Neriah Otu is a Black Canadian community leader and the Co-Founder of The Purple Tie Foundation. Her work is centred on building programs that are designed to last and to remain useful as young people move through different stages of their lives.

As a Co-Founder, Neriah has been shaping The Purple Tie Foundation from the beginning. She has led the organization with attention to how ideas become systems and how systems are sustained over time. Her approach is grounded in durability. She focuses on building structures that young people can return to when they need support, rely on when decisions carry weight, and grow within as they take on greater responsibility.

Neriah’s commitment to community leadership began early. In Grade 11, after witnessing the impact of a harmful comment made by a teacher toward a Muslim classmate, she took direct action. She wrote to the teacher to address the responsibility educators carry in shaping classroom culture, then moved beyond the moment to build a solution. That experience led her to found Students for Change, an initiative focused on anti-racism education within schools. Over six years, Neriah worked directly with teachers, developing and delivering training that addressed how to respond to harmful remarks in real time and how to protect student dignity in the classroom. The program trained more than 120 staff members and contributed to her rural school district introducing an equity module into staff orientation.

At the University of Alberta, Neriah has continued to lead at scale. She has been involved with the University of Alberta Black Students’ Association since her first year and currently serves as President. In this role, she represents and supports a community of more than 3,000 Black students. Her leadership has focused on strengthening mentorship networks, expanding academic and professional support, and creating programming that responds directly to student needs. Under her tenure, the association has maintained a strong campus presence while deepening its engagement with community partners.

Across her work, Neriah is known for translating values into action. She builds initiatives by identifying gaps, developing clear structures, and ensuring accountability over time. Her leadership style emphasizes consistency, follow-through, and trust built through action rather than rhetoric.

Neriah is also a writer whose work reflects on leadership, responsibility, and the work required to sustain community efforts beyond a single moment. Through The Purple Tie Foundation and her broader community involvement, she continues to focus on building initiatives that hold, grow, and remain relevant long after they begin.