A few weeks ago, I was providing the soundtrack and co-hosting WIBCA’s Cocktails & Soul soirée — an annual black-carpet affair that many consider the unofficial kickoff to gala season in Montreal’s Black community. It’s an evening of style, soul, and celebration, highlighting Black brilliance and excellence across generations.
Each year, WIBCA presents awards to community members who go above and beyond in service to others. This year’s Golden Heart Volunteer Awards went to Erica Lapiste, Sonia Millet, and Doreen Jones. The organization’s board and staff have perfected the formula for bridging generations — honoring pioneers while nurturing future leaders. Eleven scholarships were also presented to students for academic excellence, reinforcing the importance of education as a community value.
Among the night’s most moving moments was the presentation of the Egbert Gaye Award, created in honor of the late founder and editor of Community Contact. Egbert was more than a journalist — he was an activist and educator who believed that knowledge and mentorship could transform lives. WIBCA’s decision to memorialize him through this award ensures that his passion for uplifting others continues to inspire.
This year, that legacy torch was passed to Simeon Pompey, Animation Director for Comité Jeunesse NDG and long-time educator at Dawson College. The Vincy-born community leader, professor, and mentor has received many distinctions over his four-decade career, but this one hit differently.
“To receive an award named after Egbert Gaye — someone I looked up to and admired — is overwhelming and humbling,” Pompey told me.
Pompey recalls looking to Egbert as both a mentor and a model of what community leadership should be: authentic, relentless, and purpose-driven. Egbert always spoke truth with heart.
Speak with Simeon and you’ll quickly catch that same conviction in his voice — steady, sincere, and rooted in love for the NDG neighborhood that raised him. Growing up on Walkley Street in the late ’70s, he saw firsthand the power of community engagement. Playing sports and attending summer camps at the Walkley Centre kept him focused and out of trouble; those early experiences became the foundation of a lifelong mission.
“Giving back isn’t an obligation for me — it’s gratitude,” Pompey says. “That centre helped shape who I became. So now, I make sure today’s kids have the same safe space to grow.”
In a time when headlines too often focus on the negatives within urban communities, Simeon represents a different story — one built on hope, mentorship, and structure. Through his work at Comité Jeunesse NDG and the Walkley and St-Raymond centres, he continues to create programs that give youth alternatives to the streets.
“Far too many young people still slip through the cracks,” he notes.
“But we can catch them early if we meet them with opportunity — not judgment.”
For Pompey, every camp, internship, and mentorship program is part of paying forward the life lessons he received as a teen — lessons that transformed his path and now ripple through the lives of hundreds of young Montrealers.
As someone who had never met Simeon before the WIBCA gala, I found his warmth and humility deeply refreshing. In a world where recognition often comes with ego, here’s a man who genuinely serves without expectation.
For more info email https://cjndg.org/
