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Bukola Salami is determined to show how research and training can change lives.

She arrived in Canada from Nigeria in 1997, a 16-year-old high school student carrying big dreams and deep uncertainty. Like many newcomers, her parents arrived university educated, but systemic barriers forced them into unskilled, low-paying jobs.

“What I saw was, you go to university and you’re still going to work in a factory, as a cab driver or as a cleaner,” Salami recalls.

Growing up in what she calls “high-risk” Toronto neighbourhoods, Salami rarely saw Black professionals in high-paying leadership roles. That was until she stumbled across a summer mentorship program at the University of Toronto.

“It transformed me and helped me see there are Black people who succeed, and I can succeed, too,” she says.

Nearly 30 years later, the former nurse-turned-academic and at the University of Calgary, is an internationally recognized scholar. That early experience continues to motivate her today.

“Young Black people need to know that they have options and an opportunity to create a better life,” says a passionate Salami.

Her goal is bold: to transform the lives of Black children and youth in Canada by training the next generation of Black scholars.

Improving real-life outcomes for Black youth in Canada

In 2024, Salami received one of the largest-ever federal research funding investments focused on Black communities in Canada. Funded through a (SSHRC) Partnership Grant, is a five-year project designed around improving outcomes for Black children and youth across five interconnected systems: education, health, justice, child welfare, and immigration and settlement.

“This project is led by members of Black communities, for Black communities, and with Black communities in mind,” Salami says. “That is how we make a transformational impact.”

More than 40 investigators and partners are involved, including , , the Public Health Agency of Canada, community organizations, and universities across the country.

Evidence that drives change

Over the past two years, Salami’s team has completed a scoping review of more than 250 Canadian studies on Black children and youth, alongside the largest national survey of Black children and youth ever conducted, with 4,000 participants. Early findings highlight discrimination in schools, barriers to health care, exposure to sexual violence, and inequities in the justice system.

For Salami, evidence must lead to action.

“It’s one thing to get the funding for the research,” she says. “It’s a whole other challenge to actually implement change.”

That is why policymakers and community partners are embedded throughout the project — from shaping research questions to co-developing and testing interventions — ensuring findings are policy-relevant and grounded in lived experience.

Building capacity, from high school to postgraduate studies

Beyond data, Transforming Black Lives is designed to build long-term capacity by creating more Black scholars equipped to address inequities in their communities. Training begins in high school and extends through undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate levels.

“One of our main interventions is to get Black youth when they are young, and instil in them that they have the potential to have high-paying jobs,” says Salami.

Programs include an annual undergraduate research stream, a that has supported more than 300 mentees, and the , which brought 64 Black scholars to Calgary in 2025 for intensive research training, grant writing, and community engagement, with participation from SSHRC and (CIHR) representatives.

“It was very motivating,” Salami recalls. “People left with more knowledge than they came with — and a stronger sense of possibility.”

For participants in the Black Youth Mentorship and Leadership Program, the impact is tangible. Parents report increased confidence, stronger cultural identity and improved academic engagement among their kids.

“When kids feel confident and supported, everything else starts to shift,” Salami says.

Why this research matters now

Systemic inequities remain stark in Canada.

“We know Black people have one of the poorest outcomes in Canada, next to Indigenous populations,” says Salami, adding that Black youth are over-represented in the child welfare and justice systems, and victim to persistent educational gaps.

“These are not individual failures,” Salami says. “They are systemic issues — and they require systemic solutions.”

She says funding Black-led research plays a critical role in enabling those solutions.

“We cannot address inequities without funding that not only identifies the problems, but also invests in the strengths of communities,” Salami says.

As Transforming Black Lives enters its next phase — testing and scaling interventions co-developed with communities — its promise extends well beyond the project.

“My unspoken dream is to build capacity at a mega scale,” says a smiling Salami.

Want to learn more?

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