There were early days in Canada when Bharati Sethi’s PhD dreams must have seemed worlds away. But even when employers at her waitressing and cleaning jobs laughed at the notion that she would one day be a professor, Bharati kept moving toward her goals.
Now a Londoner for two years, an award-winning researcher named one of London’s “diversity and inclusion champions” and listed among the Royal Bank’s “top 25 immigrants to Canada,” Bharati was an aspiring Hotel Management student in Montreal when she first moved to Canada from Mumbai 20 years ago. 
As her status shifted in Canada from a foreign student to a foreign worker, she had to overcome many new obstacles – racism being the biggest constant challenge, and continuing to this day – and she says she realized many of the hardships that she and so many other newcomers faced were directly connected to policies. With that awareness, Bharati felt compelled to do more research that could result in policy changes that would have a direct impact on future hardships.  As an assistant professor of social work at King’s College, Western University in London, she works directly with students and other academics to achieve the greater goal of making this country more inclusive.
For her thesis – titled “Do You See What I See?” – Bharati provided cameras to immigrant women and asked them to capture images that they felt illustrated their experiences in Canada. The project has been exhibited in several Ontario cities and received praise for empowering women who are marginalized by giving them an opportunity to tell their own stories using photographs.
As a London diversity and inclusion champion, Bharati provides input to the city on how to be inclusive. She reminds governments at all levels that the health of a community depends on the health of all its residents, including newcomers and immigrants.
And as someone who has struggled, yet continued to focus on moving toward her goals, her advice to newcomers is to do the same.  “If you stop, you know for sure that you will not reach your goal,” says Bharati. “If you need to rest, rest for a bit, if you need to crawl, then crawl, but always keep moving.”

With five young children, London was a good choice for  Asmaa and her husband to make their new home after leaving the uncertainty that surrounded life in Syria. Considered a quiet, safe city, London has a reputation as a “good place to raise a family,” and that’s exactly what they needed. Originally from Iraq, the family spent five years in Syria before the United Nations High Commission for Refugees selected their family as refugees to be placed in Canada.
“To have our file selected to go to Canada was a big dream come true,” says Asmaa, who was a medical doctor in Iraq. The entire family obtained citizenship in August 2015, and Asmaa now works in London as a medical interpreter.
“I wish to give Canada all that I can,” says Asmaa, “This is where we will be staying forever and we just want an equal opportunity to succeed.”
When they arrived, the couple didn’t know anybody in London, so they began reaching out as volunteers and immediately sought to get “equalization” for their Master's degrees and to learn how they could integrate into Canadian society with ease. Community connections led  to Asmaa becoming a certified interpreter. She now works for Across Languages.
Asmaa also volunteers with the Middlesex London Health Unit, London Intercommunity Health Centre, London Middlesex Local Immigration Partnership, London Cross Cultural Learner Centre, her children’s schools and community centres.
In 2017, Asmaa was selected for the award “Life As Refugee Award - From Refugee to Londoner.”
She hopes her experience can inspire other newcomers. She urges other newcomers to push through discomfort and get involved in the community through ESL classes, job workshops and volunteering. Doing so leads to improved language skills, which Asmaa considers the key to success in Canada.
“I want to inspire people,” says Asmaa. “I want someone to look at me and say, ‘because of you, I didn’t give up.’”
She asks the broader community to “open your doors for the newcomers,” arriving in London with educational and career experience from all over the world.