2 minute read
Black alumni mentorship
Mentee Larry Afun (left) and his mentor, Tapfuma Musewe (photo by Shayla Anderson)
I am, because you are
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BY DIANTHI FERNANDO (HBA ’19 INNIS, MT ’22)
“Iam, because you are.” In my conversation with Innis alumnus Tapfuma Musewe (HBSc ’06 Innis,
GEMBA ’20) and current student Larry
Afun, I learned this translation of ubuntu, a widely known philosophy that originated in southern Africa. Ubuntu states that a person is a person through other people; that our accomplishments are, in part, due to the work and achievement of others. This nebulous concept of common humanity guided Tapfuma and Larry, as one of four inaugural mentor-mentee pairs in Innis
College’s Black Alumni Mentorship Program pilot. Part of the College’s existing Alumni
Mentorship Program, the pilot matched
Black students with Black alumni based on, as much as possible, common experiences, goals, and values. The program was launched in response to calls to action set forth by the College’s working group on the Black
Student Experience, specifically answering a recommendation to cultivate mentorship among Black students and Black alumni. Tapfuma became a volunteer mentor to reconnect with the College in a meaningful way that would help fulfill the
Working Group’s recommendations. He is an international trade and investment professional whose passions lie in Africa’s socioeconomic development and the advancement of the next generation. After graduating with a degree in life sciences, Tapfuma travelled and worked across Africa, equipped with a foundation for critical thinking, process orientation, and detail orientation, the importance of which he impressed upon his mentee, Larry. Larry entered the program with an open mind, excited to learn from a successful
Black businessman’s experiences in Canada.
As a first-year international student from
Ghana, Larry embodied the ubuntu philosophy to learn from his alumni mentor. Tapfuma encouraged him to go for his BHAG—big hairy audacious goal—supporting the publishing of Larry’s first book, Philosophies of Everyday Life. (Read more about Larry’s book on p. 30.)
Larry and Tapfuma connected over this bold vision, inspired by the collectivist mindset ingrained in African culture. “Understanding that confirmed it was not my talent alone that got me where I am today,” Larry shared. “I am an accumulation of what I have been privileged to learn.”
Tapfuma enthusiastically reciprocated: “I was inspired by the opportunity to speak to a future leader who will, no doubt, have an impact on the world.”
When it comes to prospective mentors and mentees, Larry encourages them “to be the accumulation of someone’s experience.”
“When you believe ‘I am, because you are,’ you build communities,” Tapfuma concurred. “It is a privilege to share your accumulation of knowledge with young people and empower them to have choices.”
Dianthi Fernando was recently a student life coordinator at Innis, working in the Alumni Mentorship Program.
THE BLACK STUDENT EXPERIENCE
WORKING GROUP’s recommendations are important calls to action to hold the College accountable in addressing anti-Black systemic barriers. If you are interested in volunteering as a Black alumni mentor, please contact
mentorship.innis@utoronto.ca
To learn more about Innis College’s Black Student Experience, please visit
