Alex Foto Memorial Award

The selection committee for the Alex Foto Memorial Award are pleased to announce that Zack Ahmed and Hannah Tellier have been chosen as 2019 recipients for their dedication to humanitarian issues and for being highly involved and engaged as student leaders both on-and-off-campus.

Hannah’s experience working in the service of others is broad and diverse. As a superviser and student caller with the Office of Advancement she personally raised more than $50,000 for scholarships and awards. As a research assistant with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture she helped develop strategies to catalyze food security projects alongside Indigenous and First Nations groups across Canada. Hannah is also a Co-founder of Macromatter, an initiative to fight childhood malnutrition in Cambodia and has spent time volunteering internationally in both the Maasai Mara region of Kenya and Patagonia, Arizona.

On campus, Hannah has worked with the Imprint, for the Faculty of Environment as an ambassador, Environment Student Society member and as an Orientation Week coordinator.

Hannah says that “to be counted among those to have received this award is an incredible privilege, and I consider it an important reminder of all that can be done right now in the service of others. Remembering Alex, I feel a stronger pull than ever to learn more and work harder in this complex world of development. On placement and beyond, I will strive to do justice to Alex’s memory.”

Zack first became involved in social justice and community engagement in Kenya where his volunteer experience included empowering youth, women, and other vulnerable groups through participatory programs like sports, and literacy programs. While working toward his INDEV degree here in Waterloo, he has served as Co-President of the Student Association of International Development, is a member of Kitchener’s Neighborhood Leadership Program Steering Committee and is Vice President of the Board of Directors of the Somali Canadian Association of Waterloo Region.

Upon learning about his selection for the award, Zack shared that he is extremely honoured and humbled. “The Alex Foto Memorial Award is a great reminder for all INDEV students to keep working hard to serve humanity. Alex’s legacy of hard work, selflessness, and dedication to humanitarianism continue to inspire us all in our resolve to bring positive changes to the world. I am always reminded to keep working hard and to try to live like Alex.”

The Alex Foto Memorial Award was created to honour Alex Foto’s legacy and inspire others to “live like Alex.” She was a charismatic St. Paul’s student studying International Development who cared deeply about humanitarian and anti-poverty issues, but passed away in a tragic accident in 2014.

The award is given annually to a student studying International Development at the University of Waterloo and is embarking on the fourth-year field placement. The field placements are made in partnership with World University Service of Canada