Dr Njoki Wane, PhD, is a professor at the University of Toronto. She is currently serving as Chair in the Department of Social Justice Education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE). An accomplished educator and educational leader, Professor Wane headed the Office of Teaching Support at OISE from 2009 to 2012 establishing its priorities and activities while recognizing equity as a central dimension of good teaching. From 2011 to 2014, Professor Wane served as Special Advisor on Status of Women Issues, contributing to research and policy development concerning the intersectionality of gender with race, disability, sexual orientation and aboriginal status, and the impact of these issues on the lived experiences of women faculty, staff and students at the University of Toronto.

She also served as Director, Center for Integrative Anti-Racism Studies (CIARS) at OISE from 2006 to 2014. An award-winning teacher, Professor Wane has been nominated for TVO Best Lecturer, and was the recipient of the African Women Achievement Award in 2007, the Harry Jerome Professional Excellence Award in 2008; David E. Hunt Award for Excellence in Graduate Education at OISE, University of Toronto, 2016; The  President of Toronto Teaching Award, 2017 as a recognition for her tremendous contributions to teaching, learning and student supervision at the graduate level and in 2018 she was the recipient of African Scholars Awards – a recognition given to faculty, students, alumni and community leaders by the African Alumni Association at U of T.

Professor Wane is a recognized scholar in the areas of Black feminisms in Canada & Africa, African indigenous knowledge, Anti-colonial and decolonizing education and African women and spirituality. A prolific writer with an impressive record of scholarship, Professor Wane’s quality of work is consistently excellent. A glance at Professor Wane’s resume shows a productive educator and scholar who has developed her own distinct voice in multiple axes of research, teaching and publications. She has thirteen (14) books, 33 chapters and 24 articles in refereed journals, and presented at over 300 conferences both locally and internationally.  From her resume, Professor Wane has supervised to completion 23 PhD and 44 Master’s students and has been an external examiner for 15 PhDs in addition to serving on many theses committees.

Research Areas

African Indigenous Knowledge, Anti-Colonial, Decolonial, Black Canadian feminisms, Black Women in Leadership Positions in Higher Education, Spirituality, African Herbal Medicine.

Reason for Nomination& Category of Nomination

I am nominating professor Wane to draw attention to her good deeds where she has created multiple spaces and opportunities for the people of African descent to excel in the Western Academy and through her research and teachings on Indigenous knowledge, she is helping people achieve a sense of self rooted in their spirituality. She has helped opened the way for many people, including myself, creating a path in closed settings, and now, we can walk through the door. Her motherly way of nurturing, care and teaching, along with support through the very hard task of graduate research work is a significant role that she plays in the lives of her students, and this has seen many students of African-descent graduate and goes on to do good work. It is my hope that recognizing her will help to inspire other people around the world that will rise up and make a difference.