Tameka Samuels-Jones, an assistant professor in York University's Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, alongside four of her colleagues, has been named one of this year's recipients of the Robbins-Ollivier Award for Excellence in Equity, a prestigious $100,000 grant from the Government of Canada and its Tri-agency Institutional Programs Secretariat.
Tameka Samuels-Jones
The grant aims to increase equity levels in the Canada Research Chairs program and the country's research ecosystem more broadly. Recipients are nominated by their institutions to lead "bold and potentially game-changing initiatives that will challenge the status quo, spark change and take action to address persistent systemic barriers" within higher education.
The York University initiative is a team effort and it establishes the Black, Indigenous and Latinx Research Laboratory (BILX-Lab) at the Centre for Research on Latin America & the Caribbean (CERLAC), of which Samuels-Jones is co-director.
Samuels-Jones is joined by a team that includes: Andrea Davis, an associate professor in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies; Carl James, the Jean Augustine Chair in Education, Community and Diaspora in the Faculty of Education; Miguel González Pérez, an assistant professor in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies; and Danielle Robinson, an associate professor in the School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design.
Under Samuels-Jones's leadership, the BILX-Lab will support Black, Caribbean, Indigenous and Latinx graduate students as they advance their careers as emerging scholars, providing them with greater access to research funding, formal mentorship programs, writing retreats, professional development workshops and related resources.
"This grant will ensure York's diverse and vibrant graduate students - regardless of their area of study within the Latin America and Caribbean region - have access to resources that will facilitate their success in their master's and PhD programs, while also strengthening their marketability in academia," said Samuels-Jones. "The BILX-Lab will enhance the experiences of both the 45+ students CERLAC currently serves and those it aims to reach."
For Samuels-Jones, the supports made possible by the grant reflect the kind she wished had been available to her when she was a graduate student.
"There were real challenges that impacted my ability to get to where I am now," said the trained criminologist, who studies corporate environmental crimes in Latin America and the Caribbean, including her home country of Jamaica.
"Black, Indigenous and Latinx researchers do not lack skills; those skills are worth fostering. What they lack is opportunity," said Samuels-Jones. "With the support from the federal government and York University, I am grateful to help provide these promising young researchers with the care and attention they deserve."
In addition to the $100,000 from the Robbins-Olliver Excellence in Equity Award, the BILX-Lab is further supported by $50,000 from the Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation and the Office of the Vice-President Equity, People & Culture.
For more information about the award, visit the Government of Canada website. For more information about CERLAC, one of York University's Organized Research Units, visit yorku.ca/cerlac.
This story was originally featured in YFile, York University's community newsletter.
