Hope is at the centrE

Matt Stephen
Contributor
Nneka MacGregor sees it all.
But she believes in change, and is working – one day at a time, and through one person at a time – to achieve it. MacGregor is the executive director and co-founder of WomenatthecentrE, a support and advocacy group for survivors of violence against women.
MacGregor, a Masters student at Osgoode Hall Law School, has dedicated her life to this cause. She speaks, educates and connects with her community, men and women alike, to end cycles of violence. As a survivor and an advocate who’s often told firsthand accounts of abuse, she knows the hurt, but it’s her faith in change that keeps her going.
WomenatthecentrE is “for survivors, by survivors.” MacGregor’s work, like that of many at WomenatthecentrE, was born out of her personal experience with violence.
Afterward, she sought refuge in phone calls home, to her family in England; she recalls them always telling her to “do something about it” and eventually, she agreed. “I had to do something because I was tired of crying,” MacGregor says.
For MacGregor, “doing something” came naturally. She has sat on numerous advisory boards and committees, including the Toronto Police Domestic Violence Action Plan Committee, and in 2007 was selected by the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario as an expert panelist to review services provided for women and children.
MacGregor and WomenatthecentrE  were at the forefront of creating new provisions regarding restraining orders made under the Children’s Law Reform Act and the Family Law Act through roundtable discussions with the Ministry of the Attorney General.
She points to her work with provincial and national government bodies as a small piece of the puzzle – violence against women is neither a provincial nor a national issue, but a global one. MacGregor’s message remains unfailingly positive and sharply focused. Despite the scale of the problem, she believes in change from the ground up.
One of MacGregor’s ongoing challenges is awareness. “Women need to know that we are here,” she explains. Spreading awareness consumes many of MacGregor’s days. Whether she is working alongside government agencies, battling for social reform, training counsellors, speaking to groups or connecting with women who have similar stories, it is her job to communicate the issues and resources available.
MacGregor took on the challenge from her initial involvement with WomenatthecentrE. “I started speaking, and I have never really stopped since then,” she says. Touting advocacy as the greatest form of social mobilization, MacGregor says, “Women need to know they are not alone. Many feel isolated, and we are here for them. That is why membership at WomenatthecentrE is free; people need to get involved.”
Although her work with government programs, committees and research organizations has had a profound influence on social policy, it is her daily interactions with people that she finds most rewarding.
Advocacy, however, does not come without harsh realities, a fact MacGregor faces daily. “Trying to come to terms with what human beings do to each other has to be the hardest part,” says MacGregor. “It’s very disheartening.”
A survivor herself, MacGregor brings a unique and relatable perspective to women looking for support and works to provide a voice for many who feel misrepresented or underrepresented within the system. MacGregor knows the frustrations of broken systems and failed programs, citing these as true tragedies.
The good that has come out of MacGregor’s advocacy helps to balance out these tragedies, and the positive changes in her own community keeps her going: “When I go to bed at night, I feel good, I feel constructive,” says MacGregor. “It’s bloody dynamite.”
It is MacGregor’s focus on the individual that makes her a successful advocate. “It may sound cliché, but an individual has the power to change the world. Change can happen, and it is happening.”
For more information, visit
womenatthecentre.com