Ajirioghene Evi
BA, BSW, MSW, RSW
Ajirioghene (Ah Jiri Or Ganeh) Evi is a Nigerian Canadian Registered Social Worker, CEO of the Ontario Association of Social Workers, and a systems leader whose work is grounded in advancing social justice, equity, and community transformation across Canada.
With nearly two
decades of experience, Ajirioghene has built her career at the intersection of
practice, policy, and advocacy, consistently addressing systemic inequities
impacting Black, Indigenous, and marginalized communities. Her early work in
child welfare focused on developing culturally responsive approaches to support
survivors and perpetrators of domestic and intimate partner violence, grounding
her leadership in both prevention and systems accountability.
Her work has
included advancing strategies to confront the overrepresentation of Black and
Indigenous children in care and leading sector wide efforts to dismantle anti
Black racism. During her time with the Ontario Association of Children’s Aid
Societies, she played a key leadership role in advancing the One Vision One
Voice (OVOV) mandate, working alongside Black and Indigenous leaders and
community partners to strengthen culturally grounded, equity focused approaches
to child welfare.
As the Founding
Director and former Executive Director of Kind Minds Family Wellness, she
created and scaled culturally responsive, trauma informed programs that center
identity, belonging, and healing. Under her leadership, KMFW became a vital
community hub, recognized with the 2023 United Way Waterloo Region Communities
Agency of Excellence Award. Her work has included creating dedicated spaces for
Black identifying individuals and families, as well as leading the development
of innovative pilot programming to support neurodiverse children, youth, and
families across Southwestern Ontario.
Ajirioghene
brings over a decade of consulting experience, providing high impact support in
dismantling systemic racism, cross cultural leadership, stakeholder engagement,
and change management. Her work also extends into academia, where she has
lectured and mentored emerging leaders at Wilfrid Laurier University and
contributed to trauma informed research at Western University.
Appointed CEO of
OASW in September 2024, she continues to elevate the role of social workers as
key drivers of social change, advancing advocacy efforts, strengthening the
profession, and pushing for systems that are more responsive, inclusive, and
just.
Ajirioghene’s
leadership has been recognized nationally. She is a recipient of the King
Charles III Coronation Medal, was named one of Canada’s Top 200 Black Women to
Watch in 2022, and is the 2024 Distinguished Alumni of Renison University
College at the University of Waterloo. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Social
Development Studies and a Bachelor of Social Work from the University of
Waterloo, and a Master of Social Work from Western University.
Across all of her roles, Ajirioghene remains deeply committed to building systems that do not
simply respond to inequity, but actively transform it, ensuring that
communities who have been historically marginalized are seen, heard, and
meaningfully supported.