Sauliha is a first-year student at the University of Toronto Temerty Faculty of Medicine, and Co-Founder of Yayra-Si Youth Foundation (YSYF), an NGO working to amplify the rights of women and youth in Ghana for economic, educational and health development. YSYF operates under a critical and anti-oppressive lens by striving to implement sustainable solutions, allowing Indigenous voices to lead, and building the capacity of its partners. As part of its Retelling Health Campaign, funded by the UofT COVID-19 Student Engagement Award, YSYF installed hands-free hand washing stations for 2,300 rural dwellers in Ghana, supported local businesses in sewing and distributing 500 non-medical masks, and trained 40 women in the production of liquid soap. They also launched the Doryumu Diaries, a series of short stories of hope told by community members to foster an empathetic, global community.

You can find the Yayara-Si Youth Foundation here.

This interview is part of our Covid-19 Speaker Series, which highlights the work of University of Toronto students who were recipients of the COVID-19 Student Engagement Award. The COVID-19 Student Engagement Award provided financial support to University of Toronto students developing innovative projects that have contributed to the response to the COVID-19 crisis. 

This series was envisioned by and carried out by Iram Iram, Ajla Behri, Feroza Tareen, and Ebube Umeano, student staff in our Leadership and Co-Curricular Record team, with some editing assistance from Jonathan Collaton, the regular host of The Meeting Place.

Rajpreet (she/her) is currently based in Tkaronto & Kitchener-Waterloo and is finishing her studies in International Development Studies Co-op and Human Geography at the University of Toronto Scarborough. She is a School of Cities Undergraduate Fellow and will be organizing alternative mapping workshops with the Scarborough Studies Collective.

As a recipient of the Covid-19 Student Engagement Award, Rajpreet and a team of University of Toronto students made a cookbook with each recipe coming from a community member sharing what they were cooking during the pandemic. The goal of the cookbook is to create a global platform for individuals who are struggling with cooking and/or are in need of new ideas for meals

You can access the cookbook here.

This interview is part of our Covid-19 Speaker Series, which highlights the work of University of Toronto students who were recipients of the COVID-19 Student Engagement Award. The COVID-19 Student Engagement Award provided financial support to University of Toronto students developing innovative projects that have contributed to the response to the COVID-19 crisis. 

This series was envisioned by and carried out by Iram Iram, Ajla Behri, Feroza Tareen, and Ebube Umeano, student staff in our Leadership and Co-Curricular Record team, with some editing assistance from Jonathan Collaton, the regular host of The Meeting Place. 

Valerie Marshall and Yana Kaiser are recent Master of Architecture graduates of the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design. Over the summer of 2020 they edited and published Interiors of Isolation; a book that features creative work by designers and students contemplating the spaces they were confined to during the pandemic. The publication continues to accept and feature drawings from around the world.

Their project can be found here.

This interview is part of our Covid-19 Speaker Series, which highlights the work of University of Toronto students who were recipients of the COVID-19 Student Engagement Award. The COVID-19 Student Engagement Award provided financial support to University of Toronto students developing innovative projects that have contributed to the response to the COVID-19 crisis. 

This series was envisioned by and carried out by Iram Iram, Ajla Behri, Feroza Tareen, and Ebube Umeano, student staff in our Leadership and Co-Curricular Record team, with some editing assistance from Jonathan Collaton, the regular host of The Meeting Place. 

Shreyes Dugar is a 3rd-year student studying finance and economics alongside a minor in environmental economics in the Rotman Commerce program at the University of Toronto St George Campus. He started a project called HandAssure that aims to revolutionize one’s hygiene game by reminding the user to wash their hands at regular time intervals. HandAssure further ensures constant motivation by allowing you to track your handwash progress. With good handwashing practices waiting for you just at a tap of your fingers, HandAssure is ready to bring about a significant lifestyle change. So, let the handwashing begin!

You can find HandAssure on the Google Play and iOS App Store.

This interview is part of our Covid-19 Speaker Series, which highlights the work of University of Toronto students who were recipients of the COVID-19 Student Engagement Award. The COVID-19 Student Engagement Award provided financial support to University of Toronto students developing innovative projects that have contributed to the response to the COVID-19 crisis. 

This series was envisioned by and carried out by Iram Iram, Ajla Behri, Feroza Tareen, and Ebube Umeano, student staff in our Leadership and Co-Curricular Record team, with some editing assistance from Jonathan Collaton, the regular host of The Meeting Place. 

Kiran Nabi is a third-year student at the University of Toronto Scarborough, pursuing a double major in Human Biology and Health Studies. Along with her peers, Omer, Ranie, and Waleed, they were granted the UofT COVID-19 Student Engagement Award to conduct a COVID-19 research study. The project titled Racial Equity in the Fight Against COVID-19 was a qualitative study that examined racial inequities in the Canadian context. The goal of the project was to demonstrate the importance of collecting race-based data to ensure an equitable response to the current pandemic.

Their research can be found here.

This interview is part of our Covid-19 Speaker Series, which highlights the work of University of Toronto students who were recipients of the COVID-19 Student Engagement Award. The COVID-19 Student Engagement Award provided financial support to University of Toronto students developing innovative projects that have contributed to the response to the COVID-19 crisis. 

This series was envisioned by and carried out by Iram Iram, Ajla Behri, Feroza Tareen, and Ebube Umeano, student staff in our Leadership and Co-Curricular Record team, with some editing assistance from Jonathan Collaton, the regular host of The Meeting Place. 

