Ready, Set, Network!

Winner of the 2023 Water Canada Awards’ Emerging Leader Award

Farokh laqa Kakar is a Ph.D. Candidate at the Civil Engineering department of Ryerson University and an instructor at George Brown College in Toronto, Canada. She is the president of Canadian Young Water Professionals at International Water Association (IWA), President of Graduate Leadership Council at Ontario Water consortium, and Vice President of Young Professionals in the Canadian Association for Water Quality (CAWQ). In addition, she is the Global Ambassador at the Society of Women Engineers. She has won the most prestigious Ph.D. scholarship in Canada, which gives her the privilege of being a Vanier scholar. This competitive scholarship is given based on leadership and academic excellence, only a few per university. During her studies at Ryerson, she has