Ontario celebrated 13 remarkable young leaders and changemakers at the Art Gallery of Ontario, recognizing them with the province’s most prestigious Lieutenant Governors’ Legacy Awards. The honours included the Lincoln M. Alexander Award, the James Bartleman Indigenous Youth Creative Writing Award, the David C. Onley Award for Leadership in Accessibility, and the Hilary M. Weston Scholarship — each named after distinguished former lieutenant governors who left a lasting mark on Ontario’s social fabric.
Brampton’s Katie Diru received a Lincoln M. Alexander Award for her powerful work leading inclusive Black History Month assemblies, advocating for Black girls, and creating safe spaces for students to address identity-based challenges. Fellow recipients included Ottawa student Olantu Nini and Toronto’s Tenisha Keyana Noel, with each honouree receiving $5,000 and a personalized certificate for their efforts to fight racism and discrimination.
Mississauga’s Mackenzie Buller was recognized with a James Bartleman Indigenous Youth Creative Writing Award for her inspiring speech My Fantastic Magical Amazing Speech about the Role of Failure in Our Growth, which encouraged youth to see setbacks as a path to resilience. Four other young writers from Indigenous communities across Ontario were also honoured, each receiving $2,500 for their work.
Mississauga’s Samantha Fung earned a David C. Onley Award for Leadership in Accessibility for her role with Music For Every Child, a youth-led charity that has raised over $150,000 and brought inclusive music programs to 36 schools. Ottawa’s Yazmine Laroche and Toronto’s Meghan Hines also received awards for their accessibility advocacy, with each honouree taking home $5,000.
The Hilary M. Weston Scholarship went to Hamilton’s Ashton McCormick-Kelly and Oakville’s Vaishnavi Yogendran, both graduate students working to transform mental health care through research, peer support, and advocacy for equitable access to psychotherapy.
The event also marked the introduction of the new Elizabeth Dowdeswell Award for Advancing Democracy Through Education, which will celebrate Ontario educators who inspire civic engagement and democratic values. Lieutenant Governor Edith Dumont called the awards “a tribute to the remarkable legacies of four inspiring lieutenant governors” and praised recipients for “helping to make Ontario more equitable, accessible, creative and resilient.”