February is Black History Month, an opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate the achievements and contributions of Black Canadians and their communities, who have been a part of shaping Canada’s heritage and identity. Throughout February we will be highlighting and sharing the stories of Black staff, students, members of our Board of Governors as well as alumni. Stay tuned to the Diversity blog and RRC Polytech’s social media to learn more about members of our College community.

Gbolahan Olutayo Oduntan, Board of Governors, RRC Polytech

Gbolahan Olutayo Oduntan is Nigerian-Canadian professional who is passionate about, and specializes in helping small and large companies optimize their processes with the aim of resolving business challenges. He works with one of the major insurance companies in Canada; Canada Life, where he deploys his expertise processing, analyzing and renewing policies in the same organization. He serves as a member of the Board of Governors of the Red River College, Manitoba Canada. 

Gbolahan is also the founder and C.E.O of a non-profit organization known as STO Global Concept Incorporated, in Manitoba. STO Global Concept Inc. and her partners reach out to the needy in the community, by supplying them food and clothing for free. They do this with funds raised through periodically-held charity concerts organized for this purpose. They also collaborate with other humanitarian organizations such as Siloam Mission, Harvest Manitoba and others, to alleviate the burden of hunger amongst the less-privileged living in Manitoba, Canada.

Born in Nigeria, Gbolahan had his basic education in the South-Western part of the country. He then proceeded to acquire a Higher National Diploma certification in Accountancy from Kwara State Polytechnic, Nigeria.  Thereafter, he enrolled for a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Plymouth University, United Kingdom, and concluded this in the year 2014.

Before relocating to Canada, Gbolahan had extensive exposure in both private and public service in Nigeria and the United Kingdom. In Nigeria, he worked in LASACO Assurance; a public-owned Insurance Company. While in the United Kingdom, he worked with TESCO PLC, one of the leading multinational retailer stores. In all these places, his business acumen and professionalism earned him laurels as a man who goes above and beyond the call of duty. He also had eight years of public service in Nigeria, serving as a legislator in Surulere Local Government Area, Lagos State.

Upon arrival in Canada in April 2016 with great hopes and expectations, he began his integration process by attending Manitoba Start and Success Skills New-comers program, after which he began his job search. Several efforts to get a job based on his skills and educational qualifications all proved abortive as most of the feedbacks he got from employers included: No Canadian work experience, he’s got an accent; you are over qualified, etc.

Determined Gbolahan did not allow the limitating and frustrating remarks discourage him, rather he took up a transition job, enrolled for a course at the Red River College and continued his job search and contributions to community development by volunteering with some Non-for-profit organizations.

Whilst combining his transition job with studies at the Red River College, he found an opportunity to volunteer as an Administrative Assistant with Canada Life thereby combining transition job with studies. This was very demanding and challenging as Gbolahan hardly has 5 hours sleep on daily basis.  

Due to his unrelenting efforts, dedication and commitment to work, he later got an offer for the position of Underwriting Assistant with Canada Life where he has continued to deploy his experiences and knowledge to the growth of the organization. 

As a person of color, Gbolahan has had a fair share of the stereotype that an average person of color goes through: for example getting comments such as “I never knew you could speak good English, You are too qualified for this position, Where are you from” etc.  However, in-spite of these stigmas and profiling, Gbolahan’s humanitarian nature continued to compel him to reach out to communities, the homeless, the depressed, and the broken-hearted, under the umbrella of STO Global Concept Inc. a Not-for-Profit initiative established by him.