top of page
action.
zohra husaini memorial award
For decades, Dr. Husaini contributed her expertise to innovative programming, securing grants and creating public engagement on human rights through the Indo Canadian Women’s Association. The work of ICWA and the grassroots technical, emotional, and cultural support that it has provided to those in need, therefore, is at the heart of this award, which recognizes excellence in thought and action in the pursuit of humanist ideals.
2024
The three shortlisted candidates for the 2024 Zohra Husaini Memorial Award are committed advocates who embody the spirit of Dr. Husaini’s work in thought action and humanism. In particular, their work courageously presses for gender justice and fighting against gender based violence in the Edmonton community. We honour their commitment and struggle.
Kairendeep Kaur Dhillon
Kairandeep promotes equity, dignity and human rights in the Edmonton community through “the Menstruation Project”. Through this project based out of the University of Alberta she promotes positive sexual health practices, and has raised money for vital health products and services for women.
Kathy King and Andrea Heinz (*2024 award co-recipients)
Kathy King is a retired clinical social worker with over five decades of professional employment and volunteer advocacy. Her lifelong commitment to social justice became more personal in 1997 when her daughter, age 22, disappeared from the streets of Edmonton. Kathy is a long-term volunteer with CEASE, the Centre to End All Sexual Exploitation.
Andrea Heinz is an advocate for the abolition of commercial sexual exploitation. She volunteered as Executive Producer of an 8 part docu-series called “Labeled”. Kathy and Andrea’s 2024 co-authored book is entitled, “When Men Buy Sex: Who Really Pays – Canadian Stories of Exploitation, Survival and Advocacy”. The experiential perspective of these activists provides a unique and compelling perspective bringing voice to one of the most important concerns of gender violence in Canada today.
Moneek Sandhu
Moneek leads the Girl to Girl Young Women’s Empowerment Group. Her advocacy through Girl to Girl, the Maansik Movement, seeks to increase awareness about mental health in the Punjabi community. She works in an organization called “Breaking the Silence Alberta in the Punjabi Community Health Services. She developed a toolkit to help with Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). This Award, if she is successful, will recognize her work, so that she can continue her work in this field.
Kathy King and Andrea Heinz
2024 Award Co-Recipients
The winners of the 2024 Husaini Memorial Award were chosen by a community-based selection panel of social service organization representatives coordinated by the Indo Canadian Women’s Association.
Kathy and Andrea were jointly chosen as the 2024 award recipients for their work on commercial sexual exploitation.
bottom of page