CCVT Awards

The Trevor Bartram Award

2003 Recipient: Miranda Pinto

Miranda has contributed much to the immigrant and refugee community and has consistently championed anti-racism, diversity and equity for visible minority communities through advocacy, community development work and positive messages about community empowerment. This passionate belief in equity and justice is inspiring to us all and is evident in her exceptional and truly significant service to the newcomer community and to the wider Canadian society.

During her professional experiences, Miranda has had many roles. She worked as a trainer and workshop facilitator for Professional Development Program, Instructor for Settlement Workers Certificate Program, Curriculum Development and Trainer for the Train the Trainer Program, an Interpreter for the IRB, Teacher for Equipo Pastoral and Community Development Facilitator.

Amina Malko Award

2003 Recipient: Consuelo Rubio

Consuelo started volunteering at the Centre for Spanish Speaking Peoples in 1976. She became paid staff in 1978 and was heavily involved in access issues in regards to sponsored immigrants who were denied subsidized housing and social assistance as well as refugee claimants denied access to social assistance.

She was one of the main contributors to the creation of the assaulted women's program at the Centre for Spanish Speaking Peoples, at that time, the only one that offered services to immigrant women.

Under Consuelo's leadership, the legal clinic at the Centre was one of the first clinics to offer representation and advocacy in the area of workers' rights, both in the immigrant and mainstream communities. She actively participated in organizing campaigns against the brutal changes to the Employment Standards Act that the government wanted to implement in 1996 and 1999/2000. Consuelo was also an active member of a group, which later became the Latin American Coalition Against Racism that was organized to address the issue of a racist poster put up by the Toronto Police Association before the 1999 provincial election, managing to wrest apologies from the Toronto Mayor, the Police Board and individual police officers.

Consuelo was on the founding boards of 2 organizations: ACCES and Kensington Bellwoods community legal clinic as well as being a board member of OCASI and the Community Social Planning Council of Toronto.