As a child, Naima Hussein always dreamed of going to university and building a career to allow her to give back to her community. But, as she grew up, that dream slowly escaped. Finding herself as a single mother of five made it an even more daunting challenge.
That changed when she discovered the Transitional Year Programme (TYP) at the University of Toronto. Established in 1970, TYP is a full-time, eight-month access to university program for adults who do not have the formal qualifications for university admission. Initially designed to support Black and Indigenous communities, TYP now welcomes all students facing barriers to higher education.
Naima Hussein.
Hussein successfully completed the TYP in 2023 as her class valedictorian and now has her sights set on a business career. An active member of her community, Hussein looks forward to one day open a business in Africa and hire and empower young women to achieve their dreams, like her.
Naima Hussein.
Financial support through the Beulah Davies TYP Education Award and the Transitional Year Prize played a crucial role in helping Hussein achieve this milestone. “These awards have created a pathway toward bigger goals,” she says. “Donor support creates real opportunities for students like me to succeed.”
The Beulah Davies Award was established in 2008 by Bryan Davies and Andra Takacs in memory of Bryan’s late mother, Beulah Davies. Since then, the endowed fund has helped 59 TYP students access the financial support they need while pursuing their studies at U of T.
Recently, Bryan and Andra made a new, $125,000-gift to top up the endowment, bolstering its impact and ensuring that more students will continue to receive support like the kind that helped Hussein pursue a once unthinkable dream.
Andra Takacs and Bryan Davies.
For Bryan, a former vice-president of business affairs at U of T, and Andra, a retired Government of Ontario executive, supporting TYP is a natural fit to their philanthropic focus of helping students overcome financial and social barriers to post-secondary education.
“The Transitional Year Programme opens doors for talented students whose paths to university may not have been straightforward,” say Bryan and Andra. “We’re proud to support these students as they pursue their goals and hope others will be inspired to help ensure this opportunity continues for future students, for generations to come.”
Andra Takacs and Bryan Davies.