The City of Toronto’s Access, Equity and Human Rights Awards recognize people and organizations that have created a more equitable city by advancing reconciliation and justice, addressing discrimination, and working to eliminate barriers to equity.
The awards are community-driven. Nominations come from Toronto residents and are selected by a panel of community members with relevant experiences, expertise and knowledge. The Constance E. Hamilton Award is selected by the female-identifying Members of City Council.
Watch the 2023 Access, Equity & Human Rights Awards ceremony on YouTube, which took place on December 7 at City Hall.
View each award recipient and the award criteria below:
Mino Bimaadiziwin Award (Indigenous Award): Joyce Carpenter and Shannon Simpson
Disability Access Award: Shakhlo Sharipova
Constance E. Hamilton Award for Women’s Equality:
Safia Parveen and Centre of Learning and Development
Pride Award: Moe Akel
William P. Hubbard Race Relations Award: Francis Jeffers
The City would like to recognize this year’s nominees for their contributions to building a more equitable city:
Across Boundaries
Faziltun Nessa Babli
Fariba Bashiri
Kehkashan Basu
Rebecca Beaulne-Stuebing
Daughters for Life Foundation
Cheryl Dobinson
Fife House
Fatima Lee Garsi
Alina Haidary
Samuel Kisitu
Kelvin Kung
Lorraine Lam
Marty Lampkin
Christine Le
Iman Mohamed
Music for Every Child
Travis Myers
John Neretlis
Christopher Nkambwe
Ben Poynton
Robin Rice
Tysir Salih
Start Proud
Flora Terah
Nicholas Marcus Thompson
Women in Capital Markets
Applications for the 2023 Access, Equity and Human Rights Awards are now closed.
In 2022, the Access, Equity and Human Rights Awards were paused in order in order to review the awards process and categories to ensure that achievements are recognized in a way that is meaningful to the communities they are designed to serve. Feedback offered by community, via online survey, showed that the Access, Equity and Human Rights Awards are meaningful to communities and that improvements should be implemented to raise awareness of the awards as well as make them more impactful, more accessible, and more aligned with how diverse communities want to be recognized.
Based on feedback received, some of the changes implemented for the 2023 Access, Equity and Human rights Awards include:
Feedback will continue to be implemented and reviewed on an ongoing basis, including for future editions of the Access, Equity and Human Rights Awards. Send your feedback to EquityUnit@toronto.ca.