STEMHub Foundation, in partnership with YM Inc. (Sales), is excited to announce the recipients of the Tom Martin Scholarship for Learning Scholars worth $5000 each! The recipients of the Tom Martin Scholarship for Learning Scholars are Anu Popoola and Sarah Chun. They will both receive $5000 each for school.

From the numerous applications received, using the essay as well as a blind selection process, both organizations came to the unanimous decision to award these two deserving applicants with scholarships of $5000 each.

With this year being an unprecedented one, this scholarship will help Anu and Sarah meet the financial challenges of this school year. This scholarship is made possible by the generous donation of two $5,000 scholarships from YM Inc. Sales.

“In our quest to continue to empower through STEM education, we find it important to continue our efforts through scholarship provisions, especially during these unprecedented times that have a direct impact on Canada’s economy and families’ financial state. Therefore, we are thrilled to team up with YM Canada (Sales) to award the two deserving recipients, the Tom Martin Scholarship for Learning.”  says Dr. Adeola Olubamiji, the founder of STEMHub Foundation.  

YM Inc. Sales. is one of North America’s largest fashion houses dedicated to delivering leading-edge fashion apparel to suit all tastes at the perfect price. YM Inc. Sales. is the parent company that owns student-friendly brands such as Stitches, Urban Planet, Sirens, Urban Kids, West49, and Amnesia. YM Inc. Sales. has a long tradition of charitable work and a strong recognition of how important it is to give back to the communities they operate in.

YM Inc. Sales. created The Tom Martin Scholarship for Learning to help deserving students who would otherwise find it difficult due to financial considerations.

“Tom was a man of wit and wisdom, who placed a great emphasis on the value of education. As the Chief Financial Officer for YM Inc., he was passionate about what he did and about the personal and professional success of all those whose lives he touched. Tom valued integrity and set high expectations both for himself and those around him. He balanced those expectations with compassion, and the standard to which he aspired has made us all better people and has made our Company a better place to work”. Says Jasna Brtan, Vice President Corporate Human Resources, YM Inc. Sales.

We congratulate the scholarship recipients and wish them continued success in their studies.  

The two Tom Martin Scholarship recipients are as follows:

Anu Popoola

Anu Popoola is a second-year Health Sciences student at McMaster University, specializing in Child Health. She currently works as a research assistant with the Department of Family Medicine at McMaster University and previously interned at SickKids Hospital, Toronto, Ontario. At her school, Anu is the associate Vice-President of the Black Aspiring Physicians at McMaster (BAP-MAC) and a coordinator of the Black Student Mentorship Program. Recently, she started working with the McMaster Access Strategy to encourage racialized students in high school to apply to STEM programs and help them navigate the admissions process.

Since May, she has been working with the Black Health Alliance on a COVID-19 public awareness and health promotion campaign targeted towards Black communities in Toronto. She also volunteers with a Hamilton-based organization called Empowerment Squared, helping newcomer and marginalized youth to succeed in their pursuit of education through mentorship. Anu aspires to become a physician and has continued doing her part to help improve the health outcomes of racialized groups.

Sarah Chun

Sarah Chun is a 1st-year Computer Engineering student at the University of Waterloo. This year, she will be working as an Applications Software Developer intern at Toyota. At the University of Waterloo, Sarah works as a Diversity & Inclusion Coordinator at Tech+, working to cultivate a more inclusive and diverse tech community by making resources more accessible to students in need. 

In her community, Sarah co-founded Girls in TE, a nonprofit organization that empowers young women to pursue careers in technology and engineering. Girls in TE has partnered with local startups, engineering firms, and universities. Notable collaborators include Shopify, Google, Western University, and 3M. For her work at Girls in TE, Sarah was awarded the Stanford She++ fellowship and recognized by the Ascena Retail Group as a HerLead fellow. 

Sarah has researched artificial intelligence at Stanford University and created a computer vision algorithm capable of detecting poverty in Uganda as part of the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory Outreach Research summer program. In her free time, Sarah volunteers with Canada Learning Code and as a student ambassador for the Ontario Network of Women in Engineering.