Environmental Leader, top honour
If you want to arrive at a proper understanding of precocious, Suhana Gill is your ticket.
The 18-year-old Whalley resident is the 2024 recipient of the Environmental Leader Award.
"Oh, I am over the moon," is her reaction to it. "Nice way to end the year off."
Despite being in her fourth year of studying political science at Kwantlen Polytechnic University's Surrey campus, Gill remarkably has also found time in her youth to establish Bluer & Greener, and be an ambassador for non-governmental agencies such as 350.org and One Tree Planted. Last year, she was crowned Miss Fundraiser Canada.
Bluer & Greener is an advocacy platform for activism related to climate change and other pressing environmental issues.
"I wanted to break it down so people could understand ways to get involved, make an impact and contribute to helping the environment," she explains.
"Without Mother Nature we wouldn't survive, so I feel like it is our duty to ensure that we can contribute towards however we can to helping it and also educating not only the future generations but also the older generations, because sometimes they weren't as aware and now with the age of technology we have better explanations of things of why stuff is occurring within our climate," Gill says.
"I feel like if we spread more awareness we can each help further tackle down this crisis because it's something that we should be discussing more about and I feel like sometimes we overlook it because sometimes we don't want to understand, or it gets a bit confusing, so I just hope to make a contribution where I simplify this information and make sure people are aware about what is going on within the environment."
According to her award nominator, Gill's "relentless passion, innovative strategies, and tangible impacts are not just exemplary; they are inspirational, making her truly deserving of this recognition" and her "deep commitment to environmental sustainability, combined with her innovative advocacy efforts and community involvement, distinctly positions her as a deserving recipient of this prestigious honour."
