This blog is part of our ‘Support Provider Series’. Behind every learner’s journey is a network of people who encourage, inspire and support them along the way. SelfDesign’s support providers play an important role in that journey, offering specialized knowledge and individualized learning opportunities that help learners build confidence and reach their goals.
For Simma Bakare, meaningful learning begins long before academics.
As an inclusive educator, counsellor and learning strategist, she has spent years supporting children, youth and families who haven’t found their footing in traditional educational settings. She is the Founder + Managing Director of Empower Educational and Counselling Services, and her work brings together academics, executive functioning and emotional well-being through a holistic approach that considers the whole learner—heart, mind, body and spirit.
At the centre of everything she does is one simple belief: Learners are never the problem.
“Human potential is limitless, but the paths to unlocking it are entirely unique,” Simma explains. “Early in my career, I observed a heartbreaking pattern: when a system fails a learner, the learner internalizes that failure, mistakenly believing they are the problem. In reality, they simply haven’t been given the right key to unlock their unique intelligence.”
Changing that narrative has become the cornerstone of her work.
Rather than focusing on deficits, Simma begins with a learner’s strengths, creating individualized support that helps them build confidence, develop self-advocacy skills and reconnect with their own potential.
For Simma, that process starts by creating safety and trust.
“My approach rests on two simple truths: a child won’t learn from someone they don’t trust, and they can’t learn if they don’t feel safe. So that’s where we start.”
Before introducing new strategies or academic concepts, she builds connection through conversation, humour and shared interests while carefully balancing challenge with success so learners experience steady, achievable growth.
“When a vulnerable young person feels genuinely seen, the armour comes down,” she reflects. “Motivation follows, confidence takes root, and they can finally step happily into their next possibility. The moment a learner stops doubting themselves. That shift, from ‘I can’t do this’ to ‘I’ve got this’, is often more significant than any grade or milestone. The academic growth mattered, but the identity shift mattered most.”
While academic progress is certainly important, Simma believes lasting learning happens when the whole person is supported. This learner-centred approach makes Simma a wonderful addition to the list of Support Providers at SelfDesign® Learning Community.
“Academic struggles rarely exist in isolation,” she explains. “They’re connected to how a child feels in their body, what they believe about themselves, how safe they feel emotionally and whether their sense of identity and purpose is being honored.”
By supporting learners holistically—weaving together executive functioning, emotional wellness, mindfulness, self-advocacy and confidence-building—she helps learners develop skills that extend far beyond the learning activity.
“What we do is rarely just academic,” Simma says. “By the time many families find us, a learner has already accumulated a story about themselves, that they’re behind, that they’re not smart, that school isn’t for them. Untangling that story, and replacing it with something truer, is the real work.”
For Simma, the greatest reward isn’t simply helping learners improve academically. It’s watching them discover that they are capable, resilient and far more than the limiting stories they may have come to believe about themselves.
Learn more about Simma and Empower Educational and Counselling Services here.
