So we went to work!
Over the last six months we have been able to rise up to meet the challenges presented by COVID-19, address the needs of Black clients and professionals in our industries and do our part to actively combat structural racism.
- CHANGES TO OUR CURRICULUM
There has long been an educational gap when it comes to teaching students how to handle the unique needs of natural, Afro-textured hair. Blanche Macdonald Centre has developed a new module within the Pro Hair Full-time program, training students how to care for and style natural, textured hair. With this hands-on, specialized 60-hour curriculum, our students will develop the skills and confidence to work with textured hair cutting, sculpting and styling, ensuring they’re able to welcome any client into their chair with knowledge and confidence.
- CHANGES TO OUR MAKEUP COURSE KITS
Blanche Macdonald Centre is also honoured to announce a partnership with trailblazing makeup legend Danessa Myricks. In a world focused on labels, Danessa Myricks has continuously broken boundaries and built a world of beauty for people from all races, ages and genders. As a Black woman entrepreneur, she has developed a makeup line regarded as the products that Professional Artists love. Starting in Winter 2020, the College expanded on our range of foundations by adding in an assortment of deeper shades. These products have been included with every Makeup kit, for all Makeup courses.
- CHANGES TO OUR PRO BEAUTY STORE
Furthering our commitment to racial diversity, Blanche Macdonald's Pro Beauty store, CurliQue Beauty, is now the first Canadian retailer to stock the entire makeup range from Danessa Myricks Beauty.
But we didn’t stop there!
On August 28th, 2020, on the 57th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr’s historic “I Have a Dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial, Blanche Macdonald Centre introduced the Black Canadian Scholarship Program, promising $1,000,000 of tuition over the next five years for Black students from across Canada.
Our goal is to remove barriers to education that have faced the Black community and in turn change the landscape of various industries, both locally and nationally, by empowering applicants with the education to turn their passions into success.
The response was overwhelming! Applicants from all over Canada shared their stories with us, affirming the need for initiatives like this one. The Selection Committee read every single application, and through a series of interviews, calls and deliberations, they were able to select the finalists.
It’s Our Pleasure To Announce The 2022 Cohort Of The Black Canadian Scholarship Recipients:
Brenda Uwamahoro — Vancouver, BC
Torah Ryan — Mississauga, ON
Chanice Patrick — Kelowna, BC
Deanna Shields — Vancouver, BC
Diamond Fleming — St. John’s, NL
Gloria Surur — Surrey, BC
Jasmine Lyck — Burnaby, BC
Joyeus Ngenda — Vancouver, BC
Mariam Zaghloul — Vancouver, BC
Mercedes Lindsay — Edmonton, AB
Tamara Chimusaru — Dawson Creek, BC
Trevor Vo — Langley, BC
Zahoor Hassan — Richmond, BC
Each of these individuals comes with an unbelievable amount of passion for their chosen field, a clear view of their future and a drive that inspires us to push even harder. We’re honoured to be a part of their journey and thrilled to offer them this opportunity.
For over 60 years, Blanche Macdonald Centre has been a space for education, for empowerment, for self-discovery. We have always rooted ourselves in the shared values of love, compassion, and inclusion. Our walls are home to a diverse community of lifelong learners engaged in the transformative work of self-growth. Through this work, we seek to amplify new and unheard voices.
To tell unique stories. To educate ourselves and to uplift others.
Our history, our culture, our community inspire us to do better, to be better.
Applications for 2025 programs opened August 28, 2024!
The Weight of Change Rests on Each of Us
The Blanche Macdonald Centre announces the creation of a $1,000,000 Scholarship Program for Black Canadians.
This is part of our promise to uplift, amplify and celebrate Black Lives, and fight against Racism and Discrimination in all forms.
“The need for change bulldozed a road down the centre of my mind.” Maya Angelou
We are bearing witness to a changing world. A great opening, a tear along the fabric of the status quo, that has called us to action and forced us to look at ourselves in its light. This moment has made us listen, reflect and acknowledge that we are all part of a system built upon historic and structural racism. Now we each have to play a part in dismantling that system, and in reimagining the world and ourselves.
