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About the Award
Maria de Boer had been the Executive Director of Extend-A-Family Waterloo Region (EAFWR) for nearly 35 years. She retired in October 2017. Maria worked hard to put inclusion and belonging first at EAFWR. She encouraged people to be curious and thoughtful. Maria asked questions like, “Who makes inclusion happen?” and “How do we truly welcome and value all members of our community?”
EAFWR believes that people who have been left out or treated differently by others understand better than anyone what we need to do to make everyone feel like they belong. We need to work with other groups who help create belonging - especially the true leaders, people who are disabled/have a disability. People who have been left out from areas of community life really understand why everyone needs to feel like they belong and why every person’s voice matters.
For this reason, EAFWR wants to honour someone who identifies as disabled/having a disability who makes a positive impact for others in some way, and is looking for nominations for the fourth annual Maria de Boer Changemaker Award. The award winner will receive $500.
The nomination deadline is November 14, 2022.
Eligibility Criteria
(You must be able to say ‘yes, this is true’ about all four of these following sentences, or else we can’t accept your nomination package)
How to Nominate
We recognize that stories come in all different formats!
Please see the nomination package for more information and to find out some of the ways you can submit your nomination.
The nomination deadline is November 14, 2022.
If you have any questions, to learn more about the nomination criteria, or to talk about whether a nominee might be a good fit, please contact Courtney at 519-741-0189 ext. 220 or courtney.horowitz@eafwr.on.ca.