Inaugurated in 2012 by the Faculty Association’s Equity Committee (formerly the Status of Women & Equity Committee, or "SWEC"), the Equity & Inclusivity Award recognizes a member or affiliate of the University of Waterloo community whose actions have demonstrated an exemplary commitment to improving equity, inclusivity, and/or diversity at the University of Waterloo.
This year’s three awardees have shown an exemplary commitment to improving the lives of members of equity-seeking groups on campus. They represent a diversity of approaches to equity and inclusivity, with each approach providing great benefit to the Waterloo community.
Corey Johnson has advanced equity and inclusivity through his very impressive teaching, research, and outstanding service to this University. But Corey is perhaps best known across campus for the creation and implementation of the Making Spaces program; in which hundreds of members of the University of Waterloo community have learned about gender identity/expression, sexual identity, homophobia, heterosexism, bi-phobia, transphobia, and the intersection of these forces with other identities. This program has, workshop by workshop and person by person, transformed the culture of sexual and gender diversity at Waterloo. Additionally, as chair of the University’s Gender and Sexual Diversity Working Group, Corey developed the Trans Health Initiative on campus to raise even more awareness, this time including local medical professionals. Corey has clearly shown an exemplary commitment to improving the lives of members of equity-seeking groups on campus, in particular through education or awareness-raising efforts.
Benoit Charbonneau has proven to be an extremely dedicated, skilled and hard-working chief negotiator on behalf of all FAUW members. Benoit spent hundreds of hours negotiating the 2018-2021 memorandum of settlement and following up as co-chair of the Working Group on Salary Structure. Benoit’s statistical analysis confirmed a suspected salary inequity for Lecturers, and a plan for correcting the inequity. In this role, he has directly addressed existing inequities for Waterloo lecturers. Beyond negotiating for our roughly 1400 FAUW members, his work as chief negotiator ultimately helped the thousands of other University of Waterloo employees, because the approximately 15% benefits increase that he negotiated for regular faculty directly precipitated an equivalent increase for all other University employee groups.
As one of the recommendations for this award noted, “The significance of what he has achieved cannot be overstated. While his work on behalf of Waterloo's lecturers, in the narrowest sense, benefits only those at the University of Waterloo, at a time when the matter of precarious employment in academia finally has been recognized as a fundamental issue of equity on campuses across this country, his success sets an important precedent on the national stage.” Benoit has shown an exemplary commitment to improving the lives of members of equity-seeking groups on campus, in particular through political, legal, and collective bargaining advancements, as well as organizational leadership.
Sarah Lau has provided leadership in developing Waterloo’s Equity Action Plan (EAP) for the Canada Research Chairs Program. Through this work, Sarah oversaw the creation of a steering committee and several sub-committees, with representation from across campus. She was responsible for steering their discussions to meet stated program requirements in order to address the challenges of underrepresentation. This involved not only organizing the committees, but engaging relevant stakeholders on campus, including members of the Four Designated Groups, current Canada Research Chairs, representatives from each Faculty, and senior administrators including the Office of Research, Human Resources and FAUW.
Sarah approached this work with a dedication to ensuring that all voices were heard and that the guidelines laid out by the Tri-Agency Institutional Programs Secretariat were considered in all aspects of decision-making. This ultimately resulted in our current comprehensive EAP document as well as our Public Accountability website, the quality of which was recognized by TIPS. Waterloo’s plan is credited as one of the most comprehensive documents in the country. Sarah has shown an exemplary commitment to improving the lives of members of equity-seeking groups on campus, in particular through policy development or improvements and organizational leadership.
In 2018, the Equity & Inclusivity Award committee decided that recognizing multiple champions of equity, diversity, and inclusivity on campus—rather than choosing one "winner" each year—would do more to celebrate and further equity at Waterloo. The new Equity Fellows for 2018 are:
News story and photos: Award Reception Celebrates Equity, Inclusivity, and Diversity Champions
The Waterloo Indigenous Student Centre (WISC), founded in 2003, facilitates the sharing of Indigenous knowledges and provides culturally relevant information and support services for all members of the UW community, including Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students, staff, and faculty. Their work is premised on understanding, respect, and trust, as well as a recognition of, and sensitivity to, the different cultural values and rights of Aboriginal peoples.
WAEC exemplifies community strength, and with tremendous success has established decolonized spaces that celebrate and share Indigenous knowledges. Developing networks across our campus and broader communities, the centre brings people together for support and education, and to work toward respect and reconciliation.
News story and photo: Waterloo Aboriginal Education Centre wins Equity and Inclusivity Award
FemPhys is an organization that provides mentoring, education and awareness-raising initiatives, improving the environment for undergraduate and graduate students in Physics and the STEM community at the University of Waterloo. By founding the organization FemPhys, these women have raised awareness and education around key issues of inclusivity through their lecture series and discussion groups.
FemPhys creates a welcoming and supportive environment for female students in STEM through mentoring, on-going peer support at weekly Tea & Talk sessions, and other events.
Jeremy has demonstrated tremendous and sustained leadership and dedication, both at the University of Waterloo and in the broader Kitchener-Waterloo community, towards addressing injustice and championing equity and diversity, particularly for LGBTQ people.
His work with the Waterloo Region Rainbow Coalition and with the LGBTQ Advisory Committee here on campus stand out as examples of effective and strategic leadership in support of people with diverse sexual orientations and gender identities.
The Women in Engineering Committee (WiE) has shown tremendous leadership and dedication, both internally and externally, towards addressing equity issues facing women at all levels in engineering, including undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, and staff. They are committed to their objectives to give women of all ages the opportunity to choose engineering as a career, to increase the number of women students in engineering at Waterloo, and to build an inclusive atmosphere within Waterloo Engineering.
WiE has also been instrumental in the development of outreach programs such as GoEngGirl, Badge Day, the CATALYST women’s conference and Women in Engineering applicant events towards meeting these goals.
During his tenure at the University of Waterloo, David has improved the lives of women and other members of equity-seeking groups on campus through his work in policy development; political and collective bargaining advancements; and organizational leadership, including many years of service to the Faculty Association. He has also served as a quiet champion for many faculty members in need, which has had a huge impact on the lives of these individuals despite being largely invisible work.
A call for nominations will be issued in late 2019 or early 2020, at which point you can send a nomination package in a single PDF file the chair of the Equity Committee.
The strongest nominations are those that clearly demonstrate the impact of the nominee's contributions. Letters of support don't need to be lengthy or formal.
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