E77: Wunmi Adekanmbi is helping immigrant tech talent find their way

To celebrate #IWD2025, The Newcomers Podcast will be publishing daily episodes between March 2nd - 8th celebrating a female immigrant. Come celebrate with us as we tell the stories of some of the many amazing immigrant heroines.

Join us as we explore the bitter-sweet world of the immigrant.

For our second #IWD2025 episode, I’m speaking with Wunmi Adekanmbi, lecturer and biochemist researcher turned immigrant tech talent advocate, and Founder of Immigrant Techies Alberta.

There's this quote on Wunmi's LinkedIn profile that exemplifies how she approaches the immigrant journey and her life in general:

“There are no paths anywhere, paths are made by walking.”

Antonio Machado

Wunmi moved to Canada in 2011 with high expectations as a highly skilled biochemist lecturer and researcher. “I came here with the mindset of Canada is looking for me because I had been handpicked by Canada to bring all my awesome skill set here,” she says.

But after three years of trying break into academia in Canada, she had to change tack and reinvent herself.

Her experience of career disruption plus the frustrating waste of immigrant talent Canada has been famous for in the past decade led to the birth of Immigrant Techies Alberta, a tech enthusiast group for highly-skilled immigrants (and those who share similar interests) who are already in or are interested in pivoting to tech careers and startups.

In this conversation, Wunmi and I explore her immigration journey and all the lessons it came with. We also chat about:

* The psychological toll of career disruptions

* Why immigrants need to manage or run the immigrant settlement services

* Her biggest wins with Immigrant Techies Alberta

* Why we mustn’t settle for less, and a ton of other good stuff.

Official Links

👋🏽 Follow Wunmi on LinkedIn

🫶🏽 Join the Immigrant Techies Alberta group

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thenewcomerspod.com