Coldwell is active within her faculty and within the Office of Sustainability. In engineering, her contributions are numerous. She served as the student representative on the Biosystems Department Council, the Engineering Undergraduate Academic Relations and Curriculum Committee and the Engineering Local Discipline Committee. As HR Manager for the UM Space Applications and Technology Society (UMSATS), she developed onboarding practices, conflict management resources and EDI information for technical societies, bridging the gap between her work in the faculty and practices in the broader STEM field. This work is in addition to her regular design contributions to the modelling of CubeSat with the rest of the UMSATS team, which recently won the Canadian Satellite Design Challenge.

Her commitment to working in the field of Engineering and STEM more broadly extends to her engagement with new and prospective students. As a student ambassador, leader in new student orientations for Engineering students, and a tutor for high school students, she helps prepare and train students interested in STEM and Engineering studies. Coldwell also participated in the École Polytechnique Commemoration Memorial ceremony on campus and spoke to the media on behalf of the University and its community after the service, representing the Price Faculty of Engineering.

In her work, Coldwell demonstrates leadership skills and hones these skills with her involvement in the University of Manitoba community. Jessie Klassen, sustainability projects coordinator with the Office of Sustainability and Coldwell’s nominator speaks to the wide scope of leadership Coldwell displays in her work: “whether as a leader in her Engineering community, as a mentor in her local community, or through her work experience to advance environmental and social sustainability at the University, Makenna is a passionate and impactful emerging leader.”

Serving as the leader of the student volunteers in the Office of Sustainability, Coldwell brought her experience towards the issue of sustainability, developing social media communications and recommendations to inform the next UM Sustainability Strategy, which she presented to the University’s Sustainability Committee.

While serving in all of these capacities, Coldwell has maintained her high GPA. Balancing education and volunteering isn’t an easy feat, and the Student Affairs Participation Award recognizes this. Through student engagement and participation in extracurricular activities on and off campus, the University of Manitoba community and the broader community can connect and learn from each other. Whether it’s through developing internal strategies within a given faculty, or applying principles of one’s studies to advocate for sustainability, it’s the work of leaders such as Coldwell that help strengthen our community.

Congratulations to Coldwell for her reception of 2024’s Student Affairs Participation Award!

Emily is exceptionally engaged in the agriculture sector and wider community. As a second-year student at the University of Manitoba, Emily has shown exceptional leadership and engagement in the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences. As Vice-Stick (External) on the Faculty of Agriculture Students Organization (FASO) and President of the 4-H Future Leaders Club, Emily has shown true leadership at the University and throughout the province. In addition, she serves as a Faculty Ambassador with UM Student Recruitment, as well as volunteering as note taker for students.

Emily has continued to demonstrate excellent academic achievement on top of all her additional community activities and has been recognized for her academic achievements, including being named a President’s Scholar and a member of the Dean’s Honor Roll. She has also demonstrated passion and commitment to ensuring the well-being of all students, supporting the principles of equity, diversity and inclusion on many fronts.

Through Emily’s role in FASO, she has advocated for the creation of more inclusive programming for the entire student body by the council. She is currently involved in the restructuring of FASO to make it more diverse, equitable, and inclusive to the greater student body. She is an advocate and the voice for marginalized students and those in minority groups within the faculty. She has brought light to the issues that they may face daily here. She has lobbied for representative positions for 2SLGBTQIA+ students, black students, racialized students, Indigenous students, students with accessibility needs, and an equity, diversity, and inclusion advisor (executive position) for FASO.

The award aims to recognize a student who has maintained high academic achievement while making a significant voluntary contribution to UM and/or the broader community. This year’s award was presented on June 16 at the kick-off to the Student Affairs Strategic Planning retreat, attended by over 150 staff.

“It is fitting that we begin our time together celebrating the outstanding accomplishments of one of our students,” said Laurie Schnarr, Vice-Provost (Students). “This year’s recipient reminds us that individual contributions can and do make a difference – in the lives of our students and in cultivating a strong sense of community on campus.”

A third-year Science student majoring in genetics, Zoe has spent considerable time volunteering for roles within the Faculty of Science including the Science Students’ Association, the Indigenous Achievement Committee, the Selections Committee, the Committee on Student Standing and the Local Disciplinary Committee.

Zoe is passionate about giving back to the community through mentoring, sharing resources and taking on the role of leader. For the past three years, she has worked as a mentor in the Neechiwaken Indigenous Peer Mentor Program, helping create a supportive environment for Indigenous students on campus to feel confident in their journeys.

“It is important to me for the younger generations to feel encouraged to pursue academic and personal achievement as I was once in their spots being shaped by the leaders before me,” Zoe says. “I felt driven to support the well-being of Indigenous students through implementing culturally informed events and sharing relevant resources. These past experiences have given me the confidence to continue to break barriers and foster an encouraging environment at the University of Manitoba.”

In addition to her mentorship work, Zoe has also been heavily involved on campus, volunteering as a UM Student Ambassador and attending various events such as Open House, Evening of Excellence, and the annual Traditional Graduation Pow Wow.

“Zoe is an accomplished Indigenous role model,” says Carla Loewen, director of the Indigenous Student Centre and Zoe’s nominator. “She is always open to helping Indigenous students who need advice, and to promoting and encouraging the engagement of Indigenous students to programs, resources and events that are available to them. Humility is one of Zoe’s greatest traits, because no matter how busy she is, she prefers to promote the success of others.”