2023

The 12th annual Daughters Day celebration took place on September 23rd at Edmonton City Hall. The Board of Canadians for a Civil Society and the Daughters Day Committee are grateful for all who attended, volunteered, performed, and supported the celebration.

Canadians for A Civil Society (CCS) proudly announces this year’s recipients of the 2023 Daughter Day Award. Reaching its 13th milestone year in 2023, Daughters Day has recognized over 70 women who have made significant impacts in their communities. Join 2017 Daughter of the year, Harriet Tinka, as she hosts the celebration of this year’s Daughters on Saturday afternoon with entertainment by Aurah Ariko, Chubby Cree and Paula Kirman. This free public awareness and educational event is designed to advance understanding of the importance of the civil society principle of gender equity. All of the recipients being recognized have worked to address gender inequities and are: Jagjeet Bhardwaj, Janaya Iverson, Jeanne Lehman, Angela Morris, Nauzanin Knight, and Nakita Valerio.








 

Daughters of the Year Award Recipients

Jagjeet Bhardwaj

Jagjeet Bhardwaj was born in Lahore, Punjab, India (now in present-day Pakistan) to a young doctor and his beautiful wife. Shortly after she was born, the family moved to a small mountain town called Nainital, India. She attended a private school called St. Mary’s Convent. A brilliant student, Jagjeet went to earn a master’s degree in chemistry from Lucknow University. She then got married to a university professor of law and started a family. Jagjeet inherited her passion for helping others from her mother, who aided desperate children, women and families in India. This has translated into Jagjeet’s volunteer efforts with the Indo-Canadian Women’s Association and other charitable organizations. While she served as President of the ICWA, she worked with Catholic Social Services, and Edmonton Mennonite Centre for Newcomers to establish the Mill Woods Welcome Centre for Immigrants. As a former cancer researcher, she entered the physical sciences at a time (the 1960s) when it was the purview of men. Jagjeet also served two terms on the Provincial Court Nominating Committee to vet potential provincial court judges.

 

Janaya Iverson

A humble, passionate girl with big dreams, are just a few words that begin to describe Janaya Iverson. She is 18 years old and from Treaty 8 Beaver First Nation. She currently resides in Calgary, studying Journalism and Law at Mount Royal University. Janaya has a wealth of experience in the pageant industry, having started when she was only 8 years old. Since then, she has built her way up from local pageants, provincial, national, to an international beauty queen and representative of Canada. Janaya holds the title of Miss Teenager International Canada 2022. When she travels the world in pageants, she also shares her Indigenous culture through her jingle dance. Janaya has a passion for giving, in 2021 she won Miss Teen Top Fundraiser for raising and donating over $20,000 for the Children’s Wish Foundation, and Muscular Dystrophy. Her mission is to leave an empowered legacy by using her voice to inspire people around the world with her platform Imagine a World of Kindness. This young Alberta leader is taking the world by storm!

Nauzanin Knight

Nauzanin Knight is a Canadian writer, director, producer with a passion for social issues. She creates stories that reflect her multicultural background. Nauzanin holds an MSc from University College London and is a published writer. She shifted her focus to filmmaking and has since written, directed, and produced a range of projects, including “My Lyric I Never Knew,” (CBC Gem); “Precarity” (TELUS Optik); “Notes on Being Un-Popular” (TIFF, the Big Pitch). She is in the process of directing “White Sands” (NFB). Outside of her own projects, she held the position of Story Editor on CityTV’s Hudson & Rex. She believes in contributing to the discourse of diversity and inclusion in the screen sector, having published a study titled  “Building Inclusive Networks in the Film and Television Industry” (Telefilm/CMF). She is a board member and EDI chair of the Alberta Media Production Industries Association. As an Executive Producer of 1844 Studios, Nauzanin is dedicated to promoting the oneness of humanity through striking stories.

 

Jeanne Lehman

Jeanne Lehman is the Founding President & CEO of Black Canadian Women in Action. She attended the University of Paris where she obtained her master’s degree in Business Law. After arriving in Canada in 2000, she completed her diploma in Business Administration at HEC Montreal. She became the Founding President of La FRAP (Francophonie Albertaine Plurielle) in Edmonton in 2014. Her vision and mission of establishing dialogue between the New Immigrant Francophone Communities and the French-speaking Canadian Community has been a cornerstone that has led the organization to its current momentum (https://frap.ca/). Always with the goal to see women’s roles and status develop in our society, Jeanne decided to launch Black Canadian Women in Action. The main goal is to make a difference in the lives of Black Canadian Women Communities by promoting the empowerment of women, girls and families in all sectors of society. Jeanne is a tireless advocate for the rights of society, especially the well-being of Canada’s immigrant population.

Angela Morris

Angela Morris is a Certified Life and Mindset Coach with a growing coaching business. She is a mother to four amazing children and they are the reason for everything she does. Angela’s purpose is to share her life story with others in hopes that it will help women realize that absolutely anything is possible, regardless of the circumstances they are facing. She leads by example to empower others to embody their leadership skills and understand their self worth and potential. Her journey to becoming a life coach, who is now gratefully thriving in continuous growth and happiness, has not been easy. Angela has courageously endured extreme situations to understand that you will never become the best version of yourself without believing that mindset is everything. Angela’s life story has empowered her to be a fierce advocate for the healing and protection of all women. She is giving a voice to those who cannot speak.

Nakita Valerio 

Nakita Valerio is a writer, researcher, and community organizer in Treaty 6 territory. She is a PhD student in Religious Studies at the University of Alberta, studying Qur’anic literacy and Moroccan women’s religious leadership. Her previous graduate studies were in Islamic-Jewish Moroccan history. She serves as an academic mentor for graduate students in the social sciences and served as the Research Director for the Institute for Religious and Socio-Political Studies (I-RSS) for nearly 3 years. Nakita remains the Editor-in-Chief for the RSS Journal with UAlberta Libraries, is the founder of The Nusaibah Collective for Muslim women, and is a student of Islamic sciences in Arabic and Qur’an. Nakita advises the Chester Ronning Center for the Study of Religion and Public Life, serves as the Faculty of Arts Representative for UAlberta Alumni Council and is an alumni representative on the University Teaching Awards Committee. She is the co-founder of a primary school in rural Morocco.

 

 

 2023 Sponsors and Supporters