Tell Us Your Story. What motivated you to start your business? Why are you passionate about what you do?

I started tutoring my sister and nephew Mathematics at home in Tanzania. I realized each session gave me a sense of fulfillment and I wanted to do more. I extended my help to my colleagues in school. I realized the teaching reflected my learning. I understood the concepts better whenever and quenched my thirst. Tutorial set up my pathway to success as I achieved a National top 10 best student status. I was awarded the highly acclaimed scholarship to complete my high school at Li Po Chun United World College in Hong Kong. I continued providing Mathematics tutorials to my peers when I was in Hong Kong. Tutoring continued during my time at Simon Fraser University and the Caribbean where I had gone to pursue medicine. After coming to Canada, I worked at different tutoring companies helping many students achieve their academic goals. I realized I have a unique way of teaching students and wanted to implement it freely. I opened AKILI Tutoring to work privately in 2017. It was not long before my schedule was full. I needed help. I recruited some tutors. Since tutoring came naturally to me, I made the mistake of not having a training program. I realized that several students do not have the same satisfaction of tutoring. Students would miss tutorials and quit completely. I had doubts that what I was doing could be replicated by every tutor. I decided to ask tutors to shadow my sessions. I would shadow their sessions as well and provide useful feedback. The training sessions among ourselves felt like an iron sharpening another iron. The business has now grown to a team of 5 tutors and we incorporated in 2021. At this time we are in the growth stage in the North Shore for in-person tutoring but everywhere in Canada for online sessions. We are aspiring to reach out everywhere in North America providing in-person tutorials. Our methodology in teaching begins with the first session. We connect and adapt to each student's style of learning. We have a unique talent for explaining concepts to students. Some of the students we have helped are medical doctors, nurses, lawyers, engineers, and businessmen and women. Some of them are in law, medical, engineering, nursing, business, and graduate schools. The tutors we have mentored, enjoy their successes. We hope to transform many more students and mentor other tutors through AKILI Education Services Inc. Making a complex process seem easier and nourishing future generations is what makes me excited every day.

Describe and demonstrate, including metrics, your community support. How do you support and uplift your community, and how do they show that support in return? Minimum 25 words, maximum 2500 characters.

There have been many challenges students in British Columbia have faced over the past several years. We observed the trend of rising stress levels among students and their parents. Students were not performing well and their anxiety levels were increasing due to B.C provincial exams. We have navigated a period of phasing out these provincial exams and being replaced by the Numeracy and Literacy examinations. We have been supporting students to perform well in the era of provincial examinations and after. We have provided flexible tutorial schedules opening 7 days a week. We have been happy to make exceptions and create times for students as early as 6 am and as late as 11 pm despite what is being mentioned on our website. Students have appreciated this level of flexibility and have helped their parents to calm down as well. The reward of their effort has also been reflected through great scores and admission to universities. In addition, AKILI Education Services Inc. survived through the era of COVID-19. It was arguably the most challenging period for our students in the community. With the schools undergoing a period of temporary shutdown, AKILI supported students who managed to study virtually to ensure their continuity. When the schools re-opened with phases and modified the schedule to a quarter system, AkILI was flexible to offer tutorials both in person and virtually to assist students who were comfortable with either mode of learning. The in-person students were well supported by the implementation of government rules and recommendations for wearing masks, face shields, and hand sanitizers. We adapted to one room, one tutor, and one student to increase the safety of our community. We have enjoyed the return of support from the community of North Shore and beyond. Our students have provided referrals to their friends. The Facebook group of Mothers of North Vancouver has provided us with multiple referrals. We have enjoyed an over 90% referral rate among all of our students. Our tutors have recommended their friends for tutorial positions and we believe this is a testament to their satisfaction with our work. We do not take these referrals for granted and believe that there is genuine support among each other in our community.

Why do you deserve to win the Business Impact award?

