No matter where you are in the world, you’re surrounded by a community, and helping that community is one of the noblest things you can do, according Dr. Mahbub Hasan, community worker, project management specialist, and Faculty at Centennial College. A professor at the School of Community and Health Studies, Dr. Hasan teaches the Social Service Worker Program when he’s not busy working on his own community development projects. Here’s a tiny bit of his history, and what he’s brought to Centennial College.
Service from the Start
Following graduation from the University of Dhaka in 1998, Dr. Hasan began working for an international organization called ActionAid, first as a project management trainee, then as an advocacy officer, alongside people from marginalized economic backgrounds.
It was while working there that he engaged in one of his first major community service projects, one he’s still proud of today – a poverty eradication program with ActionAid Bangladesh to empower women, especially marginalized women, in 1998. When international management in the UK office decided in 2000 that the project had to soon be shut down, the community reacted. Realizing how this sudden closure would impact over 2,000 families and women leaders in the community, Dr. Hasan successfully advocated to have the program continue.
Dr. Hasan considers these formative years important to the educator and activist he is now, and still returns to Bangladesh every couple of years to visit those who inspired and taught him.
"Whenever I visit Bangladesh, I see my favourite teachers who have blessed me and supported me," he says. "If you see the work I'm doing, it's possible because of collaboration, and the support and blessings I'm getting from my family, from my teachers and my colleagues and community."
Coming to Centennial College
Dr. Hasan joined the College in 2013, and considers his role as an educator to be a part of his lifelong learning journey.
"I had a dream to work as an educator, so I never stopped learning, I never stopped going to school," he says. "Till today, I'm working and learning together at the same time."
Having already earned his Bachelor and Masters of Arts, and Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Dhaka, he continued his learning through programs at the University of Toronto and York University. While studying at York, he met some people teaching and working at Centennial College, and learned of an opportunity to apply as a part-time faculty member.
Since then, Dr. Hasan has been teaching in the Community Services department, passing on what he’s learned in his own long career to Centennial College students, while also earning his Bachelor and Masters Degrees in social work from Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson).
"I think that, whether you work with an individual, a social group, or a community, active listening, and your solidarity and empathy are the key," he says is his philosophy of social work. "I always share with our students that active listening, respect for the diversity and uniqueness of community members, and showing your passion and your story to empower others, are very important tools."
And, as a lifelong learner, he considers it a two-way relationship with his students, too. "I tell them, I'm also learning in the classroom," he says. "And I don't have all the answers. Rather, we can find the collective answer for social problems, and social issues."
Projects, Projects, Projects
Now teaching at Centennial full-time, Dr. Hasan is also involved in additional projects at the College that link back to his social work teaching. For example, he created a resource textbook on community development from Canadian and international perspectives, made a podcast about social work that is now part of his teaching, and created a case study video.
Outside the School
Even Dr. Hasan’s community development projects outside of the school involve Centennial College graduates.
While working on the project, Fight Misogyny, Achieve Gender Equality, he worked with two recent grad students, one of whom successfully applied for the position of funder and later – inspired by the project and activism – earned a program officer role with the federal government.
And the morning I interviewed Dr. Hasan for this post, he’d sealed the deal on a half-million-dollar macro-grant project that offers youth mental health support, employment counselling, and social enterprise training. It also includes components of fighting racism, a community building initiative, and another where they can spend around $4,000 for their education, training or business. Dr. Hasan will be supporting as an advisor/mentor, and Centennial students will be implementing the project as staff members and mentors.
Words of Wisdom
After such a long career of service (one that’s still going strong), Dr. Hasan’s picked up his fair share of wisdom about the profession.
"Social service work and community service is for you first," he advises his students. "Whether you do a job in this field or not, it will empower you, it will help you to help yourself, to take care of your family, to take care of your community. And of course, it's a noble profession."
By: Anthony Geremia