2023 Emerging Leader Award Winner Highlights – Part 2
Leading by Example
The University of Manitoba is pleased to continue our focus on student leaders as we announce the 2023 recipients of the Emerging Leader Awards. The Emerging Leader Award is a way for the University of Manitoba to recognize the outstanding contributions that students make to the enhancement of the institution and our community. Introduced in 2006, this award has recognized students who have made significant contributions to the University of Manitoba and the greater community. In 2023, the 88 students receiving Emerging Leader Awards have proven they are inspired by their continued work in their respective communities.
Today, in the second of our three-part leadership series, we are focusing on three award recipients that have found success through leading by example.
Anita Ayame
Anita Ayame
Anita has taken on leadership roles in various organizations and was the President and founder of the Black Student Committee (BSC), acted as the Black Students’ Representative to UMSU, designed and facilitated a Race and Diversity Workshop Series, and started an AMDF company in 2020. Anita, explains how the philosophy of leading by example has guided the ways they have gotten involved.
“I seek out opportunities where I can make a positive difference and align with my values of service, influence, and impact. I look for roles and organizations that prioritize growth and development, collaboration, inclusivity, and making a meaningful contribution to the community. I actively seek out leadership positions where I can create opportunities for others to succeed and become leaders themselves. This philosophy also influences the way I approach challenges and setbacks, as I prioritize resilience, adaptability, and learning from mistakes.”
Phiona Buhr
Phiona Buhr
Phiona Buhr’s leadership philosophy is modelled after Canada’s former chief of the Defence Staff General Rick Hillier’s. The five components that Phiona models in her philosophy are:
- Have a well-defined purpose.
- Inspire others to that purpose.
- Provide a great personal example, including optimism in the face of moral breaking challenges.
- Set a base of values and principles
- Provide a strategic framework for others to succeed.
Phiona facilitates a transgender support community at the Rainbow Resource Centre where she puts this model into action.
“I do my best to provide a good example. I show people a healthy level of vulnerability. And when conflict inevitably arises, I show members how a properly applied conflict resolution framework can turn an otherwise unpleasant, or destructive, experience into an opportunity for growth.”
Li-elle Rapaport
Li-elle Rapaport
Li-elle works to amplify the voices of others through her one-on-one work with older adults in the community. On campus, she engages her peers through the clinical student mentorship program, and her role as President on the Graduate Association for Students in Psychology (GASP). In this role, Li-elle plans to promote the distribution of resource guides to help students learn how to get involved in projects that they care about in their communities. She explains that to her, leading by example doesn’t require leaders to be the one at the front of the crowd. Instead, she thinks that most everyday leaders are doing the important work hidden within the crowd.
“I realized when I started university that amplifying others’ voices was another aspect of my own definition of ‘hadracha b’dugma’, which is Hebrew for leading by example. In many ways, my community passed this philosophy onto me, and through my own experiences, I was able to assign personal meaning to it.”
Check back tomorrow for Part 3 of our Emerging Leader Award highlight series to hear how humility has influenced our next group of recipients’ leadership outlooks. If you missed yesterday’s story, you can find that here.