For over 19 years, Skills for Change has hosted the New Pioneer Awards, celebrating inspiring newcomers and bringing together a large and diverse community of people who believe that immigration is an important part of building Canada’s future.
2012 marked the 20th anniversary. To celebrate, Skills for Change launched Pioneers for Change at TIFF Bell Lightbox on June 5, 2012.
www.newpioneers.org represents an archive of the stories of over 100 New Pioneers
2011 Award Recipients
Waleed Abdulhamid | Arts
What better way to achieve success than to share with others? Waleed Abdulhamid -instrumentalist, composer, vocalist, producer, film maker, and an active member of the Toronto music scene since his arrival in Canada in 1992 – has been able to give back to the community through his music.
Born in Sudan in 1968, Waleed began performing at the age of six, when he appeared on a weekly children’s television show and on radio in Sudan. Many percussionists across the country emulated Waleed’s unique percussion style, which introduced traditional rhythms into popular music. After leaving Sudan at age 18, Waleed performed, recorded and toured extensively across Europe.
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Mario Guilombo | Community service
Nothing is more devastating than seeing members of your own family killed and injured in retaliation for your passion to develop democracy and promote and protect human rights for everybody. Mario Guilombo is a lawyer and human rights activist who, in 2001, fled his native Colombia after facing persecution for his humanitarian work.
Mario spoke no English when he came to Canada; nevertheless, the friendly welcome he received persuaded him to turn to human rights advocacy as a vocation.
The lack of support for programs promoting human rights eventually motivated him to create the Collective Defender of Human Rights “Laura Acosta” Corporation, which supports disadvantaged immigrants who have been harassed, wrongfully detained, tortured, or defamed.
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Jeffrey B.H. Min | Entrepreneurship
Jeffrey Min opened his first Korean supermarket in North York in 2003. In that short time, he has: Mastered the “subtle language of business”
Come to understand and reconcile the differences between Canadian and Korean cultures
Built a prosperous businesses through fair and generous business practices with the local community
Jeffrey now owns and manages two Galleria Supermarkets (the original one at Yonge and Steeles and a new one at Don Mills and York Mills), each one with 120 employees. The Galleria Supermarket has been featured in the Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers magazine. Galleria Supermarket has also won “Grocer of the Year” Award from the Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers two years in a row, 2009 and 2010.
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Dr. Mohamed Karmali | Science and technology
Originally from Kenya, Dr. Mohamed Karmali arrived in Toronto in 1976, after completing his medical degree in Scotland and specializing in internal medicine and infectious diseases at the University of Glasgow Teaching Hospitals. Adjusting to life in Canada and to the Canadian medical system was a challenge.
However, with determination, dedication, focus and his sights set high, he overcame many of the common obstacles faced by foreign medical professionals. His hard work paid off. In 1980 he became a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (FRCP) of Canada with Specialty Certification in Medical Microbiology.
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Ali Al-Hamawandy | SfC graduate
In 2007, Ali Al-Hamawandy arrived in Canada from Iraq; 18 years of project and construction management experience from Italy, Spain and United States and a Master’s degree in Hydraulic Engineering were still not enough for him to move ahead without . . . Canadian experience.
Ali was unable to reconcile his past experience as a senior engineer with his present experience of facing rejection after rejection from engineering companies in Canada. And, when he first joined the Skills for Change Engineering Your Future Program, he could not see the sense of spending time learning again about a career he’d already spent a lifetime carrying out.
Once he realized, however, that what he was learning was vital to his getting a job in his field, he eagerly applied the job search techniques and strategies suggested to him. His positive attitude, enthusiasm and determination led him to attend conferences, participate in seminars, seek job coaching, set up informational interviews, and find a mentor – and eventually landed him an engineering position at SNC-Lavalin Inc. in Toronto.
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Jemy Mary Joseph | Youth
“As I went through the application for the Rhodes scholarship in 2009, it provided a huge opportunity to reflect on what defines me as a person today and how my presence will make a difference in this world. I was amazed at how strongly my childhood upbringing in Indian villages and Kuwait affected my values, ethics and outlook on life.
I am certain with every fibre of my being that the privilege of applying for the Rhodes scholarship would not have been possible if I was still living in India or Kuwait, due to gender and other cultural barriers. Therefore, I am extremely grateful for the freedom and opportunity that coming to Canada has offered me.”
