Co-op housing members in Toronto are familiar with the infectious energy and warm smile Nicole Waldron brought to her role as director as CHFT, where she served for four years. But you may not know Nicole’s time on the CHFT Board was just the beginning. She went on to be the first Black president of the Ontario Council and then CHF Canada. And yes, after a short break, Nicole is back on the national board: she understands the important role co-op housing has in resolving the housing crisis and wants to be there, on the national stage, ensuring federal decision makers do too.
Nicole grew up in Trinadad in a politically active family where she learned about activism, advocacy and leadership by example. These are traits she’s employed on a number of boards, including Atahualpa Co-operative Homes, her home decades and where she has raised her son. She also sits on the boards of the Co-operators and Sisters4Hope as well as the Family Advisory Council with Stella’s Place, the Ontario Family Caregivers Advisory Network, the Ontario Caregiver Organization and committees for the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH).
Among her impressive list of personal and professional accomplishments are: CHFT’s Brian Burke Community Builder Award which she received in 2020; the Social Housing Services Corporation’s Kathleen Blinkhorn Award for Excellence in Volunteerism; and being named among the 100 Black Accomplished Canadian Women, one of 150 Women in Canada by How She Hustles in the HERstory in Black series, and an Outstanding Black Women in Canada by Shifter Magazine IWD 2023. In honour of 2023’s Women’s History Month, the Co-operators named Ms. Waldron as a trailblazer as its first Black female director, noting she is “an inspiration to us all and a true champion for present and future women leaders.”
In addition to event planning, social activism, and public speaking, Nicole hosts her own podcast, “Victory Speaks” and online show, where she inspires and empowers listeners. An avid swimmer and reader, she has recently become an author, and her work can be found in two anthologies: Pursued by Purpose and The Rising Eagles.
Ms. Waldron believes housing is a right, not a privilege and does her best in all she does to ensure that right is extended as far as possible. In May 2023, Nicole Waldron joined the ranks of CHFT’s Honorary Board Members. We salute her considerable success!
