Kimia Kardinall
Community Pillars
Kimia Kardinall has championed her passion for peace keeping, justice and environmentalism into helping people locally and globally. As a community leader and professional, Kimia has served Ottawa-Gatineau for more than 17 years.
Kimia was born in Congo, Africa and immigrated to Canada when she was 12 years old.
In 2002, she began volunteering on several committees such as the Social Committee for her former church. In 2004 to 2006, she volunteered for the Communauté congolaise du Canada d’Ottawa-Gatineau (CCC-OG) and worked on team projects including its Commission on the Status of Women (2005-06). At the same time, she created opportunities to tighten the links between Canadians of Congolese origin and organized the CCC-OG Unity Concert of 2005, social BBQs, and home visits to bereaved families. She also helped organize local marches to raise awareness of human rights at risk in the Domenic Republic of Congo (DRC) and was active in the logistical organization and management of events commemorating the independence of the DRC in 2005 and 2006. Since March 2020, she has headed the Strengthening Links and Internal Solidarity Committee of the CCC-OG, helping families during the Coronavirus pandemic. Furthermore, she was Vice-President of the Association of Congolese Youth of Canada (AJCC) between 2005 and 2006 and worked closely with its executive office, particularly on the revision of the Association’s status as well as certain community activities. Her commitment inspired other young people, especially those of Congolese origin, to join the AJCC.
Kimia is passionate about African studies and, in particular, the history and development of the defense of equal civil rights for African-Americans in the United States and elsewhere in the world. She is also an egalitarian and a spokesperson regarding justice for victims of all ages in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In 2006, she created the Ribbon Espoir Congo (Riban Elikia) and campaigned for the elimination of violence against women, girls and young people in DRC. She relaunched the Campaign again in 2013; and, in 2020 she created and officially launched the platform and organization, Action Mondial pour la paix (AMP). She is also the founder and director of Global Action for Peace (NGO) whose mandate is to raise awareness among the world and the Diasporas to participate in the development and peace of countries for global balance.
In 2013, Kimia volunteered at Rogers TV in Ottawa on camera with the mobile team for the Nat en Parle shows and in the management of the Ginette Gratton Reçoit shows.
In February 2021, she was involved in the Bandal ya Sika environment project in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo whose aim was to ensure a healthy environment as a fundamental human right for its population. A key element of the project involved innovations regarding the structures of waste treatment – an important need given the lack of waste management in Kinshasa and the unsanitary conditions that have had direct dire consequences on the health of its population, particularly the population of Bandalungwa. She also organized a crowdfunding campaign for sanitation awareness (Feb., 2021).
Kimia is currently a member of several non-profit and socio-humanitarian organizations including: Business Professional Women – Ottawa, Accompagnement des femmes immigrantes Outaouais (AFIO), Center des femmes immigrantes en action du Canada (CFIAC) and Réseau des femmes Congolaise of Canada (RFC).
