Now an instructor in the Department of Community Health Sciences at the University of Manitoba, Mehta shares her story for Women’s Empowerment Month, reminding us that leadership is not just about rising—it’s about reaching back and bringing others with you. 

Finding her voice through activism and education 

Mehta began her post-secondary education at the University of Winnipeg, where she earned two degrees: a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Women and Gender Studies and a Bachelor of Science in Biology. Her undergraduate thesis titled Not So Informed Consent: Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research in Canada examined the ethics of researchers using eggs from deceased women and aborted fetuses in stem cell research without proper consent.  

She later completed a Master of Science while living in Island Lake, Manitoba, where she explored The Epidemiological Impact of No Running Water in a Remote Community in Northern Manitoba.  

Rather than immediately pursuing a Ph.D, Mehta spent years working with the Red River Métis Nation alongside one of the province’s first Métis physicians. Together, they conducted research on chronic diseases, births, heart attacks, diabetes, and cancer, travelling across northern Manitoba to document health disparities. She later joined the federal government’s First Nations and Inuit Health Branch, where she gained firsthand insight into Indigenous health policies and the gaps within them. 

Bringing healing into community work 

As a child, Mehta was taught that the Jain way of life—rooted in non-violence and spiritual purity—served as a powerful shield while living in a colonizing country. This belief carried over into her work with The Mothering Project at Mount Carmel Clinic, where she led a yoga and body mapping initiative for mothers experiencing addiction. 

Mehta emphasizes that yoga has been heavily commodified in Western culture, often reduced to a focus on the physical body. However, its thousands-year-old history tells a different story—yoga is a lifestyle, a way of thinking. (Her book on decolonizing yoga: from critical to cosmic consciousness was published in 2021). When she joined The Mothering Project as a “yoga instructor,” she spent a year meeting with mothers weekly, listening to their stories, discussing their wellness goals, and exploring what it means to feel grounded. 

Furthermore, during the COVID-19 pandemic, she was a research coordinator for an HIV stigma project, using photovoice to explore how race, gender, and class shape stigma, particularly among Black, Indigenous, Two-Spirit, and LGBTQ+ communities. Many participants found the storytelling process deeply affirming during times of isolation. 

A call for a new kind of leadership 

As a racialized woman in academia, Mehta acknowledges the additional emotional labour that comes with mentorship. “There’s an expectation that I have to be a role model for racialized women in ways white colleagues aren’t often asked to,” she says. “People trust me with their deep and personal stories, which is an honour, but also a weight.” 

For her, empowerment means education and freedom. 

“I have read a lot of books about other women’s lives that have created pathways to accessing knowledge and support that allows me to thrive.”

“I tell my students: Be a free woman” she says “Empowerment means that the due date isn’t the most important thing, but being compassionate, kind and having empathy.”

Looking ahead, Mehta hopes the next generation of women in STEM will go beyond breaking glass ceilings. “They will be transforming spaces and redefining leadership as coming with care, compassion and solidarity with one another.” 

Through research, mentorship, and community work, Mehta continues to champion a vision of leadership that ensures no woman has to walk her path alone.  

The annual list is compiled by the Women’s Executive Network, a national member-based organization that celebrates the advancement of women in all sectors and of all ages. Categories in which UM has been recognized include women in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), emerging leaders and professionals.   

The winners will be honoured at an awards event on Nov. 27 in Toronto. 

Professional award recipient

Dr. Hope Anderson vice-dean graduate and post-doctoral studies, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences and professor, College of Pharmacy

Dr. Anderson is a member of the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences’ executive leadership team and was involved in the development of the RFHS’s Strategic Plan, MOMENTUM: Envisioning Our Future. Along with important research in cardiovascular health and disease, she leads the development of initiatives and support programs for RFHS graduate students and postdoctoral fellows and empowers these individuals by enhancing their success and preparing them as future thinkers and problem solvers. She is a champion for the promotion of women in the academy.

STEM award recipients

Dr. Kristine Cowley Canada Research Chair in function and health after spinal cord injury, associate professor of physiology and pathophysiology, Max Rady College of Medicine, director of the Spinal Cord Research Centre for Health, Balance and Motor Control

Dr. Cowley is recognized globally as a research leader known for wide-ranging discoveries in biomedical neurosciences, clinical spinal cord injury (SCI) research and community-based knowledge translation and application that improves health and function after SCI. She has mentored over 40 undergraduate, graduate and post-doctoral trainees since joining UM, including 24 women. Dr. Cowley is a long-standing innovator in person-centered research knowledge mobilization and policy advances to improve life quality of those living with SCI.

