The winner in the Academic Staff category was Professor Paola Perez-Aleman of the Desautels Faculty of Management.
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Professor Paola Perez-Aleman was recognized by her students and colleagues for consistently promoting equity, diversity, and inclusivity in the classroom and through her research. Professor Perez-Aleman mentors under-represented students, including women, racial, and ethnic minorities from Canada, and students from developing countries particularly in the fields of business and management. She actively organizes activities that bring students, professors, and practitioners together to engage with issues facing different academic groups at local and global levels. Professor Perez-Aleman devotes her research to understanding the processes and conditions that bring about improvements in social equity and that pave the way to inclusive development for women, indigenous peoples, and those in extreme poverty. |
The team category honoured two deserving groups: Explore! Careers in Health and the Women in Physics Committee.
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Explore! Careers in Health is organized by an interprofessional team of McGill students who strive to promote diversity within the healthcare field through outreach to underprivileged and rural-area schools, as well as to local community organizations. Explore! Careers in Health is a bilingual program offered to high school students who are interested in the health sciences and belong to communities that are underrepresented in the Faculties of Medicine and Dentistry. Each year, high school students arrive at McGill’s downtown campus to participate in a series of hands-on educational workshops and engage in cultural and recreational activities. |
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The Women in Physics Committee is comprised of students and faculty members who are concerned about issues faced by women and other minority groups in physics. They foster an inclusive learning and work environment, advocate for universal paid parental leave options for graduate and postdoctoral students, spread the message about the importance of diversity in the field, and engage in outreach activities to promote STEM fields to CEGEP students. |
The winner for the Administrative and Support Staff category was Ehab Latoyef of IT Services in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
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The Administrative and Support Staff Category recognized Ehab Latoyef's commitment to building bridges between communities, including his own and others within McGill and Montreal. Following the mass shooting at the Islamic Cultural Centre of Quebec City on January 29, 2017, Ehab organized a commemorative event on the one-year anniversary of the tragedy and brought together more than 100 people, including members from the Muslim community, from McGill, and politicians to pay homage to the victims of the attack. |
The Student category was awarded to Charles Cong Xu and Jessica Ford for STEMM Diversity @ McGill.
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Charles Cong Xu is a Ph.D. student in the Redpath Museum and the Department of Biology. After attending another motivational diversity workshop, Charles founded STEMM Diversity @ McGill. This student-driven initiative that promotes diversity in Science, Technology, Engineering, Math and Medicine via an online exhibit that includes interviews with McGillians in STEMM and a colouring and activity book. Jessica Ford is a Master’s student in the Redpath Museum, and a collaborator on this initiative. For Jessica, it was important to reach beyond adults to scientifically-inclined children, specifically to girls, who may feel alienated by their peers because of a keen interest in a science. She authored and illustrated the STEMM colouring and activity book, of which more than 700 children have been distributed. As Charles could not be in Montreal for the ceremony, Jessica accepted this award for them both. |
