Keshana King, Brian Fraser Recent Graduate Award
Global youth entrepreneurship leader
Business — Management & Entrepreneurship, Class of 2019
Keshana King always had a passion for advocacy, education and business, but it wasn’t until she graduated from the Business Management and Entrepreneurship program at Algonquin College in 2019 that she really began to put her passion to work.
As a student, King worked at the College’s Learning and Teaching Services and quickly honed her skills to transition into a full-time role with Algonquin College after graduation. In this role, King combined her interests in education and facilitation to support current and prospective students in the digital education and micro-credential streams.
“Even though my studies are in business, most of my work experience has been in education because it’s another field that I am really passionate about,” says King. “I really see learning as something for everyone: business leaders, students, even educators.”
Today, King’s appetite for education is echoed in her civic engagement and career.
“Some of the best learning experiences I have had have been outside of the classroom, so I’ve continued working in education in the non-profit space and now in the public service, as a project coordinator at the Canada School of Public Service,” says King.
But her desire to support communities through education doesn’t stop there. When King envisions her career path, she focuses on combining her education with her passion for educating others.
“Eventually I’m hoping to be able to support Canadian entrepreneurs internationally, including youth, who are interested in developing a business in Canada,” says King. “I feel like there’s so much value in getting to build something of your own and even though I haven’t had the privilege to do that myself, I know that’s the end goal for my career.”
In many ways, King is already an entrepreneur and changemaker. In May 2019, King was invited to participate in the Centre for Social Enterprise Development SE Start-Up Lab pre-accelerator program. This led to her joining the Young Leaders Dinner at the British High Commission in Ottawa. Participants at the dinner made climate-change policy recommendations for the next United Nations Climate Change Conference.
Her work as an SDG (Social Development Goals) Social Impact Mentor with the United Nations Association in Canada and recent graduation from the Black Diplomats Academy further King’s devotion to creating systemic community change through education and business mentorship.
“At the Black Diplomats Academy, I was able to take all of the entrepreneurship and impact knowledge that I’d gathered and apply it in a different space — a policy space — which was new for me but really opened up my eyes to what is possible by looking at things through an international lens,” shares King.
With roots in Bermuda, Barbados, Jamaica and Haiti, King’s involvement in the Black Diplomats Academy served to further her passion for supporting Black Canadian youth of similar Caribbean descent. King said she hopes she can be a role model for other Black youth eager to make an impact.
“During my time in the pre-accelerator program I began developing a social action project called TAP, which stands for The Actionpreneur Project. TAP is an educational program for Black youth to learn about entrepreneurship,” she says.
King began developing TAP in 2019 and immediately received seed funding for the project. However, when COVID-19 hit, the project was put on hold. She hopes to continue TAP through programming at Genvironment Canada, where she serves as the marketing and business strategy lead. Genvironment Canada is an Ottawa-based non-profit that runs environmental education programming for children and youth with a focus on sustainability.
“The goal of the organization is ultimately to empower youth to make a change and to do something different. We recognize that environmentalism is not just the green cost of things but the human cost of things,” King explains.
Outside of her entrepreneurial endeavours, King facilitated a variety of other community programs, including YouthSpeak! Ottawa, a youth poetry program at the Ottawa Public Library.
“In high school I joined a poetry club, and it was honestly what kept me going to school most times,” she says. “It’s one of the spaces I really feel I’ve had the most impact in and was able to serve as a mentor for youth.”
Mentorship is what continues to drive King in her career today.
“When I joined OCDSB (Ottawa-Carleton District School Board)’s Social Entrepreneurs Program as a business mentor, we were still operating virtually. When I showed up on camera to meet the kids, they were like, ‘Oh my goodness, she’s so cool,’ but what I really understood from that was the value of having diversity at the table,” she says.
King reflects fondly on a similar memory from her youth.
“When I was in Grade 6 and Shelley-Ann Brown, the Olympic bobsledder who had just won silver at the Olympics that year, came to my school to visit, I remember trying to hold back tears. It was very momentous for me. I was so proud and motivated to see myself represented in someone with so much success.”
That sense of empowerment is what King tries to embody every day, “I want to use business to make social dreams a reality. I believe that working better makes us better.”