Dr. Bolaji Akinyele-Akanbi is a Village Lab research core team member at the University of Manitoba. She has been involved in some studies relating to immigrant and refugee communities. Dr. Bolaji has presented at some conferences and a symposium, locally, nationally, and internationally on intimate partner violence with cross-cultural men, immigrant and refugee mental health issues, and family enhancement. Some of her presentations and community-organized programs include but are not limited to – “Overcoming depression with Dr. Wakeman Stewart”, “Working with Immigrant and IPV”, and “Seeing through the eyes of the police officers: Men’s constructed narratives of IPV”.

Dr. Bolaji is an anti-oppressive and anti-colonial social work professional and mentor to immigrant and refugee women in the communities. Her research interests include intimate partner violence, domestic violence, immigration, child welfare, health, sexual health, and mental health of racialized communities, mindfulness and spirituality, gender studies, and international research on racial injustices. Dr. Bolaji's PhD thesis is entitled “Understanding the narratives of immigrant and refugee women (IRW) in intimate partner violence in Canada across pre-migration, migration, and post-migration (PMP) trajectories”. She has taught courses at the Faculty of Social Work, University of Manitoba for over four years.