“Be a Free Woman”: Honouring Dr Punam Mehta for Women’s Empowerment Month
As a child of refugee parents from Uganda and a lifelong advocate for community health, Dr Punam Mehta has built a career at the intersection of health research and women’s empowerment. Whether she’s supporting mothers with addictions through yoga and body mapping, researching chronic diseases in Northern Manitoba, or mentoring the next generation of women in STEM, Mehta’s work is guided by justice and equity.
Now an instructor in the Department of Community Health Sciences at the University of Manitoba, Mehta shares her story for Women’s Empowerment Month, reminding us that leadership is not just about rising—it’s about reaching back and bringing others with you.
Finding her voice through activism and education
Mehta began her post-secondary education at the University of Winnipeg, where she earned two degrees: a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Women and Gender Studies and a Bachelor of Science in Biology. Her undergraduate thesis titled Not So Informed Consent: Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research in Canada examined the ethics of researchers using eggs from deceased women and aborted fetuses in stem cell research without proper consent.
She later completed a Master of Science while living in Island Lake, Manitoba, where she explored The Epidemiological Impact of No Running Water in a Remote Community in Northern Manitoba.
Rather than immediately pursuing a Ph.D, Mehta spent years working with the Red River Métis Nation alongside one of the province’s first Métis physicians. Together, they conducted research on chronic diseases, births, heart attacks, diabetes, and cancer, travelling across northern Manitoba to document health disparities. She later joined the federal government’s First Nations and Inuit Health Branch, where she gained firsthand insight into Indigenous health policies and the gaps within them.
Bringing healing into community work
As a child, Mehta was taught that the Jain way of life—rooted in non-violence and spiritual purity—served as a powerful shield while living in a colonizing country. This belief carried over into her work with The Mothering Project at Mount Carmel Clinic, where she led a yoga and body mapping initiative for mothers experiencing addiction.
Mehta emphasizes that yoga has been heavily commodified in Western culture, often reduced to a focus on the physical body. However, its thousands-year-old history tells a different story—yoga is a lifestyle, a way of thinking. (Her book on decolonizing yoga: from critical to cosmic consciousness was published in 2021). When she joined The Mothering Project as a “yoga instructor,” she spent a year meeting with mothers weekly, listening to their stories, discussing their wellness goals, and exploring what it means to feel grounded.
Furthermore, during the COVID-19 pandemic, she was a research coordinator for an HIV stigma project, using photovoice to explore how race, gender, and class shape stigma, particularly among Black, Indigenous, Two-Spirit, and LGBTQ+ communities. Many participants found the storytelling process deeply affirming during times of isolation.
A call for a new kind of leadership
As a racialized woman in academia, Mehta acknowledges the additional emotional labour that comes with mentorship. “There’s an expectation that I have to be a role model for racialized women in ways white colleagues aren’t often asked to,” she says. “People trust me with their deep and personal stories, which is an honour, but also a weight.”
For her, empowerment means education and freedom.
“I have read a lot of books about other women’s lives that have created pathways to accessing knowledge and support that allows me to thrive.”
“I tell my students: Be a free woman” she says “Empowerment means that the due date isn’t the most important thing, but being compassionate, kind and having empathy.”
Looking ahead, Mehta hopes the next generation of women in STEM will go beyond breaking glass ceilings. “They will be transforming spaces and redefining leadership as coming with care, compassion and solidarity with one another.”
Through research, mentorship, and community work, Mehta continues to champion a vision of leadership that ensures no woman has to walk her path alone.