Friday, December 2nd, 2022

With a mix of sadness and gratitude, the HCCI Board of Directors announces Kojo Damptey’s departure as the Executive Director of HCCI, effective February 28th, 2023.

Under his leadership, HCCI became a trusted community organization dedicated to engagement, civic inclusion, and youth mentorship across Hamilton. We want to thank Kojo for 4 monumental years of inspiring leadership and service that centered and uplifted different communities across the City while creating and encouraging places of learning. Kojo’s thoughtful advocacy and action-oriented approach to program development involved many innovative and progressive accomplishments, including:

• The launch of the first-ever Anti-Racism Conference in Hamilton: Despite pandemic restrictions, this conference received over 20,000 views on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.
• The launch of the Hamilton Civic Leadership Program: This program provided over 50 Black, Indigenous, Trans, Non-Binary, and racialized youth with an opportunity to engage in participatory civic leadership sessions and develop community organizing skills in Hamilton.
• Advocacy of health equity initiatives: Under Kojo’s leadership, HCCI partnered with Hamilton Public Health and community health organizations that established COVID-19 walk-in clinics and the collection of socio-demographic data. The coalition went on to release a crucial policy document with over 150 recommendations to the City to ensure a just recovery in response to the pandemic.
• The creation of an independent online platform to report hate through partnership with the Hamilton Anti-Racism Resource Centre (HARRC) and Dr. Ameil Joseph, Associate Professor, School of Social Work at McMaster University.
• Mentoring, supporting, and encouraging the development of several new community-led organizations such as the Filipinas of HamOnt, the Disability Justice Network of Ontario (DJNO), the Hamilton Community Benefits Network and the Indigenous Sustenance Reclamation Network.

Over the next few months, we will be conducting a search for the next HCCI Executive Director. We are grateful for Koubra Haggar, Manager of Programs, who will be working with Kojo through the remainder of his tenure to ensure a smooth transition.

We cannot thank Kojo enough for his dedication, passion, foresight, and meaningful investment in our community within and beyond Hamilton. We wish him well on his new journey and are grateful for his time, leadership, and knowledge at HCCI. Kindly join us at our Annual General Meeting (AGM) on January 12, 2023, to celebrate his momentous contributions to HCCI and our community at large; you can reserve a spot here.

Hamilton Centre for Civic Inclusion (HCCI)
Board of Directors, 2022