Izumi Sakamoto receives award…

Professor Izumi Sakamoto to receive 2014 Pioneers for Change Award (Women in Leadership)

Professor Izumi Sakamoto will be the recipient of a prestigious Pioneers for Change award in the Women in Leadership category. 2014 Pioneers of Change awards will be given on Thursday, June 5th 6 pm – 8 pm at the CIBC Corporate Office (199 Bay Street, Toronto ON).

For over 20 years, Pioneers for Change has been acknowledging the remarkable contributions immigrants have made in Canada, realizing our nation’s limitless potential as well as their own. Pioneers for Change represents the vision of a diverse and inclusive Canada. It is an ongoing commitment to identify and break down barriers so that newcomers not only succeed, but thrive. Past honourees have included the Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson, world renowned artist Maya Eventov, and Dr. Alex Jadad, Founder of the Centre for Global eHealth Innovation.

This is a very deserving honour for Dr. Sakamoto. She has conducted research on the issue of “Canadian experience” as a major barrier to immigrant employment and has been leading the Beyond Canadian Experience Project (BCEP), a university-community coalition whose main purpose is to deconstruct the idea of Canadian experience and to reduce barriers to employment experienced by immigrants. Dr. Sakamoto and the BCEP Team contributed to the development of the groundbreaking provincial policy, Ontario Human Rights Commission’s Policy on removing the “Canadian experience” barrier.