Principal, Nova Scotia Community College, Bedford, N.S. Born: Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia.
Dr. Daurene Lewis is a trained registered nurse, and graduated from Dalhousie University with a Diploma in Teaching in Schools of Nursing, and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Saint Mary’s University in Halifax. She has over thirty years experience in healthcare and business ranging from hospital staff nurse, to administrative positions, to business owner. For many years, Daurene owned a weaving and design business in Annapolis Royal. She has been employed with the Departments of Community Service and Health in administrative positions and was the Executive Director of the Centre for Women in Business at Mount Saint Vincent University. Currently, she is Principal of the Institute of Technology Campus at Nova Scotia Community College.
Daurene is a seventh generation descendent of Black Loyalists who settled in Annapolis Royal in 1783. In 1984, she was elected Mayor of Annapolis Royal thus becoming the first Black mayor in Nova Scotia, and the first Black female mayor in Canada. In 1988, she entered provincial politics and was the first Black woman in Nova Scotia to run in a provincial election. Currently, Dr. Lewis is on the Executive of the Vanier Institute of the Family, Board of Governors Maritime Conservatory of the Performing Arts and the Premier’s Council on the Economy. She also serves as Chairman of the Africville Heritage Trust, which is responsible for building Seaview Baptist Church and interpretive centre. The project is part of a reparation settlement from the city and the province for the destruction of Africville.
Honours: Includes honourary degree, Mount Saint Vincent University (1993); Black Cultural Centre’s Wall of Honour (1994); Global Citizenship Award commemorating the United Nations 50th Anniversary (1995); Progress Club of Halifax Woman of Excellence award for Public Affairs and Communication (1998); YWCA Woman of Distinction (2002); Queen’s Jubilee Medal; Order of Canada.
Community: Board of Directors of Canada Post; Governor General’s Order of Canada Advisory Council; Dalhousie University Board of Governors; Governor of Canadian Unity Council; Advisory Committee for Dalhousie University’s Law Program for Indigenous Black and Mi’kmag Students; Federal Judicial Appointments Advisory Committee; President Halifax Club of Zonta International; Board of Directors Neptune Theatre; Black Business Initiative Board of Directors; Canadian National Institute for the Blind, Nova Scotia – Prince Edward Island Division; Metropolitan Immigrant Settlement Association Immigrant Entrepreneur Orientation Program; Chair, Canadian Race Relations Foundation Research Advisory Board; Executive of Canadian Women’s Foundation; Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society’s Bar Council; Metro United Way; YMCA, Prior Learning Assessment Centre; Black Cultural Centre; Chair, Nova Scotia Fundraising Committee to establish Chair of Black Canadian Studies at Dalhousie University; National Leadership Committee to establish the James Robinson Johnston Chair of Black Canadian Studies; African (Immigrants) Society of Nova Scotia Board of Patrons; Women’s Future Fund; Port Royal 400 th Anniversary Society; Board of Nova Scotia College of Art and Design; Minister of Education’s Steering Committee for the Department of Education Cultural Affairs Division’s to establish Nova Scotia Arts Council; Annapolis Royal Historic Gardens; Advisory Committee Municipal First Nation Multicultural Race Relations Program Henson College/Dalhousie University; Advisory Committee Department of Cultural Affairs Federal-Provincial Cooperation Agreement; Board of Directors Gerontology Association of Nova Scotia; Member, Premier’s Monitoring Committee for the Implementation of the Voluntary Planning’s Economic Strategy (Creating Our Own Future); Board of Directors King’s Theatre, Annapolis Royal; Board of Directors Valley Health Foundation; Board of Directors Annapolis Regional Community Arts Council; Executive Member Union of Nova Scotia Municipalities; Mayor Town of Annapolis Royal; Board of Directors Annapolis General Hospital; Board of Directors Valley Health Services; Councillor Town of Annapolis Royal; member of the International Women’s Foundation.
Favourite book? It’s impossible to choose. I’m an avid reader.
Favourite quote? “Remember you are twice blessed…you’re Black and you’re a woman.” – Rosemary Brown
Given the chance, what would you love to do that you haven’t done yet? I would like to travel by dogsled and see polar bears in their natural habitat. I do not like zoos.
What inspires you? I am inspired by each daybreak. As I go for my morning walk and watch the sea birds it is like a fresh start. It offers a new opportunity for me to do more, help more, learn more, share more and appreciate life more. My current occupation along with my external involvements offer opportunities to open doors and help people through them to reach their full potential. Involvement on boards, commissions and advisory councils allows me to have input that will help shape policy and practice. Too many of us are limited by societal convention and geographical perspectives to live life to the fullest. I want people to feel valued, happy and excited about their very existence.