TORONTO — ACTRA, the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists, today announced Olivia Nuamah (above) has been appointed national director of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging, a newly created position at the performers’ union.
In her new role, Nuamah will support ACTRA’s objectives to improve the working lives of Canadian professional performers and oversee strategies to ensure more diverse representation on all screens. She will report to Marie Kelly, national executive director and chief negotiator of ACTRA National.
Nuamah began her career as an artist before becoming a community activist and senior advocate for equity-seeking groups. She has held senior policy and workforce strategy development roles in both the public and private sectors.
In her previous position as executive director of the Atkinson Foundation, Nuamah oversaw important policy initiatives, including all-day kindergarten, Ontario’s Poverty Reduction Strategy and The Black Experience Project study of Black communities across the GTA. As the executive director of Pride Toronto, Nuamah garnered partnerships with some of North America’s biggest brands while creating ground-breaking sponsorship investments, including $10 million for national arts programs and $8 million for LGBTQ+ community-based initiatives. In London, England, Olivia was national diversity and engagement manager and senior policy manager with the U.K. Civil Service.
“We are delighted to have such an experienced Diversity, Equity and Inclusion practitioner on our leadership team,” said Kelly, in a press release. “We look forward to working together to advance the work opportunities and conditions of our professional performers, while increasing the diversity of our on- and off-screen talent.”
