2007 Young Women Of Distinction recipient Saron Ghebressellassie

Saron Ghebressellassie

speaking the languages of activism

YWCA Toronto young woman of distinction 2007

Saron Ghebressellassie is a mentor and organizer committed to empowering other young women to discover and achieve their full potential. Formidable and multidimensional, she helps other women by quietly passing on skills and information in order to inspire a new group of leaders, one event, panel, radio show and retreat at a time. She sees the world through the lens of social justice. From Regent Park to Queen’s Park, Haiti to Darfur, campus to community, she makes an impact on every neighbourhood, event or group with which she comes into contact. Saron Ghebressellassie is the 2007 Young Woman of Distinction.

Born in Saudi Arabia during her parents’ flight from civil war in Ethiopia, Ms. Ghebressellassie was three years old when her family settled in Toronto. Her parents’ experience as refugees planted the seeds of social justice, encouraging her to help others in similar situations. A Habisha woman who grew up in Toronto Community Housing, Ms. Ghebressellassie was influenced by her African community, surrounded by strong women, many of whom were single and raising children on their own. Her dedication to advocacy, anti-racism and the strengths of women inform her efforts to celebrate their abilities collectively.

Ms. Ghebressellassie started organizing events at an early age. As a Grade 7 student she organized an assembly to honour primarily women teachers. As a high school student living in the aftermath of September 11th and experiencing the rise of racism in her community, Ms. Ghebressellassie founded Students and Teachers Against Racism (STAR) to eliminate racially motivated problems in the school and focus on the eradication of negative stereotypes. This initiative got the community talking about important issues and garnered her the YMCA Canada Peace Medal. She is also the recipient of OMNI Television’s Multicultural Award and the National President’s Award.

Saron Ghebressellassie sees her activism as an extension of herself. The first person in her family to attend university, she is a third-year student in Ryerson’s industry-renowned Radio and Television Arts program, where she has immersed herself in a range of groups and organizations related to women’s social justice issues. In addition to her involvement with the Black Stars campaign, which recognizes the achievements of black faculty, alumni and students, she founded Students of Colour in Radio and Television, a female-run collective which promotes media-related careers for women and visible minorities in high schools. She is the founder and former host of the feminist radio show Wench Radio on C.I.U.T.

In addition to her university-based work, Ms. Ghebressellassie has held leadership roles in a number of groups, including ROOTS (Reclaiming Our Own Teaching In Solidarity), Journalists for Human Rights, East African Students of Toronto and the Black Youth United. Her strength lies in her ability to pass on leadership skills to others by volunteering her time, mentoring and tutoring young women in groups such as Regent Park’s Pathways to Education, Tri-Mentoring at Ryerson, Peer Perspectives, and Between the Lines - A Hip Hop Literacy Program. Ms. Ghebressellassie co-organized a Girls Leadership Retreat, which focused on skills and capacity-building for girls involved in various social justice initiatives. Her activism reached its peak when she went to Ottawa with the Coalition of African-Canadian Organizations to meet with former Prime Minister Paul Martin to discuss a community-led strategy to eradicate gun violence.

Fluent in five languages, including French, Spanish and Tigrinia, she is an exceptional communicator. In her capacity as Education and Campaign Coordinator for the Ryerson Women’s Centre, Ms. Ghebressellassie focused outreach to women of colour on campus, creating programming on black feminism, Islamic or religious feminism and Indigenous sovereignty issues. She garnered increased visibility and support for the Stolen Sisters Campaign, an inquest into the over 500 Indigenous women who have gone missing or murdered in Canada. From self-defence training, reproductive health workshops to anti-violence campaigns, affirmative action bake sales and the annual International Women’s Day March, Ms. Ghebressellassie uses every opportunity and interaction with girls and young women to construct a space for self-empowerment.

The Young Woman of Distinction Award now comes with a $3000 grant from the Julia M. Ruby Fund at YWCA Toronto. With this grant, she intends to pursue a Masters in Journalism at Ryerson University. She sees the media as the most powerful advocacy tool, and plans on wielding it to promote fair representation, respect and equity in her role as a journalist. For her spirit and commitment to galvanizing women of all ages, Saron Ghebressellassie is the YWCA Toronto 2007 Young Woman of Distinction.