Pathway to Progress: Debra Olaniyi (HBA 2022)
Ever since her undergraduate years at UTM, Debra Olaniyi (HBA '22 UTM) has been a voice for the Black community, advocating for programs that specialize towards refining the space for her fellow Black students.
As a student, she served as the President of the African Student Association and the Events Coordinator for the Black Students Association and led multiple career events, such as the annual Black Professionals Panel. These endeavors aimed to connect Black students to professional development opportunities and set them up for success.
"I felt that I was able to give back, mending the gap between the professional development and Black students on campus," says Olaniyi.
The Political Science, Sociology, and Women and Gender Studies graduate also became a student member of U of T’s Anti-Black Racism Task Force, where she proposed recommendations to the University of Toronto by acknowledging Black students’ multidimensional identities and diverse experiences to create a more inclusive community for them.
Beyond UTM, Olaniyi continues to find ways to advance her advocacies. She currently supervises a student support learning program team in Calgary, Alberta, which aids students in reaching their academic goals, and connects Black entrepreneurs to industry resources through a financial literacy program.
She also currently works as the Associate Manager at the Federation of Black Canadians, where she created the organization’s anti-Black racism toolkit, ‘The Black Pulse:’ an educational resource for Black students to access supports and for employers to have guidelines for instilling equity, diversity and inclusion policies in the workplace.
Olaniyi is currently a law student at student at the University of Leicester and is the incoming President of the Pan-African Law Society at her university. The aspiring lawyer believes that it is vital to share your unique perspectives and change the laws that do not represent others.
"No one can advocate for you or your community if your voice is not at the decision-making table.”
Access the full article on the Black at UTM website HERE.