Professor Bukola Salami, a Canada-based Nigerian nurse, has been elected vice president of the Canadian Nurses Association (CNA). The election took place during the CNA’s virtual annual meeting on Thursday, marking a notable milestone in Salami’s already distinguished career.
Currently a professor at the University of Calgary, Salami competed against Farah Khan, an experienced nurse and adjunct lecturer at the University of Toronto, for the position. Until her latest appointment, Salami served as a board member of the association.
Salami’s journey in nursing began with a degree from the University of Windsor, Ontario, in 2004. She furthered her education with a master’s degree in nursing administration and a PhD from the University of Toronto, earned in 2008 and 2014 respectively.
Throughout her career, Salami has made a profound impact, especially at the intersection of migrants’ health and Black youth development. Her pioneering work on the mental health of Black youth led to the establishment of the first mental health clinic for Black Canadians in Western Canada.
“I am a registered nurse and a tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Black and Racialized People’s Health at the University of Calgary,” Salami shares in her bio on the CNA website. Her extensive experience includes roles such as a registered nurse at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto and an inter-professional educator on immigrant health. From 2014 to 2023, she was a professor of nursing at the University of Alberta, where she notably served as the Director of the Intersections of Gender Signature Area and founded the African Child and Youth Migration Network.
In addition to her academic and professional achievements, Salami founded the Black Youth Mentorship and Leadership Program in 2020 and continues to contribute as an editor for the Canadian Journal of Nursing Research and as a member of multiple advisory boards, including the CIHR Institute for Human Development, Child and Youth Health, and the Government of Canada’s Scientific Advisory Committee on Global Health.
Upon her election, Salami responded to a congratulatory tweet from the CNA, expressing her commitment to advancing inclusive health equity in partnership with diverse stakeholders across Canada.
This new role amplifies Salami’s ability to influence health policy and outcomes, reinforcing her position as a pivotal figure in nursing and health advocacy.
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