Borkena
Ethiopian Canadian community leader and entrepreneur Nebiyou Timotewos has been selected to receive the Ontario Medal for Young Volunteers, the province’s highest honour recognizing young people for outstanding community service and volunteerism. The recognition honours Timotewos’ work supporting vulnerable youth, addressing mental health stigma and expanding access to educational and career opportunities.
Born in Hawassa, Ethiopia, Timotewos experienced conflict and displacement while living in Yemen before arriving in Canada at the age of 12. After settling in Toronto, his family spent seven months in the city’s shelter system while rebuilding their lives, relying in part on community donations for food, clothing and other necessities. Those experiences shaped a commitment to service that has remained closely connected to both his Ethiopian roots and his life in Canada.
Over the past several years, Timotewos has led community initiatives supporting young people and families facing hardship. Through Communities Care, he has helped mobilize volunteers to distribute more than 3,700 care kits containing food, hygiene products, menstrual products, school supplies, backpacks, jackets and other essential items. His community work has supported young people in both Canada and Ethiopia and has also included neighbourhood cleanups and volunteer initiatives designed to bring communities together in response to local needs.
Timotewos also founded Brothers4Brothers, a mentorship program focused on addressing mental health stigma among young men, particularly those from Black and racialized communities. Through multiple cohorts, participants have built relationships with peers and mentors while taking part in conversations about mental well-being, leadership and personal development. More than 75 young people have graduated from the program, with several later returning as peer mentors. Beyond these initiatives, Timotewos serves as the youngest board member on the TELUS Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area Community Board, where he contributes to the review of charitable grant applications supporting youth health, education and community initiatives.
Timotewos graduated summa cum laude from York University in 2026 with an Honours Bachelor of Arts in Global Political Studies, a minor in Human Rights and Equity Studies, and a Professional Certificate in Public Administration and Law. During his time at York, he served as a student senator and President’s Ambassador and supported fellow students through mentorship, leadership and equity initiatives. His contributions earned him York University’s prestigious Robert J. Tiffin Student Leadership Award as well as an Outstanding Student Leadership Award.
He is currently pursuing a Master of Management in Analytics at McGill University’s Desautels Faculty of Management as a McCall MacBain Scholar. Timotewos was selected as one of 30 scholars in the scholarship’s 2026 global cohort, receiving fully funded graduate education alongside mentorship and leadership development.
Alongside his graduate studies, Timotewos is advancing access to education and career opportunities as founder and CEO of Occasio Technologies Inc., a Canadian education technology startup. Its platform, MyOccasio, launched in September 2026 and helps students discover scholarships, bursaries, grants, internships and jobs matched to their profiles and goals. The platform combines personalized opportunity matching with application tracking, deadline management and academic planning tools, while an AI Mentor helps students better understand their options, navigate applications and plan their next steps. The startup reflects Timotewos’ belief that every student deserves a fair opportunity to succeed and that access to educational funding and career opportunities should not depend on how well connected someone is or whether they know where to look.
“Canada has been so gracious to me and my family, and I feel a deep sense of duty to continue serving this country and giving back to the communities that have given us so much,” Timotewos said. Timotewos will receive the Ontario Medal for Young Volunteers from the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario at a ceremony at Queen’s Park on October 19, 2026.
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