When Mumbi Tindyebwa Otu (BA ’10) was hired in January 2020 to take the helm of Toronto’s Obsidian Theatre as its new artistic director, she had no idea how much the world would change by the time she started the job in July.
After completing two degrees from York, Sarah Embaye’s early career success took her to Los Angeles to work at a Black led startup before returning to Toronto where she now works as a partnerships coordinator at MLSE LaunchPad.
Named by the Women Executive Network (WXN) as one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women, Stachen Frederick (BSW ’13) has over 20 years of experience in the field of community and program development both nationally and internationally. She is the founder of BrAIDS for AIDS, and the executive director of Weston Frontlines Centre, a youth charity in Toronto.
York alumnus, Joseph Smith (BA ’11, BEd ’12, MEd ’14) is a man who wears many hats. He is a PhD student, an educator, researcher, consultant, volunteer leader and co-founder of Generation Chos3n, a not-for-profit organization that supports young adults in the Jane and Finch community.
In 2001, Brandon Hay (MES ’16) discovered he was going to be a dad for the first time. After visiting community centres seeking out help for Black fathers, he realized there were no resources available for him. While working at his factory job overnight, Hay came up with an idea in response to the isolation he felt as a new Black father as well as to the lack of spaces for Black men to discuss parenting issues and concerns facing the Black community as a whole.
Tegan Duncan (BSc ‘19) is the co-creator of GAIN, a film that premieres during Eating Disorder Awareness Week and tells the story of her struggle with anorexia nervosa.
For York University alumni Ryan Fuentes (BSW ’17) and Jonatan Fuentes (BA ’14, BED’15, MEd ’20), growing up in Rexdale meant that a post-secondary education wasn’t the obvious path either would take. Although obtaining a degree wasn’t a certainty for either of them, both brothers graduated and now leverage their York education to help in […]
Canadian musical artists often spend their entire careers honing their skills and working to produce music that is recognized on the national and international stage. The York graduates in the Ottawa Bach Choir—Athena Babayan (BFA ’10), Kristen De Marchi (BFA ’17), John Holland (PhD ’18), Allen Mahabir (BA ’15), Nicole Malcolm (BFA ’14), and Kayla […]
Elizabeth Sahadeo (BA ’07) is a Senior UX Content Strategist/Writer at Google. We caught up with her to find out more about her career since she left York and her experience of living in New York during the COVID-19 pandemic. Why did you choose to study at York and what was your experience like of […]
Growing up in Montreal, author Tiyahna Ridley-Padmore (MPPAL ’19) was always drawn to storytelling – from reading her favourite nursery rhymes to eventually creating her own. “I started writing children’s books when I was six or seven years old,” she says about her early efforts to mimic the musical style of her favourite author, beloved […]