Shenwei Hu is a second-year student at UTSC, studying biology and psychology. In the summer of 2020, she worked with Thea Vu-Nguyen to create Renewed Perspectives, a collection of art pieces that aim to capture the things we have begun to appreciate as a result of the COVID-19 lockdown. Our goal with this exhibit was to inspire others to reflect and focus on the good within each day, searching for the beauty and hope amidst the mundane and take to heart that happiness doesn't necessitate something extraordinary.

You can find Renewed Perspectives here.

This interview is part of our Covid-19 Speaker Series, which highlights the work of University of Toronto students who were recipients of the COVID-19 Student Engagement Award. The COVID-19 Student Engagement Award provided financial support to University of Toronto students developing innovative projects that have contributed to the response to the COVID-19 crisis. 

This series was envisioned by and carried out by Iram Iram, Ajla Behri, Feroza Tareen, and Ebube Umeano, student staff in our Leadership and Co-Curricular Record team, with some editing assistance from Jonathan Collaton, the regular host of The Meeting Place. 

Megan Liu is a fourth-year Rotman Commerce student, passionate about environmental sustainability and social justice, and hopes to create a positive impact through business. Mary Ngo is a fourth-year global health and environmental studies student, interested in sustainable development, the intersections of colonialism and health, and information accessibility. Together, they founded Initio, a University of Toronto COVID-19 Student Engagement Award winner, to help share global business innovation. Initio has since evolved into a platform to spotlight local businesses and connect small businesses with conscious consumers. Listen to learn about their journey with Initio.

You can find Initio here.

This interview is part of our Covid-19 Speaker Series, which highlights the work of University of Toronto students who were recipients of the COVID-19 Student Engagement Award. The COVID-19 Student Engagement Award provided financial support to University of Toronto students developing innovative projects that have contributed to the response to the COVID-19 crisis. 

This series was envisioned by and carried out by Iram Iram, Ajla Behri, Feroza Tareen, and Ebube Umeano, student staff in our Leadership and Co-Curricular Record team, with some editing assistance from Jonathan Collaton, the regular host of The Meeting Place. 

Brandon is a second-year student and a Laidlaw Scholar at the University of Toronto at Scarborough studying human biology, with a special interest in immunology. Despite COVID-19 shifting his research plans this past summer, Brandon made the most out of this opportunity to give back to the community, starting his very own international education startup, iAscend. Now almost 9 months later, iAscend has impacted several tens of thousands of students across the world. Tune in to listen to how this came about, and how you too can end up creating your own initiatives.

You can find iAscend here.

This interview is part of our Covid-19 Speaker Series, which highlights the work of University of Toronto students who were recipients of the COVID-19 Student Engagement Award. The COVID-19 Student Engagement Award provided financial support to University of Toronto students developing innovative projects that have contributed to the response to the COVID-19 crisis. 

This series was envisioned by and carried out by Iram Iram, Ajla Behri, Feroza Tareen, and Ebube Umeano, student staff in our Leadership and Co-Curricular Record team, with some editing assistance from Jonathan Collaton, the regular host of The Meeting Place. 

Karishma Shah and Nimit Vediya are two second-year students at the University of Toronto. Karishma is studying electrical and computer engineering while Nimit is majoring in neuroscience and psychology. In May 2020, they started a website called flattenthenegativity.ca where they aim to spread positivity by displaying “good news” stories and things like COVID-19 recovery statistics.

You can find FLatten The Negativity here.

This interview is part of our Covid-19 Speaker Series, which highlights the work of University of Toronto students who were recipients of the COVID-19 Student Engagement Award. The COVID-19 Student Engagement Award provided financial support to University of Toronto students developing innovative projects that have contributed to the response to the COVID-19 crisis. 

This series was envisioned by and carried out by Iram Iram, Ajla Behri, Feroza Tareen, and Ebube Umeano, student staff in our Leadership and Co-Curricular Record team, with some editing assistance from Jonathan Collaton, the regular host of The Meeting Place. 

Known as The STEAM Sisters, Sandhya Mylabathula and Swapna Mylabathula are passionate science communicators and PhD and MD/PhD candidates at the University of Toronto.  They love engaging with the public on important science concepts and research in an easy-to-understand and accessible way, to share their passion and to promote a more science-literate community. 

Their project, The STEAM League, provides high school students with an educational and engaging look into the lives of STEAMSuperheroes – all from the safety of their own homes while engaging their audiences through various media including television, print, YouTube, and podcasts. Guest superheroes on the show include Canada's first MasterChef, a record-holding Canadian astronaut, and a former Canadian Olympian and current sport & exercise medicine physician. Season 1 was funded by the COVID-19 Student Engagement Award and Season 2 is currently in the works.

You can find the STEAM Sisters here, or on Instagram and Twitter at @steam.sisters.

This interview is part of our Covid-19 Speaker Series, which highlights the work of University of Toronto students who were recipients of the COVID-19 Student Engagement Award. The COVID-19 Student Engagement Award provided financial support to University of Toronto students developing innovative projects that have contributed to the response to the COVID-19 crisis. 

This series was envisioned by and carried out by Iram Iram, Ajla Behri, Feroza Tareen, and Ebube Umeano, student staff in our Leadership and Co-Curricular Record team, with some editing assistance from Jonathan Collaton, the regular host of The Meeting Place.