I use my voice for Me. When I say me, you wonder right?

No need to wonder, let me explain. You are me, and I am you. I am not comfortable if you are not.

As you all know, banking is what I do, that allows me to pay for my lifestyle, but Community is my passion.

As a Nigerian, coming into Canada, BHM is new to me, so is volunteering. We do not celebrate BHM, neither do we volunteer, unless there is something in it for us.  I will pause briefly here to say it is important to understand the Culture of the country you call home, to help you settle down, and thrive.

I came into Canada with very high hopes, but had no one to show me the way. That made me call a few people together to look at how we might change that for others, however we might change the narrative, after many, many moons, and Council of Nigerian Professionals was born.

We empower, inspire, motivate, encourage, educate, and support newcomers, existing professionals, business owners and youths.

Last year we had over 80 events, seminars and workshops.

During BHM, we aim to educate our youths by getting them to write essays. This is the 3rd year we are doing this and the Theme for this year is Celebrating our heroes, that is, who are the people of African heritage, that has impacted Canada and how have they impacted their lives?

Our youth wrote about Viola Desmond, Jean Augustine, Ayo Akenroye and more.

We encourage them, by presenting them with a plaque, we get an elected official to present them with certificate, and we give them bursary too.

Secondly, I moved to a town in the Halton region, having lived there for 2+ years, I realize there is no talk or celebration during BHM, I reached out to the MP. and the Mayor of Milton, and the rest is history. We had the first BHM Proclamation in Feb 2020 shortly before COVID 19, His Worship, Mayor Gordon Krantz apologized for doing nothing earlier. We all know that the best time to do something is yesterday, but the next best time is today.

And African Caribbean Council of Halton was born. And this is the 3rd year we are celebrating BHM in Milton, and this has been extended to other Towns and cities in the Halton Region. 2nd year in a row, we are celebrating in Town of Oakville, Halton Hills and City of Burlington. This allows us to keep a healthy relationship with our community, community leaders, and elected officials.

I am not one to sit on the side lines, wait for someone else to do something that nobody would do, or complain. I look forward for solutions. I use my voice and strength to make things happen.

 Finally, when I joined Financial Planning GTR. I must tell you all that it is an honor to work for my boss and our RVP, Maria Bosnjak. I realized there is an opportunity to hire for diversity and she told me to go ahead and do what I need to do. My team, the FPA team is a melting pot of cultures, and I did not have to give up on excellence either, because we have many highly skilled Professionals in all cultures including the African Caribbean people. We only need to be conscious of our unconscious bias, and be intentional during hiring process.

We cannot continue to do things the same way and expect different results.

Our community have heard no too much

We have heard you cannot too much

That when most of us see these hiring events, we do not bother.

I took a CA job in 2006 after over 15 years banking experience with leadership skills, I know a lot of people that choose not to go that route. They loose, but Canada as a country is the greatest loser.