The winner of the January Marie Lapuz Youth Leadership Award has been named for 2020.
The award is presented to young leaders who are advocates for the LGBTQ2S+ community. It was named in memory of Lapuz, a New Westminster resident who was killed in an attack in her home in September 2012.
Lapuz, a trans woman, was active in Sher Vancouver, an organization that supports LGBTQ+ South Asian people and their friends and allies. Sher Vancouver now presents the award each year in her honour.
This year’s winner was Christopher Nkambwe, 30, a Black transgender woman originally from Uganda and now living in Toronto. Nkambwe sought asylum in Canada in 2019 and founded the African Centre for Refugees in Ontario to support vulnerable LGBTQ+ refugees from Africa.
Alex Sangha, Sher Vancouver founder and award coordinator, said he was impressed with the quality of Nkambwe’s application and the leadership shown by all the applicants.
“The future is looking bright with leaders like this supporting, protecting and defending all of us,” Sangha said in a press release.
Mohammad Al Akel, 25, of Toronto was named first runner-up, while two winners – Tai August, 20, of Kelowna and Sonali (Alyy) Patel, 24, of Oakville, Ont. – were named second runners-up. Sophia M. Matthew, 25, of Vancouver earned an honourable mention.
Several other youth earned Emerging Youth Leader awards: Angelica Poversky, 22, of Vancouver; Nel Jayson Santos, 22, of Vancouver; Kyle Yeung, 18, of Richmond; Jane MacNeil, 17, of Calgary; Maha Faruqi, 23, of Kingston, Ont.; Ashli Au, 20, of Ottawa; and Azel Gallinger, 17, of Ottawa.
All the awards come with cash prizes, with a top prize of $1,000.
Follow Julie MacLellan on Twitter @juliemaclellan.
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