Rosemary Sadlier OOnt (Order of Ontario) is a social justice advocate, researcher, writer, consultant, and, international speaker on Black History, anti-racism and women’s issues. She is the past President, serving for 22 years as the unpaid leader of the Ontario Black History Society – the only Provincial Heritage Organization in Canada with a focus on Black History. An advocate, building on the work of Dr. Dan Hill and others, she initiated and was the driving force of the secured commemoration of February as Black History Month at all levels of government achieving a national Declaration in Dec, 1995; consequently, she was the only non-elected leader invited to address the first national BHM celebration in Ottawa in February 1996. She secured August 1st as Emancipation Day municipally in 1994 and provincially in 2008 with a national declaration passed in March 2021 making this a national commemoration in Canada. She saw to the creation of the national day for the Hon. Lincoln Alexander. She gave deputations to the UN Rapporteur on Race Relations, the Federal and Provincial Governments and provided consultative work with the Royal Ontario Museum, the CMHR, The Ward Heritage Interpretative Group, the Bi-National Study of the Underground Railroad and heritage conferences.
Her work on committees includes the final selection committee of the national Mathieu Da Costa Challenge for Canadian Heritage for 10 years (until the end of the initiative) and 2 terms with the Canada Post Stamp Advisory Committee. An educator, she has developed or contributed to African Canadian curriculum, inter/national exhibits and publications. She is a Fellow of the Ontario Teachers Federation. She was an appointed member of regulatory committees with the College of Early Childhood Educators and is now with the Ontario College of Teachers and the Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario.
An author, Sadlier has written 7 books on African Canadian history. Combining her love of the arts with Black History, she has been subject expert or appeared in a range of African Canadian/African American films and television productions (eg. Discovery Channel’s Underground Railroad; BLK – an Origin Story and Oscar Peterson: Black & White).
A consultant, she effects diversity, equity and inclusion projects, and, is the Equality Lead for the Americas and the Caribbean with the Royal Commonwealth Society. A governance leader, she was appointed to Rogers Groups of Funds overseeing the financial support of innovative film and television projects.
Selected honors include the Order of Ontario, the Harry Jerome Award and the annual Rosemary Sadlier Freedom Award that was created in her honour and has been presented annually since 2020 on national television in celebration of her work to achieve Emancipation Day. In October 2022, Sadlier was identified as one of the 100 Most Influential Black Canadians by Afroglobal Television and the Transformation Institute. She was selected to be part of a special photo exhibit with the Toronto Archives featuring Women of Influence. In January 2023, she was honoured with the Martin Luther King Jr Community Service Award.
Sadlier is dedicated to social justice and using the frame of Black History, seeks to educate and empower others.