The John Ware Institute
The John Ware Institute (JWI) is a not-for-profit founded by Dr. Ufodike, – a Black academic, finance executive, entrepreneur, and board director. The John Ware Institute was founded in 2020 in the wake of the social justice movement.
JWI is founded on the principles of investigating and proposing solutions to social inequity – particularly concerning the representation of Black Indigenous and Persons of Color (BIPOC) in positions of governance and in their health and socio-economic outcomes.
The Board of Directors, Advisory Board, and Venture Advisory Board of the Institute have demonstrated extensive experience and expertise in health, business, and entrepreneurship within the Black and other marginalized communities. Consequently, JWI is well positioned to build capacity and knowledge sharing on the future of Black people in Canadian business while also improving the health and socio-economic outcomes of marginalized Canadians.
As an organization committed to supporting the BIPOC community, we seek to ensure our leadership is reflective of the BIPOC community.
The John Ware Institute (JWI) in Canada is dedicated to the development of Black entrepreneurship. Its Board of Directors comprises individuals with diverse backgrounds in business, academia, health, law, project management, and public policy. This dynamic mix of expertise drives JWI’s mission to empower and uplift Black professionals, fostering a thriving and inclusive business landscape. For more information, please visit their website at johnware.ca.
THE SOCIOLOGY OF INCLUSION
- Offering solutions that assist in overcoming the systemic barriers faced by Black directors, businesses, and entrepreneurs with a focus on:
- management and governance capacity; and
- lack of access to capital
- Offering solutions that assist in overcoming the systemic barriers faced by Black people in the professions with a focus on:
- Increasing the supply of Black academics especially in Business
- Labour market integration for Foreign trained professionals e.g. accountants, lawyers, and medical doctors; and
- Attracting black students to in-demand professions – e.g. accountancy, law, and medicine
- Evaluating and advising on epidemiological data and other population health indices specific to the black community, including and especially on matters related to equitable access to medical research and preventative health.
All programs will be offered for a National audience in Canada and findings will be distributed primarily online, through virtual seminars, speaker series, and educational conferences to ensure the best possible reach. In addition, findings will be distributed in both official languages, English and French.
Our Story
John Ware is a Black Canadian pioneer. He went from slave to community leader and successful businessman. In many ways, his story is legendary – a story of the Canadian frontier and a story of overcoming adversity.
The John Ware Institute draws inspiration from John Ware’s legacy. We need more black pioneers, we need more black leaders, we need more black business people.
Luckily, in current day Canada there are many ‘John Wares’ and many black people on the path to discovering their inner John Ware. Yet, the absence of black people in leadership and board roles is often rationalized as a supply side problem.
The John Ware Institute aspires to play an integral role in illuminating the profiles of the many modern-day John Ware’s, so they get noticed. Furthermore, the Institute also plans on fostering the development of Canada’s next crop of Black board directors and business leaders. Lofty and aspirational goals – but a walk in the park compared to the adversity John Ware overcame in his time.
You can find out more about John Ware on his Wikipedia page (excerpts below) and from the Movie John Ware reclaimed by Ms. Cheryl Foggo.