One Grande Prairie woman is being recognized for the contributions she has made during her time in the city. Ejibola Adetokunbo-Taiwo is one of 75 finalists up for the Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Awards. She says she was excited to hear she was nominated.
“It came as a very pleasant surprise and a very humbling one indeed. It really means the world is watching and it means that I’m maybe making an impact to at least one person in the region.”
The award recognizes inspirational immigrants who have made a positive impact on their communities since arriving in Canada. The top 75 are posted online and then voted on by the public.
Adetokunbo-Taiwo came to Canada from Nigeria 14 years ago. During her time here she has started many companies including Made by Africans, an e-commerce platform that promotes local African entrepreneurs around the world.
She also started W.E Hustle in Heels, a platform that gives immigrant women a place to go to share their story. She says it was important to start this program because nothing like it existed when she first came to the country.
“Being new you need that motivation to continue especially when you’re just moving away from family and friends… You kind of want to see people around you who could tell you, ‘okay, I’ve been on this path and this is the way I was able to navigate the system, these are the resources that are available.’ I didn’t get that 14 years ago.”
Adetokunbo-Taiwo says that even if people don’t vote for her, she still encourages everyone to log on and read about what other people are doing for their own communities.
A full list of the nominees can be found here. Voting closes May 16th and winners will be announced in June.