Dentons and the Canadian Association of Urban Financial Professionals (CAUFP) have announced the first recipient of the Dentons-CAUFP Scholarship.

Announced at the 2020 CAUFP No Boundaries Youth Summit in September, our Dentons-CAUFP Scholarship provides a $5,000 renewable scholarship to a first-year law student at a Canadian law school who has an interest in business law, and has demonstrated a commitment to the Black community and academic excellence.

The scholarship aims to support students reach their career goals. By providing young professionals with meaningful professional development opportunities, inclusive of mentorship, social engagement, networking with senior leaders, philanthropic opportunities, ongoing learning programs and sponsorship designed to develop the critical skills students need to transition into the workplace, businesses and communities will benefit from a stronger, more diverse pool of talented future leaders.

With support from the CAUFP team, the Dentons Canada Inclusion and diversity Council and the Dentons Canada Talent team, this year’s inaugural scholarship has been awarded to Mirabelle Harris-Eze.

Mirabelle is enrolled in the Juris Doctor (JD) Program at the University of Calgary. Over the past four years, Mirabelle has engaged with immigration and family lawyers through university clubs, has learned about legal frameworks that protect and defend victims of terrorism, has spent a summer internship in Ottawa where she sat in on Supreme Court cases and has worked at Pro Bono Law Alberta, a non-profit dedicated to improving access to justice.

After completing her JD degree, Mirabelle would like to pursue a practice in International Law and Policy. Furthermore, Mirabelle is hoping to use her law degree and academic success to defend international human rights and to ensure that diverse voices of marginalized communities continue to be accounted for and made a part of public discourse in Canada and around the world.

Kori Williams , partner and a founding member of Dentons Canada’s Black Professionals Network, said, “Investing in our youth is one way we can advocate for change. Dentons is proud to work with CAUFP to celebrate the success and talent of Canada’s future Black thought-leaders with our Dentons CAUFP scholarship.  Congratulations to Mirabelle and to all of this year’s Dentons-CAUFP Scholarship applicants – we wish you success on your academic journey. ”

"We’ve listened to black Canadian youth and believe our Dentons CAUFP scholarship will help better support them to create a stronger future for themselves. We couldn’t be happier to have great partners like Dentons supporting our youth summit this year and beyond,” said Meryl Africa, President of the Canadian Association of Urban Financial Professionals (CAUFP).

Over the last 13 years, Dentons has committed more than $150,000 to support the financial need of Black law students in Canada.

For more information on the  Dentons-CAUFP Scholarship, see here.

To learn more about how Dentons is advancing Black inclusion at the Firm and within the legal profession, visit the Inclusion and diversity in Canada page.

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