Women Who Rock honours those making a difference
At least 11 Hamilton women are among 16 nominations for the 2022 annual Women Who Rock awards, honouring their contribution to the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area community.
The seventh annual function, which first began in 2015 to celebrate October as Women's History Month, was held online on Sunday from 2 to 3:30 p.m.
This festival is about giving women the space to celebrate Women's History Month," said Evelyn Myrie, CEO of Empower Strategy Group, which is behind the event. She said the festival is a chance to acknowledge women across the region for making a difference and having an impact through their career or volunteer work."
Women's History Month was established in 1992, but Myrie feels there haven't been a lot of activities to commemorate the month.
The 2022 nominations, Myrie said, reflect on the great deal of important work" women are doing. I'm enjoying seeing the diversity of women who are nominated, from age to racial backgrounds to areas of interest."
This year's event was hosted by Lohifa Pogoson-Acker, entrepreneur and founder of LoDidThat.
Here are some of the highlighted women from Hamilton:
Abrar Mechmechia
Raised in Syria, Mechmechia became a leader in the mental-health space, providing trauma-informed mental-health care in the community. She works with refugees and immigrants from a culturally sensitive approach through her virtual counselling platform, Abrar Trauma and Mental Health Services.
It's an honour to be nominated," she told The Spectator. She said, growing up in Syria as a teenager, she observed a lot of trauma" affecting her mental well-being. Through her work, she now wants to serve others coming from war-torn areas.
Layla Staats
Staats, from the Mohawk Turtle Clan from the Six Nations of the Grand River, is a Hamilton-based filmmaker, and land and water activist, bringing awareness to Indigenous water issues and land claims.
My documentaries have been my passion for storytelling, going back to the ideas of storytelling and listening to the teachings, elders, and being able to take my knowledge and my expertise of digital marketing" to tell powerful stories," she said.
Zobia Jawed
An engineering researcher at McMaster University, Jawed has worked in tracking COVID-19 through wastewater at McMaster. A Waterdown resident, Jawed is also running for the municipal election in Ward 15.
Kalea Kirsh
Kirsh is a founder of NeuroInclusivity, which helps individuals with disabilities create customized methods of communication to meet their needs according to their neurotypical and able-bodied standards of connection.
Celeste Licorish
Licorish, McMaster University's access program manager, is using her skills working in the Hamilton community to help students from under-represented groups and helping them find a way to succeed in their post-secondary education.
Amy Deschamps
Deschamps has dedicated 20 years of her life to working with people experiencing gender-based violence and homelessness, and applying a harm-reduction lens. Her work, as a part of YWCA, is focused on inclusivity within the gender-based violence sector.
Other Hamilton women highlighted for their contribution are Mabinti Dennis, Drina Omazic, Louise Noel-Ambrose, Joan Savoie and Sarah Barnhart.
Outside of the city, Colette Murray, Janice Cardinale, Hayley Verrall, Kayla Kween Gerber and Alethia Cadore were celebrated.
Ritika Dubey is a reporter at The Spectator. rdubey@thespec.com