Raman Dhaliwal receives Distinguished Service Award from the Asian Women of Winnipeg
Dhaliwal received the award for her exceptional achievements, leadership and outstanding community service
A seasoned higher education administrator, Raman Dhaliwal was recently recognized by the Asian Women of Winnipeg with their Distinguished Service Award, in celebration of International Women’s Day.
A first-generation Southeast Asian Canadian born and raised in Winnipeg, Dhaliwal is the first woman of colour to hold the dual position of Associate Vice-President Administration and Chief Risk Officer at the University of Manitoba. She received the award for her exceptional achievements, leadership and outstanding community service.
“I feel very honoured to be recognized among the Asian women in Winnipeg,” says Dhaliwal. “It’s always fascinating to me that people actually know who I am because I feel like I have a pretty low profile in Winnipeg,” says Dhaliwal, who graduated from UM with a commerce degree in actuarial mathematics and finance in 2007, and is currently pursuing her MBA in the Asper School of Business.
“The Asian Women of Winnipeg award is really important because the South Asian community is so large in Winnipeg, and there is a lot of success in this community,” says Dhaliwal. “Celebrating and recognizing where we’ve come from, since many of us come from immigrant families that built a new life here, it really means a lot.”
Setting up the first COVID vaccine clinics
When the pandemic hit, Dhaliwal was the Executive Director of the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences. She sat on the university’s COVID-19 Response Steering Committee, where she played an instrumental role in getting the UM community set up to study and work from home.
She also assisted the province in organizing the first COVID-19 clinics for healthcare professionals to receive their vaccines.
Dhaliwal physically received Manitoba’s first COVID vaccine shipment, something she didn’t anticipate when put her hand up to help with the vaccination effort.
Once the vaccine was secured and locked in the –80-degree freezers, Dhaliwal and her staff volunteered their time over the next several weeks, figuring out the logistics of running the first vaccine clinic in the province to provide COVID-19 vaccinations to healthcare professionals.
“We did it because we knew this was something that the province needed, and it was our way to help,” says Dhaliwal, who also played a key role in recruiting healthcare professionals for the first vaccine super site in Garden Hill First Nation.
“This was an opportunity to leverage my skills to help with something that was greater than me,” says Dhaliwal. “Knowing that your work was going towards something broader and bigger than yourself motivated me each day to come in and do my best and put my hand up for things that sometimes seemed outside of my skill set.”
Leadership philosophy
In her role as AVP Admin and Chief Risk Officer, Dhaliwal oversees a team of approximately 500. She is responsible for UM’s capital planning process and leads efforts to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 through the Climate Action Plan. She also manages the university’s Enterprise Risk Register, insurance, access and privacy office and security services.
Dhaliwal’s philosophy on leadership is based on kindness and support. “We need to support people around us and treat them with respect, so that you build a culture of respect throughout the organization,” says Dhaliwal.
“If I see people are working hard and going that extra mile, I think ‘how can we seek them out and recognize them for that contribution’,” she says.
Throughout her journey, she has learned that leadership is not about titles or power. “It is about service. It is about lifting others as you climb. It is about ensuring that when you reach a door that was once closed, you hold it open for the next generation,” Dhaliwal says.
Trudy Blight, Assistant Director of Operations and Management, has worked with Dhaliwal for many years. She says Dhaliwal’s open leadership style contributes to that culture of respect. “Raman is engaging, authentic and respectful. She acknowledges the positive work of all team members, regardless of what level and she encourages us to strive for improvements.”
Advice to future leaders
Dhaliwal encourages people to say yes to new opportunities when they arise as it can help build your reputation. “Say yes to things even if it’s not completely within your skill set. If you say yes to things – they could be small things at first – you start building that trust with people and they’re willing to give you more opportunities, and you showcase yourself in the organization in a different way too. So just say yes, even if you don’t check all the boxes, and believe in yourself.”