Using Lived Experiences, Tactful Resource Management and Avoiding Mission Drift with Candies Kotchapaw

Beyond the Bake Sale

Candies Kotchapaw is a passionate change maker focused on amplifying the excellence within Black communities in Canada and beyond. She holds a Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees in social work from York University, and a Diploma in Child and Youth Work from George Brown College in Toronto, Canada.

Candies’ work centers around education, training, and mentorship in careers where Black talents are stereotypically under-represented. Over the course of the last 3 years, she has successfully spearheaded the development of two community-based leadership development programs. #LeadLikeAGirl is a program for Black girls ages 8-17. Young girls in this program are mentored by Black women and allied women to disrupt the gender wage disparity in professional careers. From her own lived experience of lack of access to the diplomatic education and training space, she developed the Black Diplomats Academy for young professionals interested in careers in diplomacy and negotiation.