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OISE doctoral candidate Shezadi Khushal has been named a winner of for 2024, in the Emerging Leader category.

The award, part of the University of Toronto’s awards of excellence, recognizes exceptional contributions by administrative staff, librarians, faculty members, and students. The $1,500 prize winners are selected for their scholarship, personal service to others, or activities in support of U of T’s commitment to human rights and equity, diversity, and inclusion.

Khushal, a PhD Candidate in OISE’s department of Leadership, Higher & Adult Education, was commended in her award citation for her “commitment to equity, inclusivity, justice and human rights through her professional work, academic career, and volunteer leadership positions.”

Currently serving as a Human Rights Officer for the York Region District School Board, Khushal not only investigates human rights violations but also leads the Board’s training initiatives on human rights, bias and discrimination. Additionally, she plays a pivotal role in collecting and analyzing data on reported cases of discrimination and harassment for the Board’s Human Rights Office’s Annual Report.

“Ms. Khushal’s determined and thoughtful leadership in the OISE community and through her human rights work makes her a rightful and deserved winner of the Jus Human Rights Prize,” says Professor Erica N. Walker, Dean of OISE. “As a winner in the Emerging Leader category, we take pride in witnessing leaders like Ms. Khushal flourish and thrive within our Institute.

“On behalf of the OISE community, I congratulate Ms. Khushal for this wonderful award.”

Khushal is the second OISE community member to receive this award. Professor Ann Lopez won this award in 2022.

From working on Sustainable Development Goals as a policy intern for the United Nations, to working on poverty alleviation in non-governmental organizations in Indonesia, Khushal has spent the past decade working and advocating for human rights. 

“To be recognized in this category is more meaningful than I can express,” she says. “When your passion and life’s work are recognized, it means everything. It means I am moving in the right direction, and it propels me to continue to do this work. 

Khushal feels fortunate to have been given opportunities to enter spaces where she could lead this work, learn and grow. “I am also humbled to be in this category with many esteemed human rights advocates, who won this award before me and who have laid the foundation,” she says.

Her doctoral research looks at dismantling racism in schools through board-mandated human rights policies. That research centers dignity at the core of student success and examines what is needed at each level to effectively combat racism and discrimination in schools.

At U of T, Khushal has served on the University of Toronto Graduate Students’ Union’s Race & Ethnicity Caucus, and currently serves on her Departmental Students’ Association, providing academic and social programming for graduate students on matters of identity, race, justice, and belonging. 

She was instrumental in organizing two Human Rights Panel Symposiums, facilitating discussions among faculty members and students on the intersection of human rights and equity, the impact of racism on education, and the responsibilities of leaders and educators in upholding human rights principles.

“Human rights touch every aspect our lives,” she says. “It is more than a legal requirement; it is rooted in the principles of dignity, fairness, equality and independence, and is pivotal to relationships and how we treat one another.”