Name: Marlene Morrison Nicholls

Occupation: Registered Insurance Broker, former president & CEO of Stewart Morrison Insurance Brokers Ltd.

Advocate: Where in Kawarthas Lakes do you live and for how long? 

Marlene: Lindsay, for 40 years.

Advocate: It’s clear Kawartha Lakes is becoming more diverse. How welcoming do you think people are to newcomers?

Marlene: I worked very diligently with current Coun. Mike Perry, to bring a Diversity Initiative to the City business community when I was President of the Lindsay & District Chamber of Commerce.  We took those presentations to the Fenelon Falls Chamber & Bobcaygeon as well as City Council. The concept of providing education to local Business & Chamber members on the practice of DEI-understanding, hiring, economic impact on our area etc. was widely accepted however not funded by the City and so my business funded DEI sessions for Chamber members. We could see the area was changing and we knew the economic impact of safe and welcoming communities. There is much more work to be done in this area and a new initiative through the local Chambers could be a good start.

Question 3:  What could be done to make everyone feel more included in Kawartha Lakes?

Marlene: Education is the key to understanding. My daughter and I established a company, EQU Consulting Inc. that provides DEI training-Dr. Rachael Nicholls, a professor at Trent University and Dr. Lisa Trefzger Clarke, a post-doc researcher at Carleton University and also part time professor at Trent, provide interactive sessions, meeting people where they are.

Festivals might be a fun way to see other cultures and people. For example, I co-chaired a UN event here many years ago at the Armouries where we had different cultural stations that people could visit, with food and demonstrations. It was a great way to bring communities together.

I sponsor a DEI Award at the Chamber Evening of Excellence. My hope was to acknowledge businesses who have invested in education and are putting policies and practices in place to allow for an inclusive culture of accessibility.