arrived at university looking for a community that shared her interest in entrepreneurship and law, as well as her lived experience as a racialized person. The pressures of first year — combined with the demands of running her own business — made for a slow start. But once she resolved to take action, her connections and involvement quickly snowballed.

Over the coming years, Eghujovbo became an award-winning student leader, advocate and mentor to Black students at the University of Toronto Mississauga. At the same time, she gained real-world skills through research positions and internships in business and law. Now, as she graduates this spring, Eghujovbo is looking ahead to a career that builds on everything she's learned in and out of the classroom.

“Long term, I hope to help minority business founders with legal knowledge that will allow them to succeed in their ventures,” says Eghujovbo, who earned an honours bachelor of arts with a double major in sociology and criminology, law and society.

In high school, she started a hair-care business, so she knows the challenges of entrepreneurship first-hand. Her plan is to study corporate law so she can empower marginalized entrepreneurs in the corporate world, including herself.  

Eghujovbo says this mission started to take shape when she joined her first student organization at UTM. “I became co-president of the African Students Association in second year, and that experience opened my eyes to what I could make of my undergrad. With this in mind, I just started applying to everything that interested me.”

That determination led to leadership roles with student groups such as UTM Black Future Lawyers and the Black Undergraduate Coalition. She also worked as an outreach assistant at Black@UTM and held research roles on projects exploring youth poverty reduction; equity, diversity and inclusion in post-secondary hiring; and a writing collective for Caribbean and Black post-secondary students. 

“The support that I had at UTM from professors, informal mentors, students and supervisors was unmatched,” says Eghujovbo, whose honours include the U of T Excellence Award for research in the social sciences and humanities, the UTM Student Leadership Award in Equity and Inclusion and the U of T Student Leader Award. “Everyone was so happy to see me succeed. And that’s been the most motivating thing for me, especially when I didn't see it in myself.”

Emboldened by that support, Eghujovbo decided to share it with local Black high school students by working with the UTM Centre for Student Engagement’s SEE@UTM program. “There's so much meaning and impact in helping other people get to where you are, and even far beyond,” she says.

One interaction with a prospective student was particularly memorable. “He was interested in law but unsure, and even though I was still trying to pave my own way and figure things out, I could be that representation for him,” she says. “He ended up coming to UTM and intends to go to law school.”

Eghujovbo felt similar inspiration when she secured two law placements that confirmed her decision to pursue corporate law — the In-House Legal Internship at Bell, an initiative of U of T’s Future of Law Lab, and Gowling WLG’s Avenue Program. She built on that momentum through an internship with the Black Founders Network, an initiative of U of T Entrepreneurship, which she describes as a transformative experience.

“It was so influential to be among people making a difference in the founders' space, people who look like me and are chasing the same sort of dreams as me,” she says.

Recently, Eghujovbo received the Black Founders Network Smart Start Award, which provides funding and practical guidance to young entrepreneurs. She’ll be spending this summer developing a new venture while preparing to apply to both law school and business school.

“I’ve learned a lot about myself and where I see myself going these past four years,” she says. “Overall, I think that UTM has definitely showed me that the sky’s the limit.”