Wes Hall and the BlackNorth Initiative

Wes Hall founded Kingsdale Advisors and built it into one of Canada's leading shareholder services and advisory firms. Influenced by the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement and a series of social injustices-specifically the death of George Floyd in police custody-Hall had an idea to use his privilege, power, and position to make a social impact. He decided to risk his financial security and potentially jeopardize his reputation to launch a new venture, BlackNorth Initiative (BNI), to combat systemic racism. After an initial burst of positive reactions to the BNI, Hall was left with the questions that confront every entrepreneur: What problem am I addressing? What solution should I pursue? Am I the right person to take on this challenge? Who do I need on my team? Hall wants BlackNorth Initiative to have lasting impact after the momentum of the BLM fades. Just two months after launching BNI, Hall faced a dilemma: a leading Canadian businessman and philanthropist offered to donate $1,000,000 to the BNI if they would establish a cultural center for Black Canadians. As Founder and Chairman of the BlackNorth Initiative, Hall had a decision: should he accept the funds and build the center? Could a cultural center help dismantle anti-Black systemic barriers from the bottom up and help legitimize BNI with community activist groups? Or would the costs of establishing and running a center ultimately dilute his focus and diffuse the power of his initial idea?

• Social entrepreneurship
• Business ethics
• Social enterprise
• Social and global issues
• Entrepreneurship
• Race
• Diversity and inclusion