Akua is a doctoral student in Counselling Psychology at McGill University. Throughout her academic journey, she participated in several projects examining community belonging, resettlement and mental well-being. She is passionate about exploring how young people’s mental well-being is impacted by their experiences of settlement, racism and/or racialization. Presently, Akua is interested in the development of mindfulness and compassion interventions to support asylum claimants living in temporary accommodations. For her doctoral research she plans to develop a mindfulness-based intervention with and for pregnant asylum-claimants in collaboration with the Welcome Haven project, a community-based psychosocial support program. Outside of her doctoral work, Akua loves being in nature, listening to music and reading novels.