Amplifying Voices: Ottawa Gee-Gees Kwabena-Nana Gyimah

The OUA Amplifying Voices Series will share the stories, the efforts, and the impacts of the OUA’s champions of equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI), from those who have earned conference awards within their respective sport to those who continue to make a difference within their team, their campus, and their community.

Burlington, Ont. (via Hayley McGoldrick) - The Bernie Custis Champion of EDI Award was named after a man who was a trailblazer for Canadian football, both as a player and coach, inspiring future generations of athletes in professional and university football. 

It's only fitting that the recipient of that award embodied the same values that Custis did, someone who left a legacy with the work done both on and off the field, a leader for marginalized voices around him, and someone who wanted to leave the sport in a better place than he found it.  

Kwabena-Nana Gyimah, a third-year linebacker for the Ottawa Gee-Gees football team, was the inaugural recipient of the renamed award, and only the third recipient of the Champion of EDI Award for football. 

The difference that Gyimah wants to make expands far from what he does on the field – his 13.5 tackles in eight games this season is an impressive feat, but the work to be an elite athlete on top of balancing studies barely skims the surface of what makes up Gyimah as a person. 

He is the current co-president of the University of Ottawa Black Student-Athlete Advocacy Council (BSAAC), volunteers for the Brotherhood Mentoring Program, was a lead member of Level Up, an initiative that gives underserved youth an opportunity to experience academics and athletics at a university level, and is active in creating the Ottawa Gee-Gees Recreation and Varsity Sport Anti-Racism plan, just to name a few initiatives. 

For someone so involved and passionate about bettering himself, the Black community at the University of Ottawa, and youth in the Ottawa community, Gyimah's involvement didn't come until his second year as a Gee-Gee, when he realized that even the smallest of his actions can make the biggest impacts. 

"I wasn't really deeply involved until my second year of university, and that's when I joined BSAAC for my first year. At the time, one of my teammates was the president, so he said, 'Hey, come out, come visit, see if you like it.' After my first year, I just fell in love with being a part of community and being able to help the university behind the scenes," said Gyimah. 

"The advocacy part as well, speaking up for Black and BIPOC voices was really interesting." 

While Gyimah was content with his efforts being a general member of BSAAC, it was apparent to others that he was meant for a role that meant more, and when three of his fellow students asked him if he would be interested in running for president of the council, Gyimah reflected on the opportunity and took the chance.  

After attending the OUA Annual General Meeting where BSAAC presented their best practices, as well as attending the ICSN Diversity in Sports Conference and doing work directly with the University of Ottawa, Gyimah realized his passion off the field was in being able to build plans and initiatives as well as carry them out, taking more active roles throughout campus. Being able to give back to others the way that Gyimah felt he had been given in his life was just as important as his grades or his on field performance. 

"I've been blessed with a lot of mentors in my life and a lot of people older than me. I'm the youngest boy in my family, and just the youngest in my circle as well… Seeing that the people that have come before me have paved the way so that my life can be easier is part of the motivation of why I'm still the BSAAC president, and why I feel like I have to keep on going," said Gyimah. 

"Even though it may be stressful, although I may have a playoff game on Friday, or whatever it may be, I know that the generation that comes after me will be thankful and will benefit from the work that my council has done and being able to pave that way. Life for future BIPOC athletes will be easier and more accessible, and they will feel more comfortable on campus. Being able to recognize that my work is helping the future generation as well as the generation on campus right now is more than enough motivation for me to keep going." 

While the impact made on current and future Black and BIPOC student athletes is meaningful work for Gyimah, his work spans beyond the walls of the University of Ottawa, and the greater community in the nation's capital also get to feel the influence. 

Level Up, a community program in which students aged from elementary to high school have the opportunity to learn about university life through interactive workshops and hands-on activities, has helped to give insight to young students on life-changing career opportunities, which Gyimah has been a part of.  

"For me, it's a great impact, because growing up in Hamilton… there wasn't a lot of exposure to life after university. I didn't realize I wanted to go to university and play football until my grade 13 year after reflection in COVID. Being able to go into the community and show children from my demographic, BIPOC children, that they can go to university and that this is a career path for them, it's pretty interesting," said Gyimah. 

"Kids that look like me, act like me, talk like me, come from where I come from say 'I can do it too.' It opens other avenues, because they can see other people in certain positions, like we have women's rugby players on our team, and a lot of Black high school women don't have anybody playing rugby, so it's like, 'Oh, I didn't know Black women could play rugby.' So it's cool to go on to the community to physically show the children what they can be, or even better." 

With the list of organizations and initiatives Gyimah is involved with, it's hard to understand how he has time for his studies, let alone football; on top of his work with BSAAC and Level Up, Gyimah is a leader to help execute the annual Black Excellence Gala, fundraises for the BIPOC Student-Athlete Scholarship, organized BSAAC Connect, as well as the first ever Ottawa Black Grad. 

Gyimah is also working as a member of Ottawa's Black Coalition, as well as being a mentor for young men in the Ottawa community as part of the Brotherhood Mentoring Program. The work he has done will have lasting impressions on fellow student athletes, Black and BIPOC uOttawa students, and the greater Ottawa community.  

But the work isn't about the accolades for Gyimah – it's about being a leader, a trailblazer, and just like Custis before him, creating a legacy and leaving the University of Ottawa in a better place than he found it. 

"It's a blessing to be awarded for the work that my council has done, [but] I'm kind of just the face of the brand. There's so many people working behind me, so I have done a lot, but it's nothing without the team. It was great to be recognized, especially with Bernie Custis doing a lot in Hamilton, and me being a Hamilton native, was great to see," said Gyimah.  

"I got a chance to kind of highlight the people that came before me as well in the EDI space and the advocacy space, so that it shows that the work that I do is not just because I'm able to, but people have set building blocks so that I can build upon it as well."