When Muriel Assandé graduated from high school in the Ivory Coast at the age of 16, she had already mapped out her future. Her mother had studied hospitality and culinary arts, and encouraged Muriel to pursue a career in hospitality, too. Yet even Muriel could not have predicted the success she would find in far-off Canada a few short years later. It started with a passion.
"Hospitality is a vibe. When I go to a restaurant, it is not about just going to eat," Muriel says. "For me, I have so many questions. How did you come up with this idea? How did you cook that? Who is the mind behind all of this? I also want to offer that to other people, being welcomed and being treated as guests."
"I started looking for colleges and universities in Toronto that would offer a program that puts learning into practice and sends students into the world," she recalls of her search for the best program. "Something drew me to Centennial College. I really love how they organized different classes and different courses – I would have so many different perspectives at the same time."
Once enrolled in Centennial’s Hospitality and Tourism Administration program, she met faculty member Michael Bertuzzi, who took an interest in her as an international student from Ivory Coast. "There are not a lot of people from my country studying hospitality in Canada. He is just so genuine, and I know he is going to play a major role in my future career," she says.
With his encouragement and guidance, Muriel earned two outstanding accolades this year: the Certificate of Achievement as a Future Leader in the Canadian Tourism Industry presented by the Tourism Industry Association of Canada (TIAC) and Air Canada, and the top prize at the Global Goals Jam Canada event for her team’s "Agrirate" app, which helps migrant farm workers connect with ethical employers.
The Global Goals Jam is organized by Centennial’s Centre of Entrepreneurship with support from the United Nations Development Programme and the Digital Society School Amsterdam. It is a weekend "hacking jam" intended to contribute to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals by finding solutions to pressing social or business challenges by engaging students, entrepreneurs, designers, engineers and creative thinkers.
"We chose 'Ensuring Human Rights for Migrant Workers and Immigrants,'" Muriel recounts. "Migrant workers coming here do not have access to resources, they do not speak the language so they do not have anyone to turn to, and they live in poor working conditions. We came up with an app that would be like Glassdoor, where migrant workers can rate their employers."
Their Agrirate app helps migrant agricultural workers find equitable employers through workplace transparency. Muriel says the concept provides direct links to helpful resources that are otherwise difficult to find. By informing migrant farm workers, they won’t be as easily exploited, and employers can be certified in the app as trustworthy.
The innovation caught the attention of the panel of expert judges who awarded Muriel’s team the top prize. After the SDG Global Goals Jam Canada competition win, her professor encouraged Muriel to apply for the TIAC Future Leaders contest, which led to her invitation to the industry’s national conference in Ottawa.
"The theme was Reimagining Tourism, talking about how Canadian tourism was before the pandemic and how we are going to change and evolve in the future," Muriel says. "We got a lot of great speakers, great topics and great food. I talked about things that were on everyone’s mind."
The contest was designed to draw out the student perspective – and Muriel was not shy about sharing her thoughts on the subject. After two days of talks and presentations, they brought Muriel up to the stage to honour her with a Certificate of Achievement as a Future Leader in the Canadian Tourism Industry.
"They told me I would be making big changes in the industry in a few years and it is so great to receive that feedback," she says. "I actually talked to a lot of people and sent them messages on LinkedIn and emails to stay in touch in case of future opportunities as I am also looking for an internship."
Muriel has some advice for other international students contemplating coming to Canada: "Be resilient and step out of your comfort zone."
"Those two things have been my go-to all year. Being resilient is not just about not giving up, but it is about being consistent. Whenever you feel like falling apart, you have to keep it together and try things that are out of your reach. I have such a great passion for hospitality that I feel like I just can’t let my dreams die."