AKILI deserves to win the Business Impact award because of the significant impact it has on the community it serves. As a supplementary education provider, AKILI's impact goes far beyond the improvement in grades and confidence of our students. As they move and navigate the world their happiness and successes are based on the confidence, education, and emotional skills they acquire during their most formative years. AKILI is proud to be a part of this journey. Our dedication to our students involves collaborating with educators and parents to ensure we do our best to alleviate some of the pressures young students face. AKILI is invested in the academic success of the youth in our community and we believe this to be one of the most significant contributions any business can hope to make. We know that through our tutorials, we have helped the community of the North Shore to acquire physicians, nurses, engineers, lawyers, businessmen, and women. We are continuing to do the same work with the cohort of students we currently have. We are helping students to pass their high school examinations, university examinations as well as entrance examinations such as SATs, GREs, and MCAT. The impact goes beyond the community of North Shore as some of these professionals work outside the North Shore. AKILI is very disciplined. We enforce good manners and respect among students and staff. We emphasize punctuality, organization, and taking initiative. We believe these are important ingredients to ensure the future generation of our community is well nurtured.

Tell Us About Your Culture. How are you creating a sustainable and healthy workplace where everyone feels welcome? Provide examples of leadership you show in interactions with clients, vendors, contractors, staff and others.

We believe in transformative change. Our core values are to build a culture of excellence not only for our students but also for our employees. Over the past few years, we have had the opportunity to employ individuals from different backgrounds, presently our team of 5 includes 3 full-time and 2 part-time employees. We support the goals and aspirations of all our employees and do not hesitate to provide reference letters and recommendations. Our tutors benefit from an extremely competitive compensation package that includes healthcare and a pay rate that allows our employees to feel valued and appreciated in their workplace. In the tutoring industry, this is almost unheard of with most tutoring centers relying on minimum-wage employees. We are proud to share the acceptance of one of our employees into a prestigious medical school this year. We hold annual barbeque events and dinners for our staff to ensure that they feel valued and supported. In our interactions with parents and students, we ensure that they feel heard, valued, and supported. It is always our goal to uplift our students both in their academic lives and outside of it as well. The parents feel comfortable discussing their concerns with their children, sharing report cards, and linking us with their school teachers to ensure the best way forward to assist students. In the short term, this has a positive impact on the students' confidence by helping them reach their goals; and in the long term, the region will benefit from the positive effects of the success of these students in their fields. In general, our centers create spaces where students and staff feel supported and valued. We strive to foster a love for education, by encouraging students to tap into their academic strengths and support them in weak areas. We supplement the work of local schools and bridge gaps in learning. Our collaboration with educators, parents, and students has created a space where everyone works together to support students best and create sustainability for AKILI Education Services Inc. in the long term. We welcome and support students of any race, ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation without discriminating against any of them. In a learning environment where several students have various learning challenges, we support students with dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia,  and neurotypical as well as neurodiverse students with learning disabilities, such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Why do you think you should win the Premier’s People’s Choice Award?

AKILI deserves to win the Premier's People's Choice Award because of the significant impact it has on the North Shore community. We have helped many students over the past few years.  We are proud to be supporting our students and helping them achieve their academic and ultimately their life goals, therefore contributing to a lifetime of success and fulfillment. We believe we have created a positive influence on anyone who has dealt with AKILI Education Services Inc., namely, students, tutors, independent contractors, parents, grandparents, guardians, caregivers, and the like. We believe the diverse vote we will receive in this award's competition will reflect this notion. We have supported over 300 students since AKILI was officially founded in 2017. It has been possible because our clients receive top-notch service at low-competitive rates in the North Shore. Students have a minimum of one session at a fixed time with a regular tutor every week with an option of extra sessions whenever they need them during tests or examination periods. Also, our tutors are capable of handling multiple subjects. In this way, our clients have the option to receive various services in one location with the tutors of their choice. Siblings can be accommodated with different tutors at the same time to minimize parents' time to drive individual students to our center. We believe this is the best way to impact the community by directly influencing individual students and their academic success. We have just acquired the second location this year in Lynn Valley. We intend to offer workshops in addition to one-on-one tutorials in an effort to reach far more clients.