UTSC Commons spoke with four U of T Scarborough alumni about their lives and careers after university studies.
Estherlita Griffiths
If Estherlita Griffiths (BSc, 1992) had gone to university right after high school, she wouldn’t be where she is today — Divisional Vice President, Enterprise Architecture & IT Governance at Sears Canada.
“I wanted to do something in biological science,” says Griffiths, “but I didn’t have money to go to university. So I took night courses, including a computer course, which I really liked.” Then, when she did apply to university, it was to do computer science.
It makes sense that Griffiths is leading and developing IT strategy and solutions, because she likes to make things better. “It comes from my faith and my family. We tend to make a difference by helping others.” A few years ago, when Griffiths was living in Calgary, she developed a program for the Mental Health Commission of Canada to empower youth affected by mental health issues.
What’s coming down the pipeline for Griffiths? “The goal I’ve had is to become a CIO or CTO. But I continue to want to move into roles where I can make a significant impact on others.” Griffiths says she would love to combine her background in technology with the ability to help others, especially to erase the stigma of mental illness.
Aleem Israel
Aleem Israel (BCom, 2001) says he knows one thing: the co-op program is fantastic. “It opened my eyes to different areas of finance available. I wish every program offered the opportunity to help students choose the right path when they graduate.”
The program showed Israel, right away, that he would not be happy working for a large company. “I knew I wanted to work in a smaller one.” After graduation, he was hired as an equity research associate at Cormark Securities, a small, employee-owned investment dealer. He was promoted to equity analyst a year later and became a director in 2003. Then his entrepreneurial spirit surfaced, and he established Cormark’s income trust business, which grew to be the largest independent income trust research coverage on Bay Street.
“At my core, I am an entrepreneur,” says Israel, who is now president and portfolio manager at AFINA Capital Management. “It was scary,” he admits. “I left a secure, well-paying job in 2009 to start my own company. But it worked out.” In future Israel hopes to grow AFINA, and has his eye on Vancouver. He hopes to add portfolio managers there, as well as more of them here in Ontario.
Israel has community spirit too. He serves as vice-chair of the advisory board for the Flato Markham Theatre, and led a plan to create the first foundation for the theatre.
Michael Nearing
If you love your job, then you’re a lucky person. This is true of Michael Nearing (BSc, 2000), head of Solution Architecture Americas at Giesecke & Devrient. He says it all began in school. “I thank UTSC for a stepping stone.”
As a student, he worked in the computer labs doing support, eventually becoming responsible for the computer labs and support team.
Nearing graduated before the dot-com bubble burst. He worked for companies such as Research in Motion and BMO, as well as smaller tech firms, before taking his present position.
“It’s so satisfying, all that we can do with technology. We’re on the bleeding edge,” he says, “and you really only get a chance to do something like this once in a lifetime.”
Nearing likes to compare technological advances with the way we view electricity. “When you plug something into the wall, you just expect the power to be there,” he says. “That’s the way people will view Wi-Fi and cellular services in the future. It will just be there, no one will even think about it.”
Nicole Cajucom
Life has come full circle for Nicole Cajucom (BA, 2012), who says she grew up disassociated from her Filipino heritage. But after completing the Specialist Program in Arts and Culture, she landed an internship at the Kapisanan Philippine Centre for Arts & Culture, where she is now executive director.
“It was transformative for me to enter a space with other Filipino youth who wanted to explore their cultural identity through the arts,” she says. “I had never seen this creative and vibrant side of the Filipino community in Toronto. It wasn’t present when I was growing up.” And she says it’s also “more than arts. It’s a holistic experience and Kapisanan focuses on fostering the next generation of young Filipino leaders.”
Cajucom is proud of how far she’s come so quickly. “It’s been very empowering for me to have earned these leadership opportunities by the age of 23.” She is humbled, too. “Working in the arts may not the most lucrative field financially, but I remind myself that success is measured in many different ways, and to have this privilege is really awesome.”
What’s up for her future? “I’ve been dipping my toes into creative consulting,” she says. “My current job forces me to wear different hats, so it’s been fun to explore them all.”