Vincenzo Pietropaolo (Arts)
Vincenzo was born in 1951 in Calabria, southern Italy. He immigrated with his family to Canada when he was 12. In 1992, after a 17-year urban planning career with the City of Toronto, which included dealing directly with many immigrant communities, Vincenzo decided to follow his life-long dream to dedicate himself to photography.

As a self-taught photographer, Vincenzo’s first body of work was a social documentary on Italian immigrant life. Through the camera he is a witness to individuals and groups overlooked by history books. His most current work Harvest Pilgrims, documents migrant farm workers who come to Canada from Mexico, Jamaica and the Eastern Caribbean. His work has appeared nationally and internationally as feature exhibits; in books and magazines; on television; and is collected by the National Archives of Canada, the Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography and held in many private and corporate collections.

He is a founding member of Photo Eclipse, and Silverlight, photo agencies devoted to documentary photography. Vincenzo also shares his expertise with students, community groups and unions, through the Artists in Schools and Artists in the Workplace programs, teaching people to document their own lives through photography.


Drago Harmic and Halil Fehmi (Entrepreneurship)
Drago and Halil arrived in Canada from Croatia and Cyprus respectively with no family or friends for support. Initially, Drago spoke no English and attended night school. Both men were trained as toolmakers in their homelands and found it difficult to secure employment with no Canadian work experience.

In 1975, Drago began his own business which failed in the first year due to lack of financial backing and business know-how, but led him to complete a management program through Ryerson Polytechnical University. In 1980, while working for the same company, Drago and Halil formed a partnership and using their own personal savings and homes as collateral, began manufacturing small precision springs.

Today, Dominion Spring Industries Corporation is one of the most modernized spring manufacturing facilities in North America and produces springs used primarily in the automotive industry. They began with annual sales of $60,000 and two employees (themselves). Today they have annual sales of $12 million and the company employs 70 highly-skilled individuals, representing 15 different nationalities. Based on their experiences as newcomers, Drago and Halil employ those who cannot find jobs due to difficulties with English or lack of Canadian experience. In conjunction with the Peel Board of Education they offer English as a Second Language (ESL) training and skills upgrading at the work site.

Ahmed Samater (Leadership)
Forced to leave his family in a Somali refugee camp, Ahmed arrived in Canada in January 1989. Although he spoke English, Ahmed faced many less obvious cultural barriers. As a community activist and educator, Ahmed has worked to bridge the cultural and practical gaps between the Somali community and the wider community.

He created Midaynta (Association of Somali Service Agencies) which helps to reunite Somali refugees with their families. He also developed the Somali Family Support Centre in Flemingdon Park and a housing guide booklet in Somali. To empower Somali women and children he helped create the Somaliland Women’s Organization and the Somali Family Re-unification Project. Ahmed has also created community events to involve and educate both the Somali and wider community about the Somali culture.

At the national level, Ahmed represented the Somali community in a precedent-setting constitutional challenge of the section of the Immigration Act which requires that refugees produce a "satisfactory identification" document, presumably from the countries they were fleeing, to be granted "landed status". This work has far reaching implications in improving conditions for refugee claimants in Canada.


Malgorzata Zywno (Science & Technology)
Educated as an electrical engineer at the Technical University of Lodz in Poland, Malgorzata faced gender discrimination as she sought an academic position. She was also discriminated against because of her refusal to become a member of the communist party or to work for the secret police. She left Poland in 1981 and arrived in Canada as a government-sponsored refugee in 1982.

To fulfill her goal of a career in engineering education, Malgorzata completed the Master of Engineering degree at the University of Toronto. For the past 14 years, she has been teaching at Ryerson Polytechnic University and has published several papers. Malgorzata served on the Professional Engineers of Ontario (PEO) Task Force on Admissions (1991-1993), which reviewed PEO’s procedures to ensure fair and equitable treatment for all applicants to the engineering profession, regardless of their country of origin, race or gender. She administers this philosophy as a member of the PEO’s Academic Requirements Committee.

As an educator and administrator, she has served as the Assistant Chair, Student Affairs, in Ryerson’s department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and has assisted students with academic and personal endeavors. She is involved in the Women in Engineering Committee at Ryerson and works to improve the climate for female engineering students to encourage young women to consider a future in engineering through summer camp and mentorship programs.


Kurnarasamy Nehru (SfC Graduate)
After being arrested, detained and tortured for advocacy against human rights abuses in his native Sri Lanka, Kumarasamy fled to India with his wife and daughter. Separated from his wife when he left for Canada, they were eventually reunited in 1989.

As a refugee, Kumarasamy was issued a work permit but could not find employment. By chance he heard about Skills for Change and enrolled in the CareerStart program, which provided computer and work-search training for foreign-trained professionals and people with accounting backgrounds. Following his graduation from this program, Kumarasamy continued to volunteer with the organization and represented graduates as a member of the board of directors.

Kumarasamy worked at Skills For Change as a program assistant from 1992-1995. His work in the community includes: serving on the board of directors at Bloor Information and Legal Services; counseling other refugees through the Canadian Centre for Victims of Torture; and work with two organizations to support and promote the Tamil culture in Canada. Presently, Kumarasamy is studying toward a BA in sociology at York University.


Mary Atputhakumar (Youth)
Mary was 14 when her mother obtained a Minister’s Permit for the family to leave Sri Lanka and apply for refugee status in Canada. She had limited English and started school six days after arriving in Toronto. Facing numerous cultural barriers, Mary learned English by reading books and watching Polka Dot Door.

During her first years at Elmbank Middle School in Toronto, Mary received the New Canadian Citizenship Award for her contributions at school. As a high school student at Richview Collegiate in Toronto, Mary has obtained honour standing every year. Mary is on the track and field team, is president of the multicultural club, and is the editor of the school year book.

As a leader in The Inner School Christian Fellowship and member of the Anti-Racism Clubs at Richview, Mary fosters awareness about the need for unity and cultural understanding among students. Two mornings each week, Mary tutors children at the Braeburn Center, which provides social and educational programs for children, youth and their families. She also volunteers at the Etobicoke General Hospital and with the Society of the Aid for Ceylon Minorities in Canada.

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