UTM alum spearheads U of T experiential learning course focused on diversity, inclusion and anti-racism
“I never felt like the smart kid,” says Desiree Kaunda-Wint (HBA 2017), describing herself during her UTM days. Yet, something about her must have sparked the interest of sociology associate professor Paula Maurutto, who recommended Kaunda-Wint enrol in the Internship in Sociology, Criminology, Law and Society. It was this course that ignited a passion, guiding Kaunda-Wint’s subsequent career. And it is the same course that has now been re-launched at UTM, under her vision, with a focus on diversity, inclusion, anti-racism and community engagement.
“This experience changed my perspective on the types of opportunities available in community leadership,” says Kaunda-Wint, who had a placement with the City of Mississauga while a sociology undergraduate at UTM. “The internship was a chance to pop your head out of your studies and see all the opportunities that exist in the real world. I was out in the community interviewing organizations, meeting incredibly inspiring people in interesting positions. My eyes were opened to the value of my life experiences, and I gained direction.”
Today, Kaunda-Wint works as a stakeholder management co-ordinator for the City of Toronto, tasked with developing targeted vaccination strategies for Toronto’s Black community. She does that while running her own consultancy firm, Kaunda Consulting, through which she supports other organizations, including U of T.
Experiential learning
The sociology course provides fourth-year students internships with community-based non-profit social service providers, municipal social services departments, social movement organizations, courts and law enforcement. There is also in-class coursework and an end-of-term symposium where students showcase their experience and learnings to faculty, fellow students, their families and potential employers.
The re-launch of the course under Kaunda-Wint’s guidance happened during a difficult time. She was working with the provincial government when, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, she was laid off. “It forced me to rethink everything,” she recalls.
She applied for graduate school at U of T’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health and was admitted to the Master of Public Health in Social and Behavioural Health Sciences. Through her graduate school application process, she reconnected with UTM associate professor Nathan Innocente, from whom she learned that the course, which had meant so much to her and had launched her career in the public sector, had been deferred due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I spent that night tossing and turning, losing sleep over the opportunities that current and future UTM students were missing out on,” says Kaunda-Wint. “The next morning, I proposed to Professor Innocente to bring it back.”
With Innocente’s support and initiative, the course re-launched this fall with a new focus on diversity, inclusion, anti-racism, and community engagement, with many placement organizations focusing on diversity or working with diverse communities across the Greater Toronto Area. “These organizations are accepting an important challenge – the challenge to consider an anti-oppressive framework,” Kaunda-Wint says.
Her role as course co-ordinator makes her crucial to the success of the students’ internships: she uses her deep knowledge of the sector and her industry connections to create outstanding placement opportunities for UTM students with organizations such as the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, York Regional Police, Toronto Transit Commission, Black Physicians Association of Ontario, and Amadeusz. The program also expanded. “We were able to secure more placements than ever before,” says Innocente. “We normally accepted 10-12 students in the course. But this year, thanks to Desiree’s outreach and the support of my department, we were able to quadruple the size of the course and find placements for 40 students.”
Kaunda-Wint teaches one of the in-class components of the course. Her session, titled ‘Go Big or Go Home,’ empowers participants to envision their full career potential.
“[Kaunda-Wing] brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to our students. She is a model for thinking big, for the value of having a vision and pursuing that vision wholeheartedly,” says Innocente. “Overall, her vison for the course, and her passion to support students have helped to transform our internship course in exceptional ways.”
The course’s new focus on diversity, inclusion and anti-racism stems from Kaunda-Wint’s experiences and a belief that the learning around these topics needs to be supported by the opportunity to tackle, grapple with, and digest real-life issues. “If it’s something you learn about in classes, but never really encounter first-hand, a disconnect is inevitable,” she explains. “It’s important to fill this gap when it comes to understanding anti-racism initiatives.”
Small pushes toward equity
Kaunda-Wint’s path to UTM was a winding one. Coming in as a mature student through adverse circumstances, she already held diplomas in American Sign Language and Police Foundations, as well as significant work experience. As a student, she was not very involved in campus life and extra-curricular activities. “Initially, it was just about passing for me until this internship opened my eyes to all the amazing career possibilities out there, creating a sense of excitement and ambition,” Kaunda-Wint recalls.
Growing up in Pickering and Ajax, just outside Toronto, Kaunda-Wint had to switch elementary schools six times. Through early childhood hardships, she faced a great deal of isolation and discrimination in a very homogeneously white area, and she continued to have little family support throughout her school days and education.
“I experienced first-hand the challenges of acute mental health concerns,” Kaunda-Wint says, painfully recalling the ordeal of finding her father the day after Christmas 2015, during her second year at UTM. He had been on the ground for three days after suffering a brain aneurysm and a stroke. Kaunda-Wint found him just in time, saving his life. Over the next year she sought help through therapy, not only trying to process this trauma, but also her strained family relationships. Then, almost exactly a year later, her therapist tragically and unexpectedly died.
“At that point, my goal to complete my education was all I had,” she says. Making it through university continued to be a struggle, but things changed for Kaunda-Wint when Maurutto pushed her to apply for the internship program.
“When we think of equity and helping those in need, it’s often about those who have it worst,” Kaunda-Wint says. “But for me, it’s a lot about the kids, the students, that are just getting by, are doing OK, but just need that little push to succeed.” That’s what Maurutto’s encouragement and mentorship meant to Kaunda-Wint’s success and that’s how she embeds equity in the newly revised internship course she helps co-ordinate.
With her new responsibilities at the City of Toronto, her own consultancy firm and her course co-ordinator work at U of T, Kaunda-Wint currently has her plate full and has decided to defer her graduate school start date. She has no regrets. The first cohort of 40 internship students have started their placements and incredibly rewarding stories are starting to trickle in.
“The relaunch and new focus of the class means the world to me,” Kaunda-Wint says. Her enthusiasm shows in the amount of time and effort she has put into finding promising students, placement opportunities, and matching them the best way possible.
“Ultimately, I want the class to touch people’s hearts,” Kaunda-Wint says. “I want students to feel seen and I want them to end their time at university with something big.”