Raphaëlla Ayina, LLM candidate
Supervisor: Professor John Borrows, The Loveland Chair in Indigenous Law
Selected awards: Outstanding Forum Delegate Award, Black Diplomats Academy Fellowship Program (2025); Black Business and Professional Association National Scholarship (2024); Ontario Graduate Scholarship (2024); University of Toronto Fellowship (2024); The Royal Society of Canada Justice Rosalie Silberman Abella Prize (2024)
Raphaëlla Ayina decided at age 10 that she wanted to become a lawyer and has made her dream a reality.
Ayina, the Montreal-born daughter of Beninese immigrants, was passionate about helping her immigrant community and decided that a law degree would offer her excellent opportunities to have a strong impact. She attended the University of Ottawa, earning a dual degree in civil law and international development.
“My undergraduate degree reinforced my belief that law is tied to so many societal issues,” Ayina says.
She knew that further legal education would make a difference, and is now enrolled as a master's student at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law. Her path hasn’t been easy – Ayina has a full scholarship and is working at two part-time jobs while carrying a full course load and extracurricular activities – but she is skilled at juggling responsibilities and realizes that the rewards are worth the effort.
“In my master’s program, I can touch on topics I couldn’t learn as an undergraduate, such as the technical aspects of intellectual property law,” Ayina says. “I have professors who can guide me and share their expertise, and by working in [U of T's] International Human Rights Program’s legal clinic, I am gaining concrete practical experience in tasks such as writing affidavits, interviewing and undertaking legal research in international law.”
In fact, in March, she and her clinic colleagues will be travelling to Geneva to present their findings on a particular, confidential case to a United Nation's committee.
Ayina’s interest in intellectual property law can be traced directly to her roots in Benin. She has been working with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), a UN agency, as a representative of the Ordre suprême des Ancêtres, an African NGO (non-governmental organization) that represents the various tribal leaders in Benin. In that role, Ayina was involved in WIPO’s recent adoption of a treaty to protect traditional Aboriginal knowledge held by tribes worldwide. She also represents the NGO at the UN Economic and Social Council and the Organization of American States.
Her LLM research paper focuses on how the new treaty can be used by Indigenous peoples in both Africa and Canada, and she is currently volunteering with a newly established NGO that will conduct strategic advocacy at the UN for people of African descent globally.
In addition, Ayina volunteers for Young Diplomats of Canada, an organization that helps Canadian youth experience diplomacy and advocate for causes at the UN and with the Black Diplomats Academy to organize the 5th Annual Black Diplomacy Global Summit, a forum for discussing actionable strategies for equity, inclusion, and global leadership. As a member of the Academy, she recently served as a panelist at a conference organized by the Michaëlle Jean Foundation where she discussed the importance of Black youth participation in diplomacy, access to education, and their place in the workforce, as well as the need to increase Black youth involvement, particularly during the Decade for People of African Descent, to help reduce systemic barriers
“We are advocating that the UN declare a second Decade for People of African Descent, promoting the opportunity to all join hands and pursue structural changes in the international order to ensure that Black youth have more representation and opportunities,” Ayina says.
After earning her LLM, Ayina will spend a year as a law clerk for a federal court judge, working on cases involving immigration law, international law and intellectual property.
“It will tie all of my interests together,” she says.
Meanwhile, she is enjoying her program at the Faculty of Law.
“There are so many opportunities there,” Ayina says, “and I also have great support. It’s a smaller program, so I can bond with both peers and professors.”
