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Olufunke Oba

Dr Olufunke Oba

Associate Director & Associate Professor

Department: School of Child & Youth Care

Phone: 416-979-5000 x544581

Email: funoba@torontomu.ca

Education: MSc, MSW, PhD

Discipline: Child & Youth Care

Areas of Expertise:

  • Anti-Black Racism

  • Afrocentric Theory

  • Decolonizing Praxis

  • Asset Based Youth Engagement 

  • Immigration & Refugees 
  • Child Welfare 
  • Domestic Violence 
  • North-South Collaboration/Social Work in Africa 

 

 

 

Research Interests

Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Helping Professional Disciplines; Afrocentric, Transformative, Arts-Based Experiential Research, Teaching and Practice Approaches; Immigration and Settlement; Black/Newcomer Youth; Immigrant Labour Market Integration; Food Security; Older Black Adults; Child Welfare; Domestic Violence; Community Practice, Social Change & Social Action; North-South Collaboration; Professionalizing Social Work Field Education; Reciprocal Internationalization.

Dr. Funke Oba, PhD, MSW, is an Associate Professor at Toronto Metropolitan University, School of Social Work, and a celebrated teacher recognized with teaching awards from TMU, Wilfrid Laurier University, and the President’s Teaching and Learning Scholar Award at the University of Regina.

Dr. Oba brings to her work a background in clinical practice and community organizing, integrating Afrocentric pedagogy and experiential learning. She has created or redesigned courses such as TMU’s first anti-Black racism social work course, courses on Canadian diversity, social change, and social movements, as well as an intercultural practice course and an interdisciplinary leadership seminar for Black students in the Faculty of Community Services.

Her research and teaching are connected through reflective self-study and the scholarship of teaching and learning, incorporating Black elders, art, drumming, dance, and Afrocentric sharing circles with a focus on cultural appreciation and transnational reciprocity. Dr. Oba’s research interests include Black youth asset-based engagement, Afrocentric praxis, North-South collaborations, and the scholarship of teaching and learning. She seeks to forge collaborations with African partners under the aegis of the Carnegie Foundation as a fellow and as an African Diaspora visiting scholar, and she supervises graduate students across Canadian universities.

Dr. Oba has mentored over 50 graduate and undergraduate student researchers, postdoctoral candidates, and global interns. She has clinical experience in Child Welfare, Domestic Violence, and Field Education sectors. She is a proud alumnus of Lagos Business School’s Advanced Management Program.

Dr. Oba is a past president of the African Canadian Association of Waterloo Region, the founder of Community Academic Reciprocal Engagement (CARE) for Black youth, and the founder of the Leading While Black projects. She serves on the boards of the Working Center (Kitchener), The Compass Center for Refugees (Kitchener), and The Roots of a Black Girl Project (Toronto). She is also a fellow of the Carnegie Foundation and the Tshepo Institute for the Study of Contemporary Africa and an affiliate of the YouthRex Hub at York University. 

Course Code Course
SK 8105 Field Integration Seminar 
SK 8101 Critical Issues in Marginalization 
SK 8104 Major Research Practice 
SK 8214 Anti-Black Racism Social Work Practice 
SWP 341 Transformative Social Work Practice 

Teaching Interests

  • Child Welfare/Domestic Violence Prevention & Treatment
  • Community Practice, Social Change & Social Movements
  • Field Integration Seminars (local/international) Experiential Learning, Arts-based Participatory Research
  • Group Work Practice
  • Reciprocal Faculty/Student Exchanges & Summer Research Institute
  • Understanding Canadian Diversity/Intercultural Social Work Practice /Immigration & Settlement
  • Dean's Teaching Award, Toronto Metropolitan University, 2022
  • Emerging Scholar Award, Diversities in Organizations Conference, 2019
  • Presidents Teaching and Learning Scholar Award, University of Regina, 2017
  • Wilfrid Laurier University Teaching Excellence Award, 2017
  • Interdisciplinary Social Sciences Conference, Prague, Emerging Scholar Award, 2013

Scholarly Calling

Aware of my privilege, having grown up with "my village," I saw how Black children and youth in their formative years were oppressed, alienated, criminalized, and vilified. In 2014, my co-authors and I reconceptualized and elaborated on the concept of anti-Black racism. My research on the school experiences of Black youth led me to create the Community Academic Reciprocal Engagement (CARE) project in 2015.

In 2020, I launched the Leading While Black initiative, and in 2022, I created TMU's first ABR social work course in consultation with academic/community colleagues. Lately, we launched initiatives moving from ABR rhetoric to community education and social action, offering certificate courses to youth-serving practitioners.

I first recognized my Blackness in Canada and embraced my “Black woman” identity, not because I agree with the erasure of other aspects of my being, but rather to use the seen to illuminate the obscured.

Olufunke Oba
Dr Olufunke Oba

Related Content

View More Publications  (opens in new window) 

  • Project: Beyond Anti-Black Racism Training to Transformational Action. Year: 2023-2027. Role: Co-Applicant. Funding received: $400,000. Funded by: Public Health Agency of Canada
  • Project: Revealing Black Undergraduate Nursing Students’ Experiences in Saskatchewan. Year: 2022-2025. Role: Co-Applicant
    Funding received: $114,376. Funded by: SSHRC IG
  • Project: The COVID-19 Pandemic and Food Insecurity in African Caribbean Black-Identifying Households in Waterloo Region
    Year: 2022-2023. Role: Principal Applicant. Funding received: $24,999. Funded by: SSHRC PEG
  • Project: Strengthening the Social Capital of Older Black Adults in Canada in the Era of COVID-19. Year: 2021-2022. Role: Co-Investigator. Funding Received: $25,000. Funded by: SSHRC PEG
View Full Details  (opens in new window) 

  • Member, Association of Social Work Educators Nigeria (ASWEN)
  • Member, Nigerian Association of Social Workers
  • Fellow Carnegie Foundation and African Diaspora visiting scholar
  • Member, Pediatric Death Review Committee, office of the Solicitor General
  • Member, Academic Hub of York University’s Youth Research and Evaluation Exchange (YouthRex)
  • Member, Continental African Scholars Network - Canada (CASN)
  • Associate, Tshepo Institute for the study of contemporary Africa
  • Founder, Community Academic Reciprocal Engagement, 2015 and Leading While Black seminars, 2021
  • Board member, The Working Center, Compass Refugee Center, Advisor, Roots of a Black Girl Project
  • First Female President, African Canadian Association, Waterloo Region, and Area 2010-2012
  • Mentor, Nigerians in Region of Waterloo (NIROW)

For the latest updates, please visit the faculty page linked below.

Faculty Page  (opens in new window) 

Selected Media & Activities

link to Dr. Funke Oba and Black FCS students in Leading While Black, a conversation amplifying student voices. Together, they explore navigating anti-Black racism, mutual support, and strengthening connections to their roots, culture, and community.  (external link, opens in new window) 

Listen to Dr. Funke Oba and Black FCS students in Leading While Black, a conversation amplifying student voices. Together, they explore navigating anti-Black racism, mutual support, and strengthening connections to their roots, culture, and community.