Nimi Nanji-Simard was taught from an early age the importance of giving back to the community and helping those who need it the most. In 1972, Nimi and her family came to Canada as political refugees. Once her father found success in business, he started giving back to the community, especially in the healthcare sector. Through this example, Nimi has spent her life spreading awareness and championing the importance of charity. In this episode, Nimi shares her philosophy on giving back, as well as how to teach the next generation to lead with compassion. She shares how her work with UNHCR has deepened her understanding of the importance of helping refugee students of all backgrounds and abilities. Through her business, NimiNimi Scarves, Nimi has further fostered her charitable work by donating 30% of profits to various organizations. About Nimi Nanji-Simard Nimi Nanji-Simard is a Social Worker, Entrepreneur, and the Director of the The Nanji Family Foundation, which focuses on funding healthcare and education initiatives in Canada. She is deeply committed to helping others, and does so through her work with UNHCR, United Way, and Autism Speaks, an organization she helped found. Nimi is the Founder and Designer of NimiNimi Scarves, a scarf company that focuses on combining luxury fashion with her philanthropic efforts. Resources Mentioned Giving to Toronto Metropolitan UniversityUNHCR Scholarships and Higher EducationNimiNimi Scarves Three reasons to listen to this episode Hear Nimi Nanji-Simard’s philosophy on the importance of giving back to your community.Learn about teaching the next generation how to build awareness and compassion for those around them.Discover resources for refugee students and how organizations like UNHCR are creating opportunities for students of all levels. Episode highlights 5:05 Pyarali’s Core Principle For Nimi’s father, Pyarali, he was grateful for Canada’s free education and healthcare for giving his family a sense of freedom. This gave him and his family the space to succeed in Canada, as well as the opportunity to give back to the community, which became one of the family’s core principles. 9:04 How Nimi focuses her giving Following in her father’s footsteps, as well as drawing from her experience as a Social Worker, Nimi saw the importance of giving back. In her words, there is “not a cause not worthy of support.” This ultimately leads to the family’s decision to start scholarships for refugee children. 13:18 “Refugees like us are not perfect.” Nimi highlights how refugees are often held to a higher standard than those born in Canada, without taking into account the nuance of past traumas faced. Refugees have all the same needs as anyone else: shelter, food, education, and health. 14:19 Helping refugee students who need it the most Through her work with UNHCR, Nimi works on an initiative that allows refugee youth to access education through 40 universities in the world. This initiative has no criteria for admission, which allows refugee students across all learning levels to participate. 17:19 Raising a generation that leads with compassion As Nimi states, giving back is not always a family value. It’s important to teach the next generation about the importance of compassion, which can be done through building awareness on how the rest of the world lives. Enjoyed this episode? We invite you to explore more episodes of The Forefront: Next-gen generosity on your favourite podcast platform. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review and share it with your community. To learn more about giving opportunities and community impact at Toronto Metropolitan University, visit torontomu.ca/giving Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
