Putting Name to Face: Natalie Brown-Lahey

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At just 26 years old, Natalie Brown-Lahey has become a trailblazer in education, shaping the future of Black students and educators. A graduate of the University of Guelph, Ms. Brown is the head teacher of GCVI’s Black Student Union (BSU), chair of the Upper Grand District School Board's Black Educators Network, and a dedicated advocate for Afrocentric education. She curated UGDSB's first Africentric English course and is working on the Alfred Lafferty Program, fostering cultural pride and identity.

Beyond the classroom, Ms. Brown connects students with local Black entrepreneurs through events like hair care workshops and champions social awareness. She organizes impactful initiatives, including the Black Brilliance Conference and Black Future Month Show, celebrating Black excellence and Afrofuturism. Her leadership, compassion, and advocacy create safe, empowering spaces for Black students and educators alike, leaving a lasting legacy in the Guelph community and beyond.

I have always wanted to be a teacher, ever since I stepped foot in a school. This love for education was always in me, but I didn’t quite know where in education I fit. I had never had a teacher who looked like me and in high school when I really struggled with being mixed, having that Black person as a model would’ve meant everything to me. What I did have, however was a Mr. Flosman, my History teacher. He was someone who encouraged me to explore who I was through his course assignments in history. Thanks to one course assignment, Mr. Flosman is the reason I became, and still am a spoken word artist. In that grade 11 history course and through the Waterdown Museum of Hope project, I got my first taste of being a teacher. Sharing pieces of my family history and the lessons that could be gained from their lives and experiences gave me a feeling that I had found that missing piece – my place. 

History gave me a tool to learn about myself and thankfully I had a history teacher who allowed it. In that process, History is where I found my place in education. My grade 11 history teacher taught history in a way that it made sense of who we are today. My father, who is Black and Mi’kmaq, was adopted into a white family, (his Mi’kmaq identity we would not come to know until finding his biological family in 2019). This means that he grew up around white values and norms and so was I. I was disconnected from my Blackness until my history teacher gave me space to find that part of myself and my heritage.  

I co-lead on introducing the first Africentric course in the Upper Grand District School Board (UGDSB). Starting in February 2025 I will be teaching a Grade 12 Africentric English course, which I co-constructed with another colleague. Creating and delivering this course is something that grade 11 me could never have dreamed of! I suppose I really took the saying “be the change you wish to see” to heart. My hope is that this Africentric course is just the first of many. I would love to see a whole Africentric program in our Board one day. 

The thing I love most about my teaching journey so far is my connection to my students and what I represent to them. I realize I have become the teacher I yearned for in high school! A former Black Student Union student once said in a conversation about how few Black teachers there are “we cannot be what we cannot see”. This has stuck with me, as I am coming to realize that, in some way, I am giving students, especially Black students, the space to see that they can be anything they want, even if they do not yet see themselves represented there. I once didn’t see myself in education, technically the first Black teacher I ever met was myself when I looked in the mirror after getting my teaching degree, but now I'm here for them to see. I am the first Black teacher that many of my students have had. 

I would love to say that my biggest worry as a young teacher are the general ones you hear - classroom management or figuring out the photocopier. I am a young Black teacher, and perhaps as expected my biggest concern is; racism. I am sure a lot of new young teachers feel the imposter syndrome, I certainly do. It is exacerbated by the racial biases I navigate on a daily basis. I often feel pressure to constantly prove myself out of fear of otherwise being seen as an example of negative stereotypes about Blackness. As any Black person knows, our actions - especially ones regarded as mistakes - are tracked and used as markers for the entire race. There are only three Black people in the building where I work. I feel this makes my actions that much more visible and adds a lot of pressure to excel. 

As I am navigating this space myself I am also a support for my students. This comes with being one of the staff leads of our Black Student Union (BSU). It has been challenging trying to support students through the microaggressions and sometimes straight up racism they experience while also navigating those same obstacles myself. I am thankful I have co-conspirators in my building and also the other staff that help run the BSU as they have been essential to overcoming these challenges. Sometimes it is just them being there when I need to talk, or to remind me that I am deserving of my successes. Sometimes it is helping to create educational materials with our BSU to share with the school community, like the videos students make each year for our Black Future Month assembly. These videos typically deal with issues the students are currently facing.  

One of my teaching philosophies has always been: education before reconciliation. As such, through my role in the Upper-Grand Black Educators Network, I also seek out opportunities to help create educational materials for teaching staff as well. My hope is that through education, the next generation of young Black teachers won’t have to face the same racial barriers as I am facing. 

For Further Reading Visit the Following Webpage: Africentric course looking to bring Black joy to high school students