Oluwa(Bunmi) Afolabi

In 2019, she received my Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology with a minor in family social science from the University of Manitoba, she was also the recipient of the Emerging Leader Award in the same year. 

In 2018 and 2019, she had the opportunity to volunteer in Ghana with an NGO. Through this experience, she witnessed how the organization utilized Indigenous knowledge to advocate for gender equity and non-discrimination in traditionally male-dominated careers. While volunteering, she recognized that development practitioners should first seek to incorporate community knowledge and experience, rather than implementing Western knowledge as the only solution. This realization spurred her to apply for the MDP program, because of its approach to development practice from an indigenous perspective.  With the skills she will acquire through the MDP program, she hopes to work on developing policies and programs that are based on indigenous knowledge to address socio-economic problems.

In her free time, she enjoys volunteering, reading, taking care of her indoor plants, and finding new ways to express her creativity.