Guyanese mother shares her academic journey and how her children followed suit

By Frederick Halley

AS we celebrate Mother’s Day, we honour extraordinary mothers like Dr. Cindy Sinclair. Growing up in a bustling family of eleven siblings in Berbice, Guyana, Cindy embarked on a journey to Canada that would lead her to remarkable achievements. She arrived in Canada in 1972 as an international student with no idea of where she would live or how she would survive. She has lived in Canada with her husband for 40 years. They share three wonderful sons and four adorable grandchildren.

The year 2023 marked a significant milestone for Cindy as it commemorated 50 years since she first joined the prestigious University of Toronto (U of T). Starting as a clerk typist at the Rotman School of Business, Cindy’s journey evolved into a distinguished academic career within the Temerty Faculty of Medicine. She is the founder and president of Sinclair Consulting Services. Alongside her professional accomplishments, Cindy’s three sons have followed in her footsteps, each carving out successful paths as Professor of Finance, Primary School Teacher and Data Scientist.

Admitting that she’s not fond of giving interviews, the proud mother, distinguished educator, leader and mentor kindly consented to speak with the Pepperpot Magazine and share her life’s journey in Canada after leaving her little village in Guyana.

Early life

According to Cindy, “From a young age, I saw my dad helping the less fortunate families in the neighbourhood. That sense of compassion and care for others has guided my life and carried me through my own life and career path in Canada, where I consistently strive to go above and beyond to help students and the wider community.

“During the COVID pandemic, I volunteered with a community centre to provide support to senior citizens. Four years later, I continue to receive weekly phone calls from at least one lovely 86-year-old woman of Jamaican descent. During my work in postgraduate medicine at the [University of Toronto], I saw the challenges immigrant medical doctors faced in trying to secure a licence to continue their medical career and failed. As an immigrant myself who had to find a path for myself and my family, I felt compelled to help newcomers. It gives me immense joy and satisfaction in seeing newcomers realise their dreams.”

“One international student sent me a note in 2012, which is still posted in my office, saying that I was like her surrogate mom, and thanked me for all I do for the students while being a student myself and having my own family to care for. She said I was truly generous, caring and lots of fun!”

Support for graduates

Cindy pointed out that since earning her PhD, she has been a strong advocate for integrating immigrant professionals into the Canadian healthcare workforce. She played a pivotal role in designing an alternative career programme tailored specifically to help newcomer internationally educated healthcare professionals transition into the Canadian workplace through workshops and coaching. “I go one step further to provide a space to meet, build networks, learn from each other and prepare and apply for jobs.”

Cindy has had the pleasure of seeing numerous newcomers transition into jobs in the clinical, postdoctoral, managerial, professorial, researcher, administrative, educator and community healthcare leads, as well as aspiring for higher education in numerous areas of education. These efforts have brought much happiness and fulfillment to the lives of countless newcomers.

Cindy established a Sinclair Family Financial Bursary to enable students with financial needs to complete their academic degree. According to her, the first student to receive this bursary, with no input from herself or her family, was a second-year Rotman Commerce student, where Cindy started her first job at the University of Toronto 50 years ago, and, where her son, Andrew, gave his first lecture on Chinese Finance as an invited speaker at the University of Toronto in 2023.

Cindy created the Sinclair Consulting Services Global Scholarship to enable students the opportunity to gain real-time experiential learning and research experiences in low-middle income countries and also co-sponsors two scholarships at Embu University in Nairobi, Kenya, enabling deserving students to pursue a university degree that would have otherwise not be possible for them. Through these initiatives, Cindy empowers students to achieve their academic aspirations that might not have been possible.

A mother leading by example

After dedicating 25 years to her career, Cindy finally found the courage to embark on academic studies. She received acceptance into the University of Toronto Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree programme in 2000 and pursued a degree in History and Fine Art History as a part-time student and studied 17th-century history in Oxford, England, with her favourite history professor, Ken Bartlett and graduated in 2005. Missing academic studies and needing more knowledge to fulfill her mission, she applied for the Master of Education degree in sociology and equity studies two years later and graduated in 2009.

Cindy said, “I enjoyed being in the classroom, listening to lectures, studying for exams, and hanging out with fellow students even though my children, especially my oldest son, often wished I were at home. But driven by a sense of purpose to transition immigrant doctors into the healthcare workforce to support the shortage of doctors that affected largely the marginalised and multicultural immigrant population, I felt compelled to pursue further education. What was most joyful and memorable about this decision was the fact that I graduated within weeks of my oldest and youngest sons, who received their PhD degrees from the United States – Yale and Cornell University, respectively and are now a Finance Professor and a Data Scientist.”

“I was incredibly proud,” continued Cindy. My parents (Ernest and Ruby Sookraj) are astute entrepreneurs with only grade Six and Eight education, respectively. I was the first of 11 siblings to come to Canada. I was the first to obtain, not one, but three degrees from Canada’s number one university, which ranks among the top 20 in the world.”

A humble start in a new life

Recalling her arrival in Canada, Cindy disclosed, “I arrived with one suitcase in hand to attend a business college. After waiting for several hours at the airport for my aunt, I am extremely grateful to a Guyanese couple who offered to take me to my aunt, who lived in the Kitchener/Guelph area and grateful that she was able to arrange my trip to my business college in Toronto. She said that the staff kindly secured an interview for a live-in babysitting job in exchange for room and board and showered praise on Alison Prentice, who was a PhD student and wife of Dr. James D. Prentice, a leading physicist at the University of Toronto, for accepting her after realising that she did not have a place to live.

Looking at it all

Cindy gives back generously to the University of Toronto, local and international communities. She serves on several boards, such as the OISE Alumni Board, its mentorship and diversity committees, the Ontario Public Health Board, and its Anti-Racism Working Group. She is Vice-President and Education Chair of the Sinfonia Toronto Orchestra with a mission to take the orchestra into underprivileged schools for rehearsals for upcoming performances to introduce students to classical music and instruments. A passionate trailblazer, leader and mentor, Cindy is the holder of the Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Award and, more recently, the African-Caribbean Distinguished Scholars Award.

From Babysitter to Typist to Academic Faculty, Cindy loves helping others and being a mom and a grandma. Her family is her joy and pride. She loves to travel and has visited, studied and presented her research in Italy, Ghana, Kenya, Europe and Australia. She promises to continue to advocate for integration of immigrant doctors in the Canadian healthcare workforce to support equity in healthcare for all people of Canada despite their cultural diversity.