Dr. Neeloffer Mookherjee professor of internal medicine and immunology, Max Rady College of Medicine, Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Sex and Gender Science Chair in Respiratory Health

Dr. Mookherjee is at the forefront of integrating sex- and gender-based analyses in biomedical research. Her pioneering work on how air pollution affects males and females differently, and its implication in respiratory disease susceptibility and progression, has garnered worldwide recognition. As a strong advocate for women in science Dr. Mookherjee is the founding member of UM’s WISDOM (Women in Science: Development, Outreach and Mentorship) and has made valuable contributions to mitigate some of the barriers related to women’s representation in academic and professional leadership positions. Her advocacy was recognized in 2021 when she was one of only 22 women selected by an EU Commission Women in Leadership Campaign, which recognized women leaders in science, technology and innovation.

Emerging Leaders award recipients

Dr. Leigh Michelle McClarty assistant professor, Institute for Global Public Health, department of community health sciences, Max Rady College of Medicine

With a background in microbiology and global public health, Dr. McClarty conducts research focused on ways to optimize public health programming for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. She is motivated by a desire to reduce global health inequities and is committed to improve health outcomes for marginalized and criminalized populations such as sex workers, gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men, people who inject drugs and transgender people, who face barriers to accessing and using safe and inclusive health services. Dr. McClarty focuses on populations in Manitoba, Kenya, Nigeria, Pakistan and Ukraine that span the divide between scientific research and public health programs to improve health outcomes. Her findings will be used by governments and program partners to make incremental adjustments to programs that will lead to improved health outcomes.  

Dr. McClarty is the current president on the board of directors for Nine Circles Community Health Centre in Winnipeg, which provides low barrier, culturally safe prevention and comprehensive care services for people who are living with or are at increased risk for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections.

Dr. Melanie Lalonde  program development specialist, Wawatay program, Faculty of Science

Dr. Lalonde is a proud Red River Métis woman, an active member of the Métis community, holds the volunteer elected position as the treasurer of Seven Oaks Métis Council and is a member of the Infinity Women Secretariate. Dr. Lalonde embodies resilience, leadership and a profound commitment to empowering Indigenous voices, both in the community and in the sciences.

Dr. Lalonde has been a prolific research scientist, contributing significantly to the fields of ecology and evolution and has authored 20 peer-reviewed scientific publications. Her work has focused on resolving a 100 year-long debate regarding species nomenclature and led to the discovery of a new butterfly species: the Grey Buckeye (Junonia grisea). Dr. Lalonde is currently focused on nurturing the next generation of Indigenous scientists in the Wawatay program, where she helps guide Indigenous students by facilitating their exploration of science using Indigenous perspectives and western science. By embracing a two-eyed seeing approach, she helps foster respect and understanding of cultural relationships to further enrich the impact of science, while at the same time creating a sense of community. In 2022, Dr. Lalonde was honored as one of CBC Manitoba’s Future 40 Award recipients, further highlighting her role as an emerging leader in both academia and her community.

The full list of the 2024 Canada’s 100 Award Winners can be found here.

The Honourable Jody Wilson-Raybould.

She could tell the Winnipegger—who introduced himself as Roger—possessed these traits. He opened up about how he never got the chance to pursue university or college but, now in his 60s, feels happy and successful in life since he’s worked hard and has always tried to do the right thing.

“Real leaders act with integrity,” Wilson-Raybould, now a bestselling author, tells UM Today before her talk. “No matter what environment that you’re in: believe in what you say and say what you mean—and then act on what you say. Those are the qualities, for me, of a true leader.”

Roger didn’t recognize his passenger as the former Minister of Justice who made national headlines when she was expelled from the Liberal caucus in 2019 for speaking out against attempted political interference with the legal system in what’s known as the SNC-Lavalin affair. The intense spotlight landed her on every front page and TV screen, “much to my mother’s horror,” Wilson-Raybould candidly shared with the audience of this year’s Knight Lecture.

Several hundred people attended the March 7 event, followed by a Q & A session and book signing of Wilson-Raybould’s latest release True Reconciliation: How to Be a Force For Change. The aim of the Robert and Elizabeth Knight Distinguished Visitor Program is to enhance education at UM by bringing in outstanding thinkers and leaders. The lecture is free to attend and open to students, employees and alumni. This year’s coincided with the lead-up to International Women’s Day.

Wilson-Raybould, a member of the We Wai Kai Nation in British Columbia, comes from a matrilineal society in which descendants trace properties inherited through the female line, with women carrying high-rank knowledge and experience.

“My grandmother used to joke that when it came to the respective roles of men and women in our society, women were simply too busy and too important to be Chiefs.”

