In this episode of BlackTalk, Dr. Andy Knight and Samira Schultz speak with Dr. Bukola Salami, who is leading major national work on Black child and youth well-being, including the SSHRC-funded Transforming Black Lives partnership project, which focuses on how systems such as education, health, justice, child welfare, and immigration and settlement shape the lives of Black children and youth in Canada. Dr. Salami’s research has made major contributions to the study of Black health, migrant and refugee well-being, Black youth mental health, and the structural conditions that shape access to care, opportunity, and belonging.

Professor Bukola Salami is a Registered Nurse, Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Black and Racialized People’s Health, and a Full Professor at the University of Calgary. Her research focuses on the well-being of Black, immigrant, and racialized groups, with involvement in over 90 funded studies worth $230 million. Salami founded the African Child and Youth Migration Network and the Black Youth Mentorship and Leadership Program, aimed at empowering Black high school students in Western Canada. She has contributed to the creation of the first mental health clinic for Black Canadians in the region and has trained over 100 students, many now in academic roles. Salami is Vice President of the Canadian Nurses Association and serves on multiple boards, including the Black Opportunity Fund and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.