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Our Story
In Toronto's systematically neglected Neighbourhood Improvement Areas (NIAs), low-income and racialized youth are disenfranchised from higher education that is already colonial and oppressive. The intersection of colonial higher education alongside race, identity, socioeconomic status, and systemic neglect/ gentrification of the Rexdale community inequitably bar Rexdale youth from pursuing academia and research.
As a team of racialized student researchers from Rexdale, we launched scholaRLY - "Rexdale's Limitless Youth '' was launched; it is a grassroots, youth-driven research incubator and community-engaged research study for 5 racialized, low-income youth interested in pursuing academic research.
ScholaRLY aims to demystify research, tear down barriers to academia, and offer an equitable research exploration space through a pilot by youth for youth research curriculum rooted in anti-oppression, equity, and intersectionality.
Program Goals
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The ScholaRLY Study
In adjunct to this study, scholaRLY conducted a small-scale, mixed-methods, community-engaged study on its programming to explore the following questions:
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What are barriers and facilitators to racialized, Rexdale youth in higher education?
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With colonial, Western, oppressive, and inaccessible academic institutions dominating Canadian scholarship, how do community-based, alternative learning programs support racialized youth in school, work, and personal development?
From September 2022 to February 2023, 1-on-1 semi-structured interviews, focus groups, and program evaluations with scholaRLY's 5 racialized, low-income program participants were conducted. Through thematic analysis of interviews, preliminary findings reveal that the social determinants of health, social networks, and academia's systemic inaccessibility significantly determine access to academia. In review of scholaRLY's programming, participants advise that community-centered, compassionate, and youth-driven academic programs like scholaRLY positively influence access and experience in higher education. Findings suggest the necessity of macro-level shifts towards sustained provincial funding to Toronto's NIAs and enshrined alternative, racialized youth-led programming/ research in Western scholarship. Findings are presently operationalized by The City of Toronto and Rexdale Community Health Center, and the final report will release in Summer 2023.
ScholaRLY's Pillars
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Meet The Core Team
scholaRLY is an entirely grassroots, youth-driven partnership between The COVID-19 Vaccine Equity Project (VEP) and The Mor Initiative (“MOR”). This partnership was formed out of Mor and VEP’s similar mission to empower and equip racialized, Rexdale youth with the skills and community to strive in high-level decision-making or post-secondary. ScholaRLY’s core team consists of 4 UTSC students: Abigail Ralph, Caitlin Arizala, Jwan Salih, and Siham Mohammud and is supervised by Dr. Suzanne Sicchia, an associate professor at the University of Toronto Scarborough Department of Health & Society.

Caitlin Arizala (she/her) is a fourth-year, UTSC student majoring in Health Studies and double minoring in Psychology and City Studies. As a longtime Northwest Toronto resident and leader, Caitlin’s community work and research center building better racialized youth futures through policy change. She is presently the principal student investigator of the Vaccine Equity Project, Coordinator at The Flaunt It Movement, Youth Peer Researcher at For The Record, and member of the Jane-Finch Arts Hub Organizing Committee. In recognition of her work, she was selected as youth aide to mayor John Tory and awarded the 2021/22 UTSC Prudential Ability Award.
Caitlin Arizala
Co-Founder

Abigail Ralph (she/her) is a fourth-year, UTSC student double majoring in Neuroscience and Health Policy. As a racialized, Rexdale resident and community leader, Abigail founded the MOR Initiative in response to systemic and pedagogical barriers that she has faced on her journey of applying to, and enrolling in post-secondary undergraduate education in the field of Neuroscience. Abigail is heavily involved in research supporting Black and racialized communities - she sits on the Community Advisory Research Board Committee for “The Young African, Caribbean, Black (ACB) Women’s Anti-Racism Insights to Action Project '' conducted by Women’s Health in Women’s Hands Community Health Centre, and more. In recognition of her community work, she is the recipient of the 2021/22 UTSC department of Health and Society Black Student Excellence Award and the 2022 Dr. Anderson Abbott Award.
Abigail Ralph
Co-Founder
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Siham Mohamud (she/her) is a fourth-year UTSC student majoring in Health studies and double minoring in psychology and biology. She is the President of the Black Health Studies Network (BHSN) at UTSC, which provides health studies students with the knowledge and experience to pursue a career in public health. Siham is the co-founder of the MOR Initiative, a grassroots organization that provides mentorship and a scholarship to Black high-school students applying to university programs. In recognition of her academic excellence and community involvement, she is the recipient of the 2022/23 UTSC department of Health and Society Black Student Excellence Award.
Siham Mohamud
Co-Investigator & Program Supervisor
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Jwan Omer (she/her) is a fourth-year UTSC student majoring in health studies and double minoring in psychology and biology. She acts as one of the mentors and co-founders of MOR initiative, a program targeted at helping Black youths in Rexdale prepare for university and apply to STEM programs. She has also volunteered as one of the outreach ambassadors with the International Student Centre, which involved supporting and communicating with prospective students from around the world. She volunteers as a research assistant at the Students for Vaccine Equity, a group dedicated to increasing education about vaccine inequity around the world, and is the campus representative for the Sudanese Student Association. In her free time, she contributes to the Varsity.
Jwan Omer
Co-Investigator & Program Supervisor
Our Funders & Community
This project is generously supported by The City of Toronto's Towards Peace Project. We're honoured and excited to be working with community organizations across Northwest Toronto to amplify our mission.
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