Akuol Philip Kur

Current City: Toronto, Ontario

Year arrived in Canada: 2013

School: The University of British Columbia (BCom), University of Toronto (MPP)

Academic Programs: BCom, Business Technology Management; MPP, Master of Public Policy (MPP)

Occupation: Regional Lead Research Officer, Health Entrepreneurship

1.      What inspired you to pursue your studies in Public Policy of all the academic programs that were available to you? 

In high school, my ideas of what I wanted to become bounced between medicine, actuarial science and computer science. At UBC, I enrolled in Computer Science. I quickly figured out I was more of a people person and decided to add a bit of business to my degree. I love courses that incorporate presentations and social activities. I zeroed in on commerce with co-op and specialized in business technology. Fast forward, I went on co-op work terms and started my own charity organization. After undergrad, I found Public Policy sat at the intersection of all the areas I was passionate about, non-profit, policy, technology & business. I wanted to do a masters program to gain more exposure and give myself credibility to better support my community. I therefore applied to the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy at the University of Toronto. This program equipped me with a high level understanding of how organizations worked, program design and stakeholder management.

2.      What are your main success factors in your academic journey? Inherent intellectual aptitude goes without saying.

Personal ambition. I am comfortable being vulnerable, putting myself out there, trying new things and being laughed at. Accepting who I am and not running away from my background has helped me connect with people. People love authenticity.

3.      Can you tell me a bit about your career path and what led you to your current role (if working)?

My program at Sauder had co-op so I had a chance to go on interesting co-op work terms. Last year I landed a role with the federal government in the IP sector. The exposure to work on cool IP projects opened other doors for me. I interned at my current job and showcased by capabilities. I did a good job and was hired back full time.

4.       What are the challenges you faced trying to get to where you are today, if any?

• Language barrier. I had a thick accent early on and wasn’t confident expressing myself. After a while, I accepted who I was and started having the needed conversations with relevant people to realize my goals.

• Lack of mentorship. When I enrolled in computer science at UBC I didn’t have a senior that was in the same path as me. I therefore didn’t get much hand holding and had to figure things out on my own.

• Limited network. I didn’t have much network to leverage. I therefore set out to build a community of my own. Right now I am comfortable with how everything works and can mentor young girls starting their post-secondary journeys.

5.      What does your average workday look like?

I am currently working remotely so I mostly use my mornings for meetings. I have work partners in India and other parts of the world, so time zone constraints come into the picture. I use morning meetings to set expectations and take notes on deliverables for the day or the week. In the afternoons, I work on the actual deliverables. This involves sending emails, writing proposals, briefings and doing research. I would then check in with my supervisor at the end of my work day.

6.      What’s something about your line of work that would surprise the average street Joe?

We are in a knowledge economy. What most people don’t realize is that Knowledge institutions, higher education centers for that matter, share knowledge very closely with many stakeholders that range from hospitals, sports teams, cities, NGOs, thinktanks and different government branches. This requires us to adapt our language and mandates to match whoever we are working with.

7.      Do you have a mentor? If so, how have they helped you in your academic or professional career?

I don’t have a mentor at the moment. However, I did take a shot at this mentorship thingy when I was in undergrad. The mentorship relationships I started didn’t quite pass the test of time. Never the less, I did come away with some good ideas, one of which is to map out areas of personal growth in an excel spreadsheet and find people already successful in those areas.

8.      What’s your favorite thing about your job or industry? In other words, what fuels your enthusiasm and helps you get out of bed on a winter Monday morning?

Making a difference in people’s lives gives me joy. I get to play a role in enabling youth to create jobs and wealth for themselves. Developing projects for students so that they become job creators instead of job seekers is satisfying. The idea of helping a startup survive is noble. Startups add value to their communities. This sector also gives me a chance to build a personal network that transcends international boundaries.

9.  Is your racial profile helping or hindering your professional growth? That is, if race is a factor at all.

Race is a factor in everything we do. Skin color matters more than we think. Coupled with my academic credentials, I think my race & gender have worked in my favor over the last few years. International Entrepreneurship is a space which requires working with people from different countries and cultural backgrounds. Being a born-and-raised African who speaks multiple languages, I bring a lot of insights to the table. I connect easily with contacts from far flung corners of the world. My work is therefore appreciated. There is so much intersectionality between our profiles and lived experiences.

10.  Looking back, did you envision this is where you would be when you were in high school?

I did not anticipate to be doing what I am doing now. I also do not expect to stay on this path forever. Very few people get to retire in the same life-time occupation these days. Save for doctors, majority of people take what the economy gives them. They pursue what gives them energy at a given time and move on to other exciting things when that initial excitement fizzles out.

11. What do you know now that you wished you had known before you started your career?

What I know now is that we have to be growth-focused instead of career-oriented. In the new gig economy, we have to be agile in our thinking. Deep down, everyone knows what’s best for them at a given time. We should only go after what we believe-in and our hearts desire. We should not be controlled by community whims and fancies.

12.  Do you have any advice to new WUSC students? 

• Be flexible about your academic areas of study. Be willing to change as you become aware of the realities on the ground.

• Never pass up a chance to do co-op or work on campus if those options are available to you. Don’t focus too much on scoring good grades in your courses at the expense of real world work experience. Also, if you choose to work and make money, the types of jobs that will be readily available to you will be manual. If you do one of those warehouse or production jobs for too long, you will get stuck there. Your experience may not transfer to your career job later, should you graduate and start looking for a job in your field. Strive to get jobs that are relevant to your career goals.

• Learn to balance personal growth with family responsibilities. Don’t let your altruism kill your dreams. Life requires tradeoffs, you can not do everything well. You have to choose what to prioritize at a given time. If you choose to fully take on family responsibility before graduating, you are choosing against your education/career.