Krista is one of 36 students in Dalhousie's first Africentric Bachelor of Social Work (ABSW) Cohort, all of whom graduated on October 20, 2026.
In 2023, it was announced that the Province and Dalhousie University would invest in training to help address under-representation of Black/African Nova Scotians in the social work field and ease pressures on the healthcare and social service systems. The Africentric Bachelor of Social Work (ABSW) program was funded through a generous partnership among the Department of Advanced Education, the Department of Health and Wellness, the Department of Opportunities and Social Development (then Community Services) and Dalhousie’s Faculty of Health.
On Tuesday, October 20 all 36 students in the cohort crossed the stage to receive their degrees, including Nova Scotia’s Krista Drummond and Phillip Jackson of Toronto. Both have secured jobs in Nova Scotia. This is Krista’s story.
A changing narrative
When Krista Drummond was finishing high school in Dartmouth in 2004, she already knew she wanted to be a social worker. She just didn’t believe that she could get there.
“Back then I didn’t think I was smart enough to go to university and make it through,” she says.
Her reason for choosing this path was close to home. Drummond’s oldest sister has Down syndrome, and she grew up watching her mother navigate systems that “weren’t made for us.” With family ties in East Preston, Cherrybrook/Lake Loon, North Preston and Africville, she says seeing her mother face those challenges “made me want to do more.”
Over two decades later, Drummond crossed the stage at Dalhousie University as one of the first graduates of the Africentric Bachelor of Social Work (ABSW) Cohort. She did it while working full-time for the Province and raising two children on her own.
“Crossing the stage meant that I was wrong back when I was finishing high school. It meant that I was and am capable, that I was smart enough, and that not everyone’s journey is perfect. Crossing the stage with 35 others that look like me, that represent similar values and lived experiences, is how it was supposed to be done,” she says.
Funding that removed barriers
Drummond is clear that she could not have earned her degree without the program’s funding. She had already gone to school twice with student loans, so borrowing again was not an option. With the cost of living rising, she believes she would otherwise have had to work two jobs while studying and raising her children.
“It would have been extremely difficult, taken much longer, and the journey wouldn’t have been as impactful,” she says. “The funding is needed. Our communities need to be given the opportunities, and the barriers need to be removed.”
She also credits her family, who cared for her kids during in-person class weekends and reminded her, “you got this” on late nights spent finishing papers. Crossing the stage, she says, was her way of saying thank you to them, and of showing her two children “that life is about going for what you want and never giving up on yourself, no matter your age or background.”
A winding road to social work
Drummond’s path to her degree took many turns. After high school she completed massage therapy school, hoping to help people with disabilities, but financial barriers kept her from getting certified. After her daughter was born, she studied office administration. She then spent almost 10 years working at the Dartmouth General, starting in housekeeping and working her way up to becoming a clerk in the Diagnostic Imaging department.
A move to NS Mental Health and Addictions in 2019 brought her back to her original goal. There, she worked alongside clinical nurses and social workers, including a social worker named Stephanie, who shared her own path and encouraged Drummond to go back to school.
Then COVID-19 hit. Drummond left her role in health and later took a job in intake and records management with the Nova Scotia Public Prosecution Service. That was where she saw a social media post advertising an information session about the new ABSW cohort.
“I remember leaving that virtual session feeling excited and capable, and thinking that this was perfect timing,” she says. “Everything happens for a reason!”
Learning on the job at Opportunities and Social Development
In September 2023, Drummond started the BSW program. At the same time, she was offered a position as an Income Assistance Caseworker with the Department of Opportunities and Social Development (DOSD), then Community Services.
“I said this will give me the best idea, right now, of the social worker role,” she says.
The job let her apply what she learned in class to her daily work. She credits her co-workers for helping her get through. “I work with a great group of people who have always been encouraging, supportive and understanding,” she says.
That experience proved valuable. “Working for a few years in Income Assistance and then doing a placement in Child and Family Wellbeing gave me a better outlook on how the system is working for the individuals and families we serve,” she says. “Income assistance workers, social workers and others put in long, busy days of meeting with clients, processing paperwork and taking the phone calls. Working at DOSD while taking the program gave me a better understanding of social work within government settings.”
‘A space to be ourselves’
For Drummond, the cohort was the first learning space she had been in where both the students and the faculty represented her.
“We weren’t just learning through an Africentric lens. We were given an opportunity to learn how to apply our lived experiences to the world of social work,” she says. “Most of us have been doing this work, but we’ve been in so many spaces where our Africentricity didn’t matter or wasn’t taken seriously.”
The learning went well beyond textbooks. It included conversations with Black professors, feedback from classmates and room to be heard. The cohort also shared healing circles, lunches and dinners, and conferences and galas.
“I’ve made lasting friendships in other learning spaces, but we all came out of this as family,” she says. “Thirty-six started and 36 finished!”
What’s next
In the immediate future, Drummond has been offered a position with NSCC Ivany Campus as a Student Care Navigator. Eventually she wants to explore as many areas of social work as she can, bringing a culturally grounded, compassionate approach to people who have felt unheard by the systems meant to support them. She is drawn to education and work with youth, but disability support remains her passion, and advocacy will always come first. A Master of Social Work is in her future, “for sure.”
She is confident about what her classmates will bring to the field.
“All 36 of us will continue what we’ve already been doing: challenging systems, building trusting relationships, and creating spaces for families and individuals to feel heard, respected and supported,” she says.
“Our cohort leaves a meaningful impact for those who come after us.”