PCJ winners of the 2022 UTSLA award

Hannah has taken an active role in her community to advance discourse surrounding equity and accessibility issues. She is an active member of the Victoria College community and is a member of the Victoria University Students’ Administrative Council (VUSAC), having served as the Equity Co-Chair on VUSAC and the Chair of the Student Projects Fund. Hannah is passionate about global innovation and dialogue, and is currently a researcher at the Munk School’s Reach Alliance and works as a mentor for high school students through the Global Ideas Institute.
 

Lina has been involved in several aspects of student life. Most recently, she directed the Economic Implications Forum of the 2022 PCJ Student Conference, where she also presented her research experience in Egypt’s NGO-sector. She has served as an Editor for the Rapoport Journal of Peace, Conflict and Justice – one of eleven U of T journals she has published her work in.

Lina also helped to build a new partnership with the Canadian Council for Muslim Women (CCMW) for the PCJ service-learning course, which enhanced the diversity of the program’s partner-NGOs. She served as a PCJ peer mentor and her involvement at U of T includes positions on student unions, research committees, academic conferences and journals, NGO chapters, networking panels, ROP courses, and language workshops. She is currently a Research Assistant at the Institute of Islamic Studies and a Program Assistant at the Faculty of Law.

Hailey is majoring in Peace, Conflict and Justice and Ethics, Society and Law and minoring in Political Science. She has served as the Communications Director for the PCJS, and was a speaker at the 2022 PCJ Student Conference. She is currently the President of Big Spoon Lil Spoon at U of T, for which she was a founding executive member. Hailey was formerly a Student Researcher at The Reach Alliance, an editor with the Mindful Journal of Ethics, and an Orientation Leader at Victoria College. She is currently a Commuter Don at Victoria College.

Ruth is a student, educator, and community organizer, fascinated by the different ways in which people come together. During her time at U of T, she has been an active member of her different communities. Ruth has remained involved with the University College community since her first year in many roles as a member of the student government, orientation executive, mentor, and community coordinator.

In her academic communities, Ruth has been active in student unions, journals, and conferences. She was a speaker at the 2021 PCJ  Student Conference where she presented Creativity in Crisis: Art’s Role in COVID Recovery.  Through her PCJ service-learning placement at Matthew House, Ruth has also been able to extend her community service with refugee youth, working to bridge the gap between bureaucracies and marginalized populations.

Ruth is currently Co-President of the PCJ Society where she collaborates with her fellow students to foster a sense of community both inside and outside of the classroom. She also serves as the Marketing Coordinator for the Diaspora and Transnational Studies program and has had her work published in the Caribbean Quilt, which focuses on non-institutional community building and art as a mechanism of enfranchisement.

Fayha is double majoring in Peace, Conflict and Justice and Ethics, Society and Law, with a minor in Political Science. During her time at U of T, she has been involved across the campus in various roles, including positions of leadership with the Association of Political Science Students and with the Pre-Law Society’s Moot Board. As Team Captain of U of T’s Moot Team, Fayha supports new mooters and she spearheaded the creation of the first moot mentorship program.

Within the PCJ program, Fayha served as the Co-Director of the 2021 PCJ Student Conference. As the sitting Co-President of the student-led Peace, Conflict, and Justice Society (PCJS), she advocates for students’ needs and coordinates events for students in the program. For the past two years, Fayha has served as a PCJ peer mentor. This year, Fayha is one of three PCJ nominated International Fellows conducting research with the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress (CSPC) in Washington, D.C.

Ashwini is a St. Michael’s College student majoring in Peace, Conflict and Justice studies with minors in Diaspora and Transnational Studies and English. Living in Malaysia, Kazakhstan, Yemen, New York, and Canada have allowed her to observe how issues like poverty, gender inequality, unequal access to education, and climate change operate in different contexts. These lived experiences have solidified Ashwini’s passion to mobilize youth into action and become an advocate for these issues.

In 2020, Ashwini received the University of Toronto’s COVID-19 Student Engagement Award, where she co-produced a book entitled COVID-19 Perspectives alongside a fellow U of T student. Ashwini holds various positions on and off campus, including working on tri-campus initiatives towards promoting mental health advocacy; founding  The Brown Citizen Circle (BCC), a non-profit to amplify the voice of BIPOC youth; and co-directing the 2021 PCJ Student Conference. She is the Editor-in-Chief of the 2022 edition of the Rapoport Journal of Peace, Conflict and Justice.