Tsawwassen’s Rhiannon Bennett has been nominated for a Women of Distinction Award.
The 38th annual awards, presented by YWCA Metro Vancouver, announced its nominees in 12 different categories on Monday.
Bennett has been nominated in the Reconciliation in Action category.
According to the awards bio, Bennett (Musqueam), is CEO of Hummingbirds Rising, which helps non-Indigenous Canadians develop skills, compassions and abilities to recognize and change systems and practices needed to play an active and meaningful part in Decolonization.
She was a founding member of Feminists Deliver, holding the international Women Deliver conference accountable for arriving in B.C. and ignoring issues that pertain to local women and children and its connections to the global disparities that women and children face.
She was the first Indigenous woman elected to the Delta Board of Education is on the Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s board of governors and is a core member of Delta’s Organizing Against Racism and Hate Committee.
Musqueam Leadership also recognized her for her work on Canoe Revitalization in the community.
The YWCA Women of Distinction Awards honour individuals and organizations whose outstanding activities and achievements contribute to the well-being and future of our communities. The Women of Distinction Awards is also the YWCA’s signature fundraising event.
In addition to the 12 nomination categories, the individual nominees are eligible for the Connecting the Community Award. Nominees will select a YWCA program area in which they are interested and use social media channels such as Twitter and Facebook to promote votes.
From now until April 20, the public can cast their votes online and the nominee with the most votes will receive the Connecting the Community Award. Scotiabank will donate $10,000 to the YWCA program area of the winner’s choice.
Award recipients will be announced at a virtual event on June 7. Tickets will be going on sale soon. To purchase tickets for the YWCA Women of Distinction Awards, please visit our website: ywcavan.org/women-distinction-awards
Since 1984, YWCA Metro Vancouver has paid tribute to more than 330 award recipients and 1,950 nominees. A full list of this year’s nominees can be found here.
