Honey Jam's Ebonnie Rowe appointed to the Order of Canada
The Office of the Governor General of Canada has announced that Honey Jam Founder Ebonnie Rowe has been appointed to the Order of Canada as part of the 2025 list of honourees. This prestigious recognition is the cornerstone of the Canadian Honours system, the highest national civilian award, to recognize outstanding achievement, dedication to the community and service to the nation.
Born in Montreal to Barbadian parents, Owen and Joan Rowe, Ebonnie is a first generation Canadian and this is an intensely proud moment for her and her family. Involvement in community is a core value passed on through generations. Since the age of 12 Ebonnie was active in volunteering with various organizations and participating in protests against apartheid, sex trafficking and police brutality. She discovered Malcolm X as an adolescent and was inspired by his quotes: “Our lives begin to end when we remain silent about things that matter”; “Dare to challenge, to effect change”; “Be defined by actions not words”; “If you want something, you better make some noise!”; and “By any means necessary.”
Rowe has been recognized over the years in Canada with awards for outstanding contributions to public service, community leadership, and the arts such as CIMA's Trailblazer award, the Roy Thompson Award of Merit, YWCA's Women of Distinction Award for Arts & Entertainment, the Manifesto Pioneer Award. She was also recognized by Billboard Canada's 2024 Women in Music Industry Honours and won the 2025 Women in Music Canada Entrepreneur of the Year Award.
Working with youth has always been a passion of hers, spending 10 years as a volunteer E.D. for the Each One, Teach One mentor program in Toronto for at risk Black youth where she also mentored a group of 20 teen girls called Sista 2 Sista, while holding down a full time job as a legal assistant.
For the last 30 years, Ebonnie has been Executive Director of the non-profit PhemPhat Entertainment Group which produces the Honey Jam Concert and artist development program for emerging female artists from across Canada of all backgrounds and musical genres. Honey Jam also provides promotional, mentoring, networking, educational and performance opportunities as well as a safe space for young women to not only learn about the industry but also to be vulnerable, to build self esteem and long-lasting relationships. Rowe was initially working on a volunteer basis and funded the initiative herself for the first 10 years.
Honey Jam also provides promotional, mentoring, networking, educational and performance opportunities as well as a safe space for young women to not only learn about the industry but also to be vulnerable, to build self esteem and long-lasting relationships. Rowe was initially working on a volunteer basis and funded the initiative herself for the first 10 years.
“This is such an incredible honour. What’s most important to me is the national spotlight it will shine on the work that we and others are doing and on the artists that we work with. Thanks also to everyone who worked with me over many decades and various initiatives to ensure their success and impact.I want to acknowledge that there are many who have done outstanding and impactful work over decades who I hope will one day receive the recognition that they deserve. I honour the women on whose shoulders I stand who paved the way and endured immense challenges with racism, harassment, sexism, barriers to entry on so many levels in society, employment, in being treated with respect and dignity. Yet they persevered and pushed through with relentless tenacity, blazing trails along the way.I still haven’t processed this honour fully - been in hustlemode 24/7! Many of us who work in this non-profit space with diverse creatives are feeling the financial sting of the anti-DEI movement and the tariffs which have created global economic insecurity. We are so grateful for the sponsors who have stood by us through it all. I believe that we can do a lot more to help each other and also that there are enough corporations and individuals with platforms, connections, and the financial means who espouse their support for youth, for women, for inclusion to ensure that we are able to continue. So if you say that these are things you believe in, we hope you’ll pull up. No time for lipservice, gatekeeping, gaslighting, doublespeak or community cosplay. It’s all hands on deck walk it like you talk it time. Time for more outreach, sharing of resources and collaboration. Community over competition. Community over everything."
Website: honeyjam.com
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/ebonnie-rowe-75126726
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