Yesterday, we held our Community Recognition Awards and I am once again elated to celebrate all the wonderful contributions made by each of the recipients. It is their work that makes University-Rosedale a great place to live, work and grow.
Below are the 2025 winners:
Judy Rebick - Lifetime Advocate Award
Judy Rebick is a Canadian writer, journalist and feminist political activist. She is best known as a leader of the pro-choice movement that legalized abortion in the 1980’s and as President of NAC, Canada’s most influential feminist group in the 1990’s. She is also the founding publisher of rabble.ca and the author of 7 books most recently Heroes in my Head.
Deborah Littman - Community Leader Award
Deborah Littman is a longtime resident of the Manulife Centre who helped organize and establish a residents' association in her building, working to ensure her neighbours know their rights as tenants and can access the services they deserve.
Martha Friendly - Childcare Advocate Award
Martha Friendly has been a leading voice in the Canadian childcare movement for nearly 50 years, combining grassroots activism with rigorous policy research to champion a universal, equitable, high-quality childcare system as the founder and Executive Director of the Childcare Resource and Research Unit.
Emily Lum - Healthcare Advocate Award
Emily Lum is a community organizer who continues to advocate for accessible primary health care services that are free of language barriers, ensuring everyone, regardless of language, can receive the care they need.
Robert Stambula - Safe and Accessible Streets Advocate Award
Robert Stambula has been a dedicated advocate for Harbord Village for over 20 years, leading or contributing to key projects such as city snow-clearing of downtown residential sidewalks, College Street redevelopment, securing community access to local school fields, acquiring and improving public spaces/parks and streetscape design, and shaping laneway suite regulations and operations.
Liora Sobel - Youth Advocate Award
Liora Sobel is a nonprofit leader with over 15 years of experience and lived experience in the child welfare system. As Chief Operating Officer of StepStones for Youth, she brings a trauma-informed, strengths-based approach and a deep commitment to supporting youth in care and advancing equity, inclusion, and human rights.
Fridays for Future Toronto - Climate Advocate Award
Fridays for Future Toronto is a youth-led, grassroots climate justice organization that mobilizes for environmental and social justice through school strikes, rallies, and marches, advocating for a sustainable and just future for all.
Native Canadian Centre of Toronto - Community Empowerment Award
The Native Canadian Centre of Toronto is a membership-based, charitable organization that empowers the Indigenous community through programs promoting spiritual, emotional, physical, and mental well-being, while nurturing an inclusive environment for all.
The Neighbourhood Group - Healthcare Advocate Award
The Neighbourhood Group, leading the legal fight against Ontario’s new law that forces the closure of 10 supervised consumption sites; TNG advocates for harm reduction, arguing the law discriminates against vulnerable people and reduces essential health services during a worsening substance crisis.
A Different Booklist - Progressive Business Leader Award
A Different Booklist is an African Canadian owned bookstore specializing in the rich literature of the African and Caribbean Diaspora and the Global South
The NORC Ambassadors at 50 Prince Arthur Avenue - Senior Advocate Award
The NORC Ambassadors at 50 Prince Arthur Avenue, Joanne, Wendy, Andrew, Margaret and Timothy where they advocate for seniors and organize events for residents in their naturally occurring retirement community.
TTCriders - Social Justice Advocate Award
TTC Riders led campaigns to make Toronto’s public transit system more affordable, accessible, and equitable for all.
No Demovictions - Tenant Advocate Award
No Demovictions is a tenant collective that advocates against harmful demovictions by supporting tenants through education and organization, and taking meaningful action towards policy and legislative change.
Friends of Chinatown and the Win’s Flowers Tenants - Tenant Advocate Award
The Win's Flowers Tenants came together in December 2024 to fight against their landlord and terrible living conditions. Collaborating with Friends of Chinatown, the tenants were united in their demands and rent strike and forced the landlord to meet their demands. Friends of Chinatown is a grassroots group fighting for better living and working conditions for migrants, workers, and tenants in and around Chinatown. During the rent strike at a Dundas Street rooming house, FOCT supported the tenants in organizing by offering planning advice, translation, and protest coordination.
Siu Mee Cheng – King Charles III's Coronation Medal
As the leader of Street Haven, Toronto’s oldest women’s shelter, Siu Mee oversees critical services for women facing severe mental health and addiction challenges. Her advocacy has been instrumental in urging all levels of government to increase investment in emergency housing and supportive housing.
Mohini Datta-Ray - King Charles III's Coronation Medal
Under her direction, Planned Parenthood has continued its longstanding commitment to providing vital community health services, including primary care, family planning, and mental health support, all tailored specifically for youth. Her work emphasizes respect, care, and non-judgment, ensuring that marginalized communities, particularly young people, feel safe accessing these services. Mohini's dedication to fostering an anti-racist, culturally responsive, and youth-driven environment has had a profound impact, helping to uphold dignity and equality in healthcare.
Anne Keary - King Charles III's Coronation Medal
Anne is a dedicated environmental champion, serving as co-chair of the Toronto Climate Action Network and working tirelessly to make Toronto District School Board (TDSB) schools more environmentally friendly and energy efficient. She also contributes her expertise as a board member of Environmental Education Ontario. Anne consistently leverages her influence to drive meaningful change, always considering how she can best use her role to create a more sustainable and eco-conscious city.
Amy Tang - King Charles III's Coronation Medal
Amy Tang has worked for over a decade as a lunchroom supervisor, nutrition coordinator, and educational assistant. Her care shines through in the small but impactful ways she goes above and beyond—whether it’s arriving early to make grilled cheese sandwiches, cutting fruit with special care, or stepping in as a translator for families in need.