Meet Charmaine (her/she)
Charmaine Magumbe is a community leader who cares passionately about the needs of Peterborough and helping her community to thrive. She has successfully collaborated with others in the community to organize activities to address issues of concern to Peterborough residents.
Charmaine's activism was established in her native Jamaica from her parents’ strong work ethic and their motto of "Do unto others what you would have done unto you." The desire to make a difference in the lives of people continued at Laurentian University in Sudbury where she completed her BA in Psychology.
Moving to Peterborough in 2004 with her family, Charmaine continued her advocacy volunteer work. While raising her five children, she was committed to being an active community volunteer and a leading voice for change.
Here are some achievements and ways she has been recognized for her efforts:
Past Chair of the Community Race Relations Committee of Peterborough, she was Chair from 2015 to 2021
The recipient of the 2017 Peace Medal by the YMCA of Central East Ontario
Awarded Rebel for a Cause by the Elizabeth Fry Society in 2021
Named one of the top 20 most influential people in Peterborough
Named Woman of Influence for 2020
Past board member for Jamaican Self-Help
Past violin player in the Kawartha Community Orchestra and fiddler for English Country dance events
Volunteered for various community events for local schools, Black Lives Matter, Asian Month, Indigenous Heritage Month and the first-ever Just for Laughs Peterborough Comedy Festival
Volunteer Coordinator for Peterborough Theatre Guild and founder of the Peterborough/Nogojiwanong Urban Farm
Co-founder of both the Afrocentric Awareness Network of Peterborough (a nonprofit resource) and Zingha, a social enterprise business
Currently, Charmaine is an empty-nester with three grandchildren. She has previously worked as an international student advisor at both Western University in London, ON and Fleming College in Peterborough, ON. At present, Charmaine works at Agilec, an employment services organization and is finishing her Masters degree in Sustainability at Trent University.
Charmaine's highlight of her community work was accepting the 2017 Peace Medal by the YMCA of Central East Ontario. At the ceremony she compared peace work to making a quilt.
"When you're creating a quilt, sometimes you use pieces of material - and sometimes the pieces you use are ones that have been rejected," she said, "But they can still be used - quilts use different sizes and different colours. And depending on the quilt, it needs community effort to put it together to make one big, beautiful piece. And that's what peace is all about."
Here are several links to articles that showcase Charmaine’s organizational skills on various community activities:
* Peterborough/Nogojiwanong Urban Farm, founded by Charmaine. “Urban farming is more of connection with community ... “People have lost jobs. The food bank could use good produce as far as fresh is concerned. And it’s also a teaching thing.” More information: 'There is definitely a need':
Charmaine Magumbe sowing seeds for 'urban farm' idea in Peterborough
* ‘For the Love of Community' -- A fundraiser for the Warming Room Community Ministries. This is an opportunity for the people in Peterborough to participate in a night of conscious awareness-raising of the plight of the homeless through a celebration of dance, music, songs, and food. This event will enable the people to become more aware; become educated about the issues of homelessness. Click for more info: Help the People of Peterborough's Tent City,For the Love of our Community
* Solidarity Weekend - We reaffirm our dedication to building and strengthening a welcoming, inclusive, resilient, loving and diverse community – a place in which everyone can fully enjoy their protected human rights, free from hatred and oppression. Click for more info: Solidarity Weekend
* Peterborough Public Transportation - We the citizens of Peterborough believe in the modernization of the public transit system, but not at the expense of the most vulnerable in the community. Click below for more information: City's planned transit overhaul is a mistake and Transit grid system is frustrating for bus user
Visit the petition co-created by Charmaine: Sign Petition Transit New System Needs Improvement
Charmaine is running for election in this fall’s municipal election in Monaghan Ward. Her vision: “We can all come together to create a welcoming, diverse, inclusive, equitable Peterborough community. We need you to elect Charmaine Magumbe 2022.”