The Fabienne Colas Foundation is pleased to announce that Fabienne Colas, President and Founder, has been named a Recipient of the coveted Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 ® for 2018. This high distinction brings great recognition to the outstanding work she has been doing across Canada and internationally for many years.
The 2018 Top 40 Recipients were announced today on BNN Bloomberg and in National Post.
Fabienne Colas and her peers were selected from over 800 nominees by an independent Advisory Board, comprising more than 20 business leaders from across Canada. Honourees were chosen on four key criteria: Vision & Innovation; Leadership; Impact & Influence; and, Social Responsibility.
« Being a recipient of the prestigious Canada’s Top 40 under 40 award is a true honor for me and my community. This national recognition is a tribute to the hard work we have been doing at the Fabienne Colas Foundation to promote and foster diversity and inclusion in the arts and in our society. This Award encourages me more than ever to continue breaking down barriers and building more bridges.” – Fabienne Colas
Recipients will attend the Top 40 National Celebrations to be held in Toronto in November, and they will be honoured at the Top 40 Awards Night Gala to be held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre on the night of November 21, 2018.
Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 is a dynamic awards program that identifies outstanding young achievers in Canadian business, visionaries and innovators changing the way things are done. They are inspiring others and already giving back to their communities and to Canada. And every one of them is under the age of forty. Founded in 1995 by Caldwell, Top 40 has recognized more than 680 outstanding Canadians and is the country’s most coveted award for young business leaders. Honourees have a remarkable track record of achievement after their win; the ranks of Top 40 alumni include hundreds of nationally and internationally prominent CEOs, CFOs, executives, and entrepreneurs.
Award-winning actress, entrepreneur, filmmaker, producer, sought-after speaker and consultant, Fabienne Colas is the “Queen of Festivals” who has created and organizes through her Foundation 7 successful festivals between Montreal, Toronto, Halifax, New York and Port-au-Prince – including the Montreal International Black Film Festival, which has become the largest festival of its kind in Canada and a key player in Quebec’s cultural diversity; as well as the very popular Toronto Black Film Festival which has become a real movement. These events have welcomed top names such as: Harry Belafonte, Stedman Graham, Danny Glover, Spike Lee, Martin Luther King III, Dany Laferrière, Wyclef Jean, Alfre Woodard, P.K. Subban, Isaiah Washington, Clement Virgo and many more.
The Fabienne Colas Foundation (FCF) is a not-for-profit cultural organization dedicated to building bridges through the arts by supporting diversity and education. To fulfill its mission, the Foundation put together 7 festivals and various programs to break barriers, celebrate diversity, foster togetherness, understanding and inclusion. In addition to offering scholarships for arts schools, mentorship programs and awards of excellence, the Fabienne Colas Foundation showcases and rewards marginalized artists who otherwise would not have been seen or heard. Since its inception in 2005, its initiatives and festivals have showcased and supported over 2,000 artists and attracted close to 1 million festivalgoers in Canada, the USA and Haiti.
Fabienne Colas is considered a force of nature, a fierce entrepreneur, an unstoppable leader who makes things happen for positive social change and impact in our society. Also the CEO of Zaza Production, a consulting company dedicated, among other things, to business development and intercultural communications strategies, she continues to create strong platforms to showcase a diversity of voices, faces and points of view.
Her leadership has been praised by the business sector, the artistic industry and all three levels of government:
- She has been publicly praised and congratulated by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the Harry Jerome Awards Gala as a leader that members of Government should keep working with to make positive change in the Black community. She has received the 2017 Harry Jerome Arts and Culture Award in Toronto for her major contribution in Canadian Arts and the Festivals industry.
- Nominated and chosen by the S. State Department as the 2017-woman leader to represent Canada in the 3-week exchange leadership program: The International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP). 47 countries were represented.
- Femmes en Cinéma, Télévision et Média Numériques (FCTMN) paid tribute to Fabienne for her exceptional contribution in the Quebec Film Industry (2018).
- She was awarded a Medal from Quebec’s National Assembly – by Kathleen Weil, former minister of Immigration, Diversity and Inclusion – recognizing Fabienne’s leadership and contribution in the fight against racism and discrimination in Quebec (2015).
- She served as a board member on the Society for the Celebrations of Montreal’s 375th Anniversary and was a member of the programming and Diversity committees.
- She was invited to the 2018 Canadian Screen Awards as an Award presenter in 5 categories (non-broadcast). She was a guest of honor at Dany Laferrière’s historic induction ceremony at the Académie Française (French Academy) in 2015. She won the Black History Month Award in 2010 in Montreal for her great involvement in her community.
- She has been invited to officially meet and sit at the table of honor of President Barack Obama (2017) and Former First Lady Michelle Obama (2018) during their visits in Montreal for a conference at the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal; as well as other international leaders such as Oprah Winfrey (2013).
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Award-winning actress, filmmaker, speaker and business owner, Fabienne Colas is the ‘Queen of Festivals’ and founder of a successful entertainment & media empire – which includes 7 successful festivals in Canada, the USA and Haiti; a production company and several other ventures. CEO/Founder of Zaza Production, Fabienne helps people unlock their greatness, launch their products and services, reposition their brand and bring their business to the next level.