Mahatma Gandhi Annual Student Award

The Mahatma Gandhi Annual Student Award was established at Simon Fraser University in 2007. It is funded through the generous contributions of the Thakore Charitable Foundation with support from the Institute for the Humanities at SFU. The purpose of this award is to recognize and honour those SFU students who, in the spirit of Gandhi’s work, have been active in voluntary community service in areas related to peace, justice, and human rights.

Voluntary service may include any voluntary service that contributes toward the betterment of the human condition: health-related and caring services, literacy and training programs, peer group assistance, work with peace organizations, social justice initiatives, community building services, anti-violence programs, anti-poverty programs, and local, national, and international programs that address issues related to peace, justice, and human rights. The Mahatma Gandhi Annual Student Award is valued at $1,500 and will be granted annually to a current or newly admitted full-time SFU student in good academic standing on the basis of demonstrated community service and leadership.

Please visit the following link for more information to apply: https://www.sfu.ca/humanities-institute/About/Students.html

2022 AWARD RECIPIENT

Antonia Kowalewski

Antonia Kowalewski is a fifth-year biological physics student at Simon Fraser University with a shared passion for science, climate activism, and social justice. Her current roles at SFU include co-president of the environmental advocacy club Ban the Bottle, student representative on the university Re-use for Good and Circular Economy working groups, founding member of the Department of Physics Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity Alliance, peer tutor for the Faculty of Science, and regular volunteer for science outreach events. Beyond the walls of SFU, Antonia also works with the BC Sustainable Energy Association to train high school students to become climate leaders in their communities.

2021 AWARD RECIPIENT

Ashley Kyne

Ashley Kyne is an iTaukei Student at Simon Fraser University (SFU). She is in the final year of her undergraduate career, in pursuit of her Bachelor of Arts in Criminology (Hons) and Indigenous Studies. Currently, Ashley is writing her Honours thesis on Indigenous offender risk assessment, with a concentration on culturally-relevant risk factors. Ashley’s area of study has provided her with the opportunity to volunteer and work with like-minded organizations such as the Strathcona Community Policing Centre (SCPC), the Union Gospel Mission (UGM), Access Pro Bono (APB), and the SFU English as Additional Language (EAL) Peer Education Program. These four establishments have the goal to help vulnerable persons and visible minorities, and similarly, this is her mission as well. Growing up in Vancouver, and being at the forefront of these organizations, Ashley has seen how difficult life in Vancouver can be. Especially from the historical and current effects of colonization, Indigenous Peoples standard of living is significantly lower than the rest of Canada.

PAST AWARD RECIPIENTS

YEAR	AWARD RECIPIENTS
2022	Antonia Kowalewski
2021	Ashley Kyne
2020	Post Secondary: Taya Wall
2019	Post Secondary: Nyarka Sonko
2018	Post Secondary: Vidisha Challa
2017	Post Secondary: Kim Hoang Tran
2016	Post Secondary: Helen Race
2015	Post Secondary: Nicholas Steinberg, Bhavika Jayant Patel
2011	Post Secondary : Brandon Yau
2010	Post Secondary : Christina Bucholtz
2009	Post Secondary: Rachel Li
2008	Post Secondary: Jeremy Janz
2006	High School: Christine & Natalie Zawadzki, Jorden Allen
2006	Post Secondary: Cory Jansson
2005	High School: Aditi Ramesh
2004	High School: Kevin Sandgren
2004	Post Secondary: Ajnesh Prasad & Shanny Chauhan
2003	High school: Gelati Ting
2003	Post Secondary: Chad Stauber & Ash Prasad
2002	High school: Yumi Ang
2002	Post Secondary: Nathan Elliot
2001	High school: Sharon Kour
2001	Post Secondary: Luigi Bianco
2000	High School: Amandeep Bains, Elois Rowland
2000	Post Secondary: Caras Colorado, Mark Berube
1999	Post Secondary: Per-Lars Bloomberg
1998	Post Secondary : Ellen Lai, Clarice Lai, Jackie Soon
1997	High School: Diane Chen
1997	Post Secondary: Euyung Oh
1994	High School :Lawny Woldanski
1994	Post Secondary : Chris Lee
1993	High School : Amit Arya
1993	Post Secondary: Rajiv Dhawan, Dan Marshall
1992	High School: Amit Arya
1992	Post Secondary: Anand Gandhi, Alicia Koh, Goerge Matthew, Jalpa Gandhi