Top 100 awards for Leadership scholars

A Royal Roads University student and an associate faculty member have received Top 100 Awards from the Women's Executive Network (WXN).

MA in Leadership (MAL) student Kiana Alexander and MAL graduate and associate faculty member Teara Fraser received awards that celebrate outstanding women across Canada who advocate for diversity in the workforce and inspire the next generation of leaders.

Alexander received the Future Leaders Award that recognizes her as a young woman of vision and leadership who will continue to make her mark as a leader and changemaker. She is the chief operating officer for the Raven Institute, a gathering space rooted in Indigenous ways of knowing designed to connect hearts, minds and hands.

A Métis Iskwew storyteller and scholar, Alexander has worked with Royal Roads’ ResilienceByDesign Innovation Lab for two years, conducting research with youth to explore what supports and sustains their engagement in climate action.

“Kiana Alexander exemplifies the qualities of collaboration and leadership that are so urgently needed at this point in our history, and we are incredibly proud and humbled to have such an amazing, intelligent and insightful young woman working with us here in the RbD and at Royal Roads,” says Dr. Robin Cox, RbD Lab director. “I continue to learn from Kiana, from her deep regard for others, her capacity for listening, and for the beautiful and generous way she shares her knowledge and her culture.”

“I feel deeply humbled and a sacred responsibility to continue to amplify the stories and leadership of young leaders in service of all young people across the nations knowing unwaveringly that they belong without bounds,” says Alexander in a release from the Raven Institute. “When I reflect on my journey, I acknowledge the bravery to be vulnerable, the courage to be proud of who you are and the commitment to being a good ancestor. I believe this time in history belongs to young people and I am honoured to have this as a part of my story.”

Teara Fraser was named in the Trailblazers and Trendsetters awards category, as a woman breaking new ground with landmark achievements and making significant contributions to Canadian society.

A member of the Métis Nation of Northwest Territories, Fraser is the founder of the Raven Institute and Iskwew Airlines, a 100% Indigenous and woman-owned company which serves remote communities and inspires young people to consider careers in aviation.

“Teara Fraser is a courageous, heart-centred change-maker and an impeccable human being. She is a source of inspiration for me, and so many others, to lead from a place of fierceness and deep love. It is an incredible honour to work and learn alongside Teara, and we in the MA Leadership program are awe-inspired by how she walks in the world and evokes change,” says Dr. Cheryl Heykoop, MA Leadership program head.

“It fills my heart with gratitude to be honoured alongside such amazing changemakers” says Fraser in a release from Iskwew Air. “I am humbled and inspired by the matriarchs in my world — blessed to witness and learn from their incredible stories of strength, wisdom, Warriorship, resilience, courage, humanness, hope and love.”