The newly appointed CEO of the Black Business and Professional Association discusses her vision for the organization and being thrown into the deep end.

At the start of 2024, Lianne Hannaway was named CEO of the Black Business and Professional Association (BBPA), a non-profit charitable organization dedicated to addressing equity and opportunity for Canada’s Black communities across business, employment, education and economic development.

For Hannaway, it isn’t just her first CEO role but a position she feels she was meant to hold. “When the role popped up I originally looked at it and said, ‘I don’t know,’” she says. “But four different people sent me the role and said, ‘Leanne, this is for you.’ Normally, I might have dismissed that, but because of intuition, listening to what ancestors were saying and the signs in front of me, and knowing that apprehension is information rather than a reason not to do something, it felt like this is what I was meant to do.” The role itself is an important one and will see Hannaway working with the company’s board, staff and partners to advance its mission. Hannaway also shares how timing had a part to play, since she joined just before Black History Month.

“I LOVE THE SAYING ‘YOU MISS 100% OF THE SHOTS YOU DON’T TAKE. I DON’T FEAR MAKING MISTAKES.”

“A lot of the initial introduction was talking about the dos and don’ts of Black History Month and why as the BBPA we’re giving out this advice,” she says. “It felt like being thrown into the deep end with tons of media on Breakfast Television, CP24, and a lot of people reaching out with congratulations, excited about the fresh perspective I’ll bring to this 42-year-old organization.”

She continues to say how the work the BBPA is doing is vital because “diversity, equity and inclusion is going through a backlash period.” For that reason, Hannaway has a strong vision for the future of the organization and Black communities in Canada, including making sure the BBPA is financially secure, creating sustainable business models, building wealth in Black communities, addressing systemic issues, and renewing its relevance in the current landscape.

“We have big roots in Caribbean pockets because 42 years ago there was that need in Canada,” she says. “Now, we have immigrants coming from Africa and West Africa. What are their needs now? They might be different than what we had 42 years ago, and we need to remain relevant.”

She also emphasizes the need for federal, provincial and municipal governments to “make a sustained, long-term investment in the health and welfare of Black communities. I think that’s non-negotiable. Black people pay a ton of taxes and we don’t see that come back to our communities. We see ourselves being gentrified out of our communities, big developers coming in and pushing us out. Our festivals bring in a lot of dollars and those don’t come back to us.”

Naturally, with a position like Hannaway’s, good advice goes a long way, and she talks about the moments of wisdom she’s received that she takes with her. Where one person told her to do something she loves every week, another said to be like a duck on water. When you see ducks, “they’re gliding, beautiful, slicing through water,” Hannaway explains. “But underneath, their feet are paddling like crazy.”

Hannaway grew up in Winnipeg, with her father from Jamaica and her mother from Trinidad. Today, she brings almost 25 years of experience in strategic leadership and transformation, governance, financial management, and community development to the CEO role.

“I don’t let mistakes stop me,” she says early in our interview. “I love the saying ‘You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.’ I don’t fear making mistakes. If I don’t learn from it, that’s when I know I’ve actually failed.”

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INTERVIEW BY MARC CASTALDO