Six years ago, the U of A launched the Community Connections Awards. They celebrate our many connections to community — and more importantly: the people who forge and sustain them.
As we prepare for the 2019 awards, we’re revisiting six incredible stories of community from the past six years.
Renée Vaugeois
UAlberta Advocate (2013)
Trailblazers strike out in a new direction. Leaders empower others to do so.
Renee is both. Having forged a path for human rights education in Edmonton, she’s also a convener of people and advocate for collective wisdom — someone who creates the opportunities others need to make a difference.
Read her story.Read her story.
Cindy Blackstock
Community Scholar (2014)
She first grew aware of injustice in her childhood. From early years, she felt compelled to help. Though she began close to home, in her province of BC, she would set the precedent for children’s rights the world over.
Read her story.Read her story.
Jack Francis
UAlberta Advocate (2015)
Some objects tell a story. They are imbued with our history: records of discovery and innovation. It takes a special eye to see these objects for what they are — and to preserve and share story the stories they hold.
Read his story.Read his story.
The Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Advocacy Committee
Community Leader (2016)
They sparked the conversation to support friends. Too many in the LGBTQ community faced barriers to their health — as students of medicine, they sought change. Their conversation ignited into a national dialogue, re-shaping their own education in the process.
Read their story.Read their story.
University Health Centre Nursing Team
Community Leader (2017)
Thousands fled the mammoth fire in Fort McMurray. Hundreds landed at the U of A — shaken, separated, and without essentials like medication.
Five nurses rose to the challenge to see them safely through catastrophe.
Read their story.Read their story.
Michael Frishkopf
Community Scholar (2018)
Imagine music as a basic human need. It connects us, like the need for food or water. In the right hands music becomes a powerful tool: it can share a message, alter perspectives, bridge cultures.
Read his story.Read his story.
Do you know the next story?Do you know the next story?
Nominations are open for the 2019 Community Connections Awards. Help us tell the next story of community by nominating an individual or team today.2019 Community Connections Awards. Help us tell the next story of community by nominating an individual or team today.
Nominations close February 5, 2019.