Ali Bukar was a winner of the 2023 Top 25 Canadian Immigrant awards

Editor: This report was first posted on Canadian Immigrant: https://canadianimmigrant.ca/

Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Awards

Ali Abukar

Chief executive officer, Saskatoon Open Door Society
City: Saskatoon
Country of Origin: Somalia

Social justice in the Prairies

Ali Abukar fled his homeland of Somalia at the age of 18, landing in Egypt as a refugee. He worked and studied there for a decade before finally arriving in Canada in 2011. Here he continued his studies, completing a master’s degree in social work in Ontario. Abukar was excited about building a successful future in his new country, but it wasn’t a straight door to success.

“The biggest struggle I faced was after I completed my master’s degree program in Canada; I could not land a job in my field for more than six months. I had to take a survival job while job hunting,” he says.

Open to going wherever opportunity led him, he moved to Saskatoon in November 2013 to join Saskatoon Open Door Society (SODS) as a settlement worker in schools (SWIS).

“Not giving up on my passion helped me achieve success,” says Abukar. “I was also open-minded about where I looked for opportunities and was willing to move.”

In his new province of Saskatchewan, Abukar was quickly recognized for his passion, abilities and leadership skills; he was promoted to program team leader just four months later. After leading the society’s SWIS and youth programs for a little over a year and half, Abukar stepped up to become its chief executive officer in November 2015. He has been leading SODS, one of the largest newcomer-serving agencies in the Prairies with more than 220 employees serving more than 13,000 newcomers annually, ever since.

In the pursuit of social justice, he also serves on multiple community organizations’ boards and advisory committees, working to ensure the voices of immigrants and refugees as well as Black Canadians and people of colour are included in discussions and decision-making processes.

“Making a difference in people’s lives is what I love about my job and volunteering efforts,” says Abukar. For his ongoing advocacy for equity, inclusion and social justice, Abukar was recognized as a Champion for Human Rights in 2020 by the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission.

Ali Abukar’s Top Tip:

“Be yourself, connect, network and get involved in your community by contributing to it positively.”