was focused mainly on preventing failure among Black Students and Mr. Jeffers’ programs have benefitted thousands of students. Mr. Jeffers also worked in close collaboration with other visionary leaders in the black community that led the QBBE to participate in the progressive Possibilities training program for minority youth in collaboration with the Bank of Montreal and the PSBGM (EMSB).