Violet Richardson Award 2021 – Aishwarya Heran: the 1st Place Recipient

Thank you so much, Soroptimist International of Vancouver, for the Violet Richardson Award! It is an honour to receive this recognition from an organization which aims to support and uplift girls through education and social development.

My volunteer roles include being the co-president of the Prince of Wales Secondary School Feminism Club, and co-founding an organization called the Daily Feminist. Through my school’s feminism club, I have been able to connect to my school community in a meaningful way and make positive change. The Daily Feminist provides young students with workshops about feminism in hopes to remove the misconceptions surrounding it. Through this experience, I’ve been able to have open and safe conversations with youth about sexism and women’s rights. All these experiences are incredibly important to me, and allow me to join with like minded people to work towards a more equitable future for everyone.

I’d like to thank Soroptimist International of Vancouver for this recognition! I’m also incredibly grateful to Adelaide Ellerbeck and Julia Kyi, two classmates of mine who started the Daily Feminist with me. Together we have been able to work towards addressing the issues we see around us, and I am grateful to have such wonderful teammates to do this with.