Championing Social Change: A Spotlight on Professor Bethel Woldemichael
UTM grad and professor pushes for shifts in social attitude in her policy research and her work
As a senior consultant in equity and human rights for the City of Toronto, Bethel Woldemichael is shaping workplace culture and policies to be better centered on equity, diversity and inclusion.
“I’m really interested in looking into organizational behavior,” says Woldemichael, who graduated from UTM with a BSc in psychology in 2012 and is now a PhD candidate in policy studies at Toronto Metropolitan University. “What kind of culture enables good work to happen, what kind of leadership do you need, what are the ingredients to build an organization that is actually impactful and combatting racism.”
At the City of Toronto, Woldemichael leads the integration of equity-minded policy in the approval of future city programs and developments, in addition to addressing gaps in knowledge and inclusion internally.
During her master’s studies in social and behavioral health sciences at U of T’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health, Woldemichael pursued several practicums with public agencies, including SickKids and Toronto Public Health, where, she says, she gained real-world insight into decision making at top health agencies in Canada.
“I didn’t think I’d be interested in government positions because, after also doing practicums with the government, I found it a bit redundant and lacking creativity,” says Woldemichael.
With the growth of Black Lives Matter in 2020, however, Woldemichael began to investigate how social attitudes are influenced by movements and the resulting implications for policy decisions and priorities within public institutions.
The offer of a position as a sessional lecturer at UTM in the Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies program then allowed Woldemichael to make her commitment to social progress two-fold: in research and in her role with City of Toronto.
“I love coming back to school,” says Woldemichael, now a professor of women, gender and sexuality studies at UTM. “The discussions, the critical thinking, the assignments that make you think beyond what you’ve read, I found that I really like that.”
This interview was first published as part of Black at UTM, an initiative that emerged from U of T’s Anti-Black Racism Task Force with a goal of showcasing Black excellence at UTM and making campus a welcoming environment where Black students, staff, faculty and librarians feel included, inspired, safe and celebrated.