For 60 years Blanche Macdonald has been a space for education, for empowerment, for self-discovery. Founded by a Metis woman and now led by a woman of colour, we have always rooted ourselves in the shared values of love, compassion and inclusion. Our walls are home to a diverse community of lifelong learners engaged in the difficult, transformative and often uncomfortable work of self-growth. Through this work we seek to amplify new and unheard voices. To tell unique stories. To educate ourselves and to uplift others.
But that is no longer enough. We can and we must do more. To fight the scourge of racism in our industries and beyond. To address our own shortcomings. To make the painful journey inward to recognize our mistakes and hold ourselves accountable. Our history, our culture, our community inspire us to do better, to be better.
Today, in recognition of this moment and in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, we announce the creation of the Blanche Macdonald Centre $1,000,000 Scholarship Program for Black Canadians, with $200,000 to be awarded each year over the next five years. Scholarships will cover full tuition, books and professional kits for any of the College’s Full-time Diploma Programs.
Applications and submission details will be announced on August 28th, 2020, to Black Canadians who are Highschool graduates or 19 years of age or older.
We also commit to making continual improvements throughout the College. From active efforts to further diversify our Faculty by hiring more Black Instructors, to supplementing our Makeup Kits with a greater range of darker shades and adding more Black owned beauty brands, to expanding the training for natural textured Black hair in our Hair curriculum, and in strengthening our Anti-Racism and Anti-Discrimination policies, we’re taking a look at every level and committed to doing better.
We have received an outpouring of messages from students, grads and faculty recounting their experiences and sharing their suggestions. We are filled with gratitude for the people who have taken time and energy to help build a better future with us.
This is just the beginning of the conversation. This is our lifetime commitment and we’re honoured to be part of your journey.
“The time is always right to do what is right.” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
To connect, please email us at [email protected] .
In Discomfort Lies Growth
Blanche Macdonald stands with the Black community and against injustice, hatred, racism, and oppression in all forms. Our Company was and always will be founded on inclusion and diversity, and rooted in love and compassion.
But now is the time to do more.
Our work, which centres around creativity and education, is about embracing the messy, the uncomfortable, the raw. It’s about shining light into our darkest corners and committing to difficult conversations. Now is a moment to look at ourselves and ask, how can we fight oppression and injustice every day, in everything we do? How can we amplify Black, Indigenous, POC, LGBTQ2S+ voices? How can we help dismantle white supremacy and ensure that we are doing everything in our power to eradicate racism and discrimination from every fabric of our Company’s being?
In this spirit, we acknowledge and welcome the recent feedback we have received from some students and graduates. They’ve graciously shared their reflections on their experience while attending our programs in an effort to push us to do better. This feedback addresses shortcomings in the makeup and hair curriculums, citing that they’re not as inclusive as they should be of Black skin tones and textured Black hair.
While we have made efforts to make our curriculums as inclusive as possible, we acknowledge that there is still so much work to do when it comes to training students to properly, accurately and compassionately meet the needs of their Black clients. We’ve already started the process of making permanent changes to our Pro Hair program to better equip students with the skills and knowledge they need to care for and style textured hair. We’re committed to the same process in our Makeup programs.
We will use this energy to galvanize us to continue to make the positive change we want to see reflected in the beauty community and beyond.
We are committed to learning. As an institution that has always been about education, now it’s our turn to become the students. But we can’t make these changes alone. We need teachers. So we will be enlisting professional guidance from more members of the Black community in order to ensure that we are on the right track. Now it’s our turn to listen, and then reflect, and then act.
We invite discomfort. We invite the rawness. We celebrate this moment to become a better version of ourselves.
We also want to hear from you. Help us make our programs the best they can be. Comment, DM or email us your feedback at [email protected]
We’re listening. We’re learning. And we’re committed to change.
In support and solidarity with The Black Lives Matter Movement,
Blanche Macdonald Centre & CurliQue Beauty