Kudos to local heroes

by Tara Sharpe

UVic was well represented among the six recipients of the 2008 Victoria’s Leadership Awards, announced Jan. 23 at the Delta Ocean Pointe Resort luncheon for the many volunteers, front-line activists, professionals and local officials, researchers and talented students who contribute to the vibrant sense of community in Victoria and surrounding municipalities.

UVic faculty members Drs. Sibylle Artz (child and youth care) and Bonnie Leadbeater (psychology, Centre for Youth and Society) were presented with the two University of Victoria Community Leadership Awards while education undergraduate student Roselynn Verwoord won the Vancity Youth Leadership Award.

For many years both Artz and Leadbeater have been closely involved in the ongoing resolution of important community issues through their front-line engagement and extensive research in violence prevention. Artz has been applauded once again for her work in the practice of child and youth care, in the constructive use of emotion for the direct application of such care, and on the challenges associated with violence and homelessness. Her work has placed particular emphasis on violence among adolescent females and violence as a root cause of family homelessness. In 1998, she was chosen as Academic of the Year by the Confederation of University Faculty Associations of BC, and in 2000 she was selected as one of BC’s 50 most important current intellectuals for her contributions to violence prevention research. Artz has published three books and is currently working with colleagues from the School of Child and Youth Care Drs. Marie Hoskins, Daniel Scott and Philip Lancaster on the international initiative to end the use of child soldiers, led by Senator Roméo Dallaire.

Leadbeater has also taken the lead in Victoria, by developing and evaluating the influential anti-bullying WITS program (WITS stands for Walk away, Ignore, Talk it out, and Seek help) which helps young people both handle and prevent bullying in Greater Victoria schools.
She joined UVic’s Department of Psychology in 1997 and is the director of UVic’s Centre for Youth and Society as well as co-director of the BC Child and Youth Health Research Network.

Through her leadership, UVic researchers and community partners including the Rock Solid Foundation and Prostitutes’ Empowerment Education Resource Society are working together to improve the well-being of young people in our city. Leadbeater has also served as a member of the Victoria mayor’s expert panel on homelessness.

Verwoord is currently a bachelor of education student at UVic. Her passion for education, equality and social justice is demonstrated through her numerous volunteer commitments including with an NGO in New Delhi, India, and with Canadian community organizations including the Women in Need Society, Canadian Red Cross, Big Brothers Big Sisters, and Mines Action Canada.

While volunteering with the Victoria Native Friendship Centre, Verwoord introduced Little Ravens Reading Hour in 2003, a culturally relevant Aboriginal preschool reading program, and received a Raise a Reader grant to purchase books for the program. She currently sits on the UVic senate.

The nominees from UVic for the 2008 Victoria’s Leadership Awards included Trudi Brown, UVic’s Board of Governors; Dr. Elaine Gallagher, director of UVic’s Centre on Aging; Dale Gann, acting president of UVic Properties; Jonathan Morris, an international master of arts student in child and youth care; Jessica Page, a fourth-year biology student; Prof. Chris Tollefson, founding executive director of UVic’s Environmental Law Clinic; Dr. Holly Tuokko, neuropsychologist and professor in UVic’s Department of Psychology and Centre on Aging; Paweena Sukhawathanakul, a fourth-year honours psychology student; and Mark Walsh, a two-term school trustee who recently returned to UVic to complete an honours undergraduate degree.

Leadership Victoria is a local association providing skills development and comprehensive leadership training since 2000. It shares a similar vision with Canada’s 16 other community leadership programs, including the initial Leadership Vancouver which was founded in 1991. Information is available at www.leadershipvictoria.ca/home.htm.