Millicent Redway is a

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

businessperson and publisher with a passion for

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

economic development In the economics study of the public sector, economic and social development is the process by which the economic well-being and quality of life of a nation, region, local community, or an individual are improved according to targeted goals and o ...

. She is best known as publisher of Black Pages directory and for her pioneering efforts in the multicultural marketing industry in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. Born in Kingston,

to Alva George Redway and Eunice Afflick, Redway at age 11, together with a younger brother and sister moved to

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, Canada to join their mother who had migrated a year earlier. At an early age, Redway became very active in community-building activities in Montreal's Black community playing leading roles in a variety of key socio-economic organizations like the NDG Black Community Centre, the Cote des Neiges Project, Black Community Council of Quebec and Montreal Association of Black Business Persons and Professionals. After graduating from Outremont High School, Redway attended

Concordia University Concordia University ( French: ''Université Concordia'') is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College and Sir George Williams University, Concordia is one of the t ...

where she received a BComm. degree with a major in Marketing and a minor in Management. Unhappy about being passed over several times for a promotion at a leading office equipment and supplies company, Redway secured commitments from a number of key accounts, established Communication Mink in 1986 and competed successfully against her former employer. In 1987 she met and married Lynrod Douglas, a Trinidadian-American then living in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. The couple had met through a mutual friend while in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

for the

Caribana The Toronto Caribbean Carnival, formerly known as Caribana, is a festival of Caribbean culture and traditions held each summer in the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is a pan-Caribbean Carnival event and has been billed as North America ...

festival and married after a four-month courtship. In 1989 the couple founded Black Pages Network to publish a

Yellow Pages The yellow pages are telephone directories of businesses, organized by category rather than alphabetically by business name, in which advertising is sold. The directories were originally printed on yellow paper, as opposed to white pages for ...

type directory of Black-owned businesses and organizations out of a need to provide a vehicle for recycling dollars in the Black and Caribbean community. Redway served in the capacity of president. Focused on Black economic empowerment themes such as "Recycling dollars in the community" and "Diversity means business", the project generated considerable publicity in the local and national media and the company would go on to play a key role in the promotion, development and support of the Black business community and would play a pioneering role in leading the ethnic directory trend in Canada. Black Pages may not have been the first ethnic directory in Canada, but following its success, ethnic directories began popping up in cultural communities across the country. She helped organize Black Business Week and the Canadian Black Community Showcase in 1992, and was listed in the premier edition of Who's Who in Ontario. In 1993, the

Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto The Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto was an upper-tier level of municipal government in Ontario, Canada, from 1953 to 1998. It was made up of the old city of Toronto and numerous townships, towns and villages that surrounded Toronto, which ...

officially proclaimed October 1–8 Black Business Week in support of the work the company was doing with Black businesses. Under Redway's leadership, Black Pages Network undertook the first known survey of Black businesses in Canada to identify issues faced by Black business owners. Conducted in conjunction with Dr. Frances Henry of

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...

, the study was published under the title "A Survey of Black Businesses in Metro Toronto" in 1992. Among the main findings of the survey was that the business participation rate among the Black population was less than one-third that of the general population in Toronto; and that

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...

was a barrier to business success. To counter this trend Black Pages initiated "Minority Youth in Business Day", an annual event which encouraged Black youth to consider

self-employment Self-employment is the state of working for oneself rather than an employer. Tax authorities will generally view a person as self-employed if the person chooses to be recognised as such or if the person is generating income for which a tax return n ...

as a viable career option. Ten years later, a second collaboration, this time with social geographer, Dr. Carlos Teixeria of the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

, undertook the study, "Black Entrepreneurs in The Toronto Census Metropolitan Area" (2002). The major findings of this study echoed findings of the first survey when it showed that Blacks experienced unique challenges when establishing their businesses with access to

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...

being the most crucial limiting factor.

Jump Promotions International

Black Pages was sold in 2003 after which Redway and Douglas established Jump Promotions International, a company specializing in three main areas:

Publishing Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

, Events Planning and Small Business Consulting.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Redway, Millicent Canadian people of Jamaican descent Canadian magazine publishers (people) Concordia University alumni Businesspeople from Kingston, Jamaica Living people Year of birth missing (living people)