Wilson-Raybould was the first woman to be elected as an independent member of Parliament. Her bestselling books include the political memoir “Indian” in the Cabinet: Speaking Truth to Power and From Where I Stand: Rebuilding Indigenous Nations for a Stronger Canada.

She says her father, Bill Wilson, who was among the first Indigenous lawyers to graduate from the University of British Columbia, would describe her as “a bit of a rebel” growing up. She was a kid who courted risk, jumping from trees and stomping out bee hives.

“In order to improve our reality, you have to take a certain amount of risk and you have to be courageous, to step out of that status quo and push for change,” she told UM Today. “And a lot of people fear change. Change is uncomfortable, or speaking up where some people don’t feel comfortable doing so. Being what I like to call ‘an inbetweener,’ trying to bridge divides, is hard.”

She told the audience she just sent her fourth book to her publisher and wouldn’t rule out a return to politics in the future. Here are some other notable takeaways from her UM visit, captured in her own words:

The Honourable Jody Wilson-Raybould and University of Manitoba President and Vice-Chancellor Dr. Michael Benarroch.

The roadblocks she sees to true reconciliation…

“When everything or nearly everything is called Reconciliation, this effectively means the same thing as nothing being reconciliation. Performative reconciliation is easier, costs less and is less risky. But the point is that the real work of true Reconciliation can be hidden from view by the symbolism and the charades, or worse, the symbolism becomes believed to be a substitute for true reconciliation. Performative reconciliation is not relentless and it does not take courage.

One of the legacies of colonialism is the building of visible and invisible barriers and silos between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples and between crown governments and Indigenous peoples. We do not understand each other or our ways of talking and viewing the world nearly as much as we need to, nor as much as we think we do. And we often operate and make decisions based on false assumptions rather than real understandings of each other.”

How we can all get involved in Reconciliation…

“Learn our true history and know that there have been many voices that weren’t represented in our traditional history books and what has been taught in the universities…. There’s individuals and Canadians across the board that are becoming more familiar with our true history…. It’s the responsibility of everybody in their own spheres of influence to play the role that they can and to learn and understand. Then, based on that, act in different ways that they have available to them.”

The problem with the federal political system…

“What I found in Ottawa is a reality of how disinterested our leaders and governance system is in building consensus around the best ideas, around searching for the truth and evidence of a situation, and working together. In our politics—and you can take my word for it or not—ideas are not judged on their value or merit. They are judged on by who says them.

If they are said by someone within another party they are, in fact, wrong or bad or dangerous. If they are said by someone within one’s own party they are, in effect, unassailable. Similarly, one is not supposed to think for oneself rather one is to imitate or parrot whatever the party line is. One is never to lead, always to follow. Never call out someone for doing something wrong if that someone is from within one’s own party, and always say someone from another party is doing something wrong even if they’re not. Never speak truth to power, just accept that power is truth.”

How she stays true to herself…

“My litmus test is very simple. When I look at myself in the mirror, at the end of the day, do I see who I am, who I was raised to be? If the image was getting at all blurry I knew that I was not making the right choices. So I focused on keeping that image crisp and clear and that meant making the chose that I did.

When a woman speaks out, pushes back, stands up on principles, or relies on their lived experience, or brings forward actual knowledge and experience, they are easily and reflexively labeled as difficult. Well, if doing all of those things means being difficult, I am simply proud to be difficult every single day of my life.”

Her thoughts on Indigenous women in leadership roles in post-secondary and politics…

“I don’t think there’s enough yet and we need more women involved…. Women are critical and not only in terms of Indigenous nation rebuilding but also getting involved in post-secondary education. Women bring different perspectives—more fulsome perspectives and approaches to community and social well-being.

I’ve been around tables where I’ve been the only woman or I’ve been the only Indigenous woman and I find, generally speaking, a woman can say something three or four times in a room of men. And then when a man says it, then everybody listens. So the more women that sit around boardroom tables, that sit on the Board of Governors at a university or in the House of Commons, it’s really important—to ensure that other voices are heard.”

What she thinks about a new building for the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation on campus…

“It’s amazing. What an opportunity…. How can we move forward with Reconciliation? What can people do? The Centre’s a perfect opportunity to learn more, but also honour and respect the records of Survivors and their families. And it’s a place where we will always remember our history and move forward in a way that is respectful.”

Her message to Indigenous students…

“Be proud of who you are and know that you have a right to be here, and you can accomplish anything if you work hard and put your mind to it. And have a plan.”

Nominations for the 2024-2025 Knight Distinguished Visitor

Do you have an idea for someone to nominate as the next Knight Lecturer? Nominations are opening soon! Watch for nomination announcements and check the Knight Lecture website for updates.