{"id":109839,"date":"2026-05-21T17:12:27","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T21:12:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=109839"},"modified":"2026-05-22T11:11:03","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T15:11:03","slug":"edi-changemaker-strives-to-create-inclusive-accessible-spaces","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2026\/05\/edi-changemaker-strives-to-create-inclusive-accessible-spaces\/","title":{"rendered":"EDI Changemaker strives to create inclusive, accessible spaces"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\u00a0<\/em>The Brock News<\/em><\/a>\u00a0<\/em>or the<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>Office of Human Rights and Equity website<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Nwakerendu Waboso (BA \u201907, MA \u201912) believes in a world that is inclusive of everyone.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody deserves to exist, live and thrive,\u201d says Waboso. \u201cI 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\u2019s just really important to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u2019s student Keely Grossman<\/a> (BA \u201917, MA \u201920) and has since become an annual event<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to remind all types of young people, with all their abilities and nuanced greatness, that there\u2019s a space for you here,\u201d says Waboso. \u201cAnd if you didn\u2019t know it, here, let us show you how you belong here and how you can be comfortable in this space.\u201d<\/p>\n

Megan Kuzak (MADS \u201923), Accessibility and Inclusion Advisor the Brock Human Rights and Equity, describes Waboso as \u201ca force for removing barriers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe doesn\u2019t get lost in the weeds,\u201d Kuzak says. \u201cShe\u2019ll see a problem and she\u2019ll go fix it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kuzak notes that Waboso\u2019s commitment to being a \u201cvoice of inclusion\u201d and her intersectional approach to advocacy means the young people who attend Ability Empowerment Day are always met with compassion.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe supports accessibility in every aspect of her work, and she has an eye for making sure that everyone is included,\u201d says Kuzak. \u201cIf she ever sees someone off to the side or not participating, she\u2019ll 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Waboso says leading with empathy is crucial to how she serves, whether as a volunteer, organizer, researcher or teacher.<\/p>\n

\u201cI work hard to be the kind of a person who is sensitive to others because it\u2019s important to me that everybody feels comfortable and seen and heard,\u201d she says. \u201cAs a younger person in certain spaces, I didn\u2019t feel that way, so that informs and empowers and impassions all the work I do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Waboso also says transformative and social justice frameworks run through her work at every level, from her teaching as an instructor for Brock\u2019s Diversity and Inclusion in Sport Management<\/a> course and her scholarly research to her extensive volunteer work.<\/p>\n

Her efforts to build equity, inclusion and accessibility at Brock, honoured in 2022 with an Accessibility and Inclusion Recognition Award<\/a>, include sitting on the organizing committee for Black History Month\/African Heritage Month and two terms as CUPE 4207\u2019s outgoing Equity Officer. She was also recently elected to a two-year term on the CUPE Ontario Racial Justice Committee.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a lot of zest for life, but sometimes you can\u2019t make your voice heard on your own, try as you might,\u201d says Waboso. \u201cI\u2019ve learned that sometimes your efforts are best used and most effective when you connect with other people \u2014 in relationship, in coalition, in partnership \u2014 teaming up to have a larger impact so you don\u2019t have to feel like you\u2019re drowned out all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Members of the Brock community are invited to attend a range of events<\/a> focused on accessibility and inclusion in honour of National AccessAbility Week<\/a>. Brock also hosted several Global Accessibility Awareness Day events on May 21.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nwakerendu Waboso (BA \u201907, MA \u201912) believes in a world that is inclusive of everyone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":109842,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1,38],"tags":[45,13915,522,8166,15152,10659],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109839"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109839"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109839\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":109848,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109839\/revisions\/109848"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109842"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}