Each year, McGill’s Equity and Community Building Awards recognize people whose work reaches far beyond campus walls to support others, open doors and strengthen connections.
Honourees from across the McGill community have led initiatives ranging from Indigenous reconciliation and trans legal advocacy to equity-focused student leadership and community-based health care innovation in Nunavik.
The annual awards were established in 2012. This year, 36 nominees were put forward, including 21 in the student category. Four prizes were awarded.
Angela Campbell, Provost and Executive Vice-President (Academic), opened the May 19 ceremony at Thomson House by acknowledging the breadth of contributions across campus.
“Thank you to all the nominees. Your collective work is as impressive as it is important. Tonight we are celebrating all of you,” she said.
Remembrance and reconciliation through hockey
Mikisiw Awashish was recognized for his work building bridges between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities through sport, education and cultural exchange.
Awashish, a member of the McGill Redbirds hockey program who will receive his degree in civil engineering at Spring Convocation, organized a Truth and Reconciliation Day event in his home community of Mashteuiatsh on Sept. 30, 2025. It brought together McGill’s Redbirds and the UQTR Patriotes for a day of remembrance and learning. The event included a commemorative walk, a ceremony with survivors and families, youth hockey practices and a shared traditional meal.
Through the initiative, Awashish showed his teammates the history and strength of his community while encouraging youth in Mashteuiatsh to see post-secondary education and athletics as attainable pathways.
Professional development, advocacy and community support
Another student, Loïc Billau, was honoured for his leadership within the McGill African Students’ Society (MASS), where he served as president while pursuing a Bachelor of Commerce in the Desautels Faculty of Management.
Billau led a 14-member executive team and expanded MASS’s funding and professional programming for Black students. Under his leadership, MASS received the 2026 SSMU Best Executive Team Award and secured more than $70,000 in funding.
Billau also organized campus forums on racism and microaggressions, mental health programming centred on identity and belonging, and networking events connecting Black students with consulting professionals. He represented McGill at the Yale Africa Innovation Symposium in 2025 and 2026 and directed the Africa Speaks Conference for two years, helping grow it into a leading student-run conference focused on Africa and the diaspora.
Billau had previously received the 2026 Mariame Kaba Leadership Award.
Advancing trans legal access and advocacy
A third student-recognized initiative, Trans Law McGill, received a team award for advancing legal access and support for trans people.
Founded in 2025 at the Faculty of Law, the collective provides free legal clinics supporting name and gender marker changes while also offering educational programming, social events and advocacy initiatives. The group works with legal experts and community organizations across Canada to reduce barriers to legal recognition and gender-affirming processes.
Health care innovation rooted in community partnership
The academic staff award went to Dr. Faiz Ahmad Khan, a respirologist whose work in Nunavik integrates clinical care, research and community collaboration to address respiratory health challenges, including tuberculosis.
Since 2013, he has been the region’s only respirologist, providing in-person care and remote support to clinicians. Khan’s research includes artificial intelligence–based chest X-ray analysis to improve TB detection and training programs for community health workers developed in partnership with Inuit communities. Khan also focuses on building local research capacity by hiring and mentoring Inuit community members, supporting co-created governance structures and prioritizing community-led knowledge sharing.