Awards & Accolades
University of Regina Lifetime Achievement Award
CBC Future 40 Winner
Courageous author, thirsty entrepreneur and intrepid filmmaker among latest Sask. CBC Future 40 Winners
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Latoya T. Reid
Category: Social Activism, Volunteerism
Age: 34
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CBC: How does it feel to know you're succeeding?
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Latoya T. Reid: It feels amazing. All these accomplishments make me beam with pride, but I know that this is just a small dent in the work that needs to be done in order to actualize the goal of representation in our province.
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I caution myself against becoming complacent and continue to work behind the scenes to realize the goal of Blacks, Indigenous and People of Colour being provided with the same opportunities as their white counterparts.
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Latoya's nomination: Latoya is a new immigrant to Canada and a registered social worker who actively advocates for social change and reform in Saskatchewan, in relation to vulnerable and marginalized populations. She has been an activist with the Black Lives Matter movement in Saskatchewan this past summer, but her advocacy and volunteerism commenced long before in her various leadership roles at the University of Regina, where she spearheaded numerous initiatives and collaborated with the student council, social work faculty and various community organizations to supplement the needs of parent-students (single parents in particular), to alleviate much of the stress involved in balancing study and child care.
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Latoya is currently a volunteer mental health therapist for people who simply need non-judgemental, anti-racist and anti-oppressive support to listen and validate their racialized experiences. This has a dual intent of also destigmatizing mental health among racialized populations.
It is through these experiences of providing informal mental health support, her various roles in the health care sector working with racialized individuals and the recent increase in suicide among Black youth that she was able to assess a gap in services for representative mental health support for racialized populations.
Consequently, she has been advocating for this change through her online and paper petitions that were presented to the legislature. Latoya's recent presentation at the International Federation of Social Workers in Calgary (virtual-2020) ,entitled Racialized Students Navigating University Programs, also reflects her commitment to social justice and equity in an increasingly multicultural environment.
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Source: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/third-10-sask-future-40-winners-1.5821808
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