This article is part of a series celebrating students, staff, faculty or alumni who demonstrate a commitment to advancing equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) on campus or in ways that meaningfully connect back to the Brock community. To read other EDI Changemaker features or learn more about the series, visit The Brock News or the Office of Human Rights and Equity website.

Nwakerendu Waboso (BA ’07, MA ’12) believes in a world that is inclusive of everyone.

“Everybody deserves to exist, live and thrive,” says Waboso. “I love standing in the gap and doing what I can to centre the voices of individuals experiencing racism and disability and other multi-dimensional forms of oppression. If I can help out in any way, it’s just really important to me.”

Waboso has volunteered with the Ability Empowerment Committee to organize Ability Empowerment Day since 2019, welcoming about 100 high school students who have disabilities to campus to experience university life. The initiative was originally developed by then Social Justice and Equity Studies master’s student Keely Grossman (BA ’17, MA ’20) and has since become an annual event.

“We want to remind all types of young people, with all their abilities and nuanced greatness, that there’s a space for you here,” says Waboso. “And if you didn’t know it, here, let us show you how you belong here and how you can be comfortable in this space.”

Megan Kuzak (MADS ’23), Accessibility and Inclusion Advisor the Brock Human Rights and Equity, describes Waboso as “a force for removing barriers.”

“She doesn’t get lost in the weeds,” Kuzak says. “She’ll see a problem and she’ll go fix it.”

Kuzak notes that Waboso’s commitment to being a “voice of inclusion” and her intersectional approach to advocacy means the young people who attend Ability Empowerment Day are always met with compassion.

“She supports accessibility in every aspect of her work, and she has an eye for making sure that everyone is included,” says Kuzak. “If she ever sees someone off to the side or not participating, she’ll engage with them in the way they want to be engaged with. If someone prefers a one-on-one or a quiet space, she will make that happen.”

Waboso says leading with empathy is crucial to how she serves, whether as a volunteer, organizer, researcher or teacher.

“I work hard to be the kind of a person who is sensitive to others because it’s important to me that everybody feels comfortable and seen and heard,” she says. “As a younger person in certain spaces, I didn’t feel that way, so that informs and empowers and impassions all the work I do.”

Waboso also says transformative and social justice frameworks run through her work at every level, from her teaching as an instructor for Brock’s Diversity and Inclusion in Sport Management course and her scholarly research to her extensive volunteer work.

Her efforts to build equity, inclusion and accessibility at Brock, honoured in 2022 with an Accessibility and Inclusion Recognition Award, include sitting on the organizing committee for Black History Month/African Heritage Month and two terms as CUPE 4207’s outgoing Equity Officer. She was also recently elected to a two-year term on the CUPE Ontario Racial Justice Committee.

“I have a lot of zest for life, but sometimes you can’t make your voice heard on your own, try as you might,” says Waboso. “I’ve learned that sometimes your efforts are best used and most effective when you connect with other people — in relationship, in coalition, in partnership — teaming up to have a larger impact so you don’t have to feel like you’re drowned out all the time.”

Members of the Brock community are invited to attend a range of events focused on accessibility and inclusion in honour of National AccessAbility Week. Brock also hosted several Global Accessibility Awareness Day events on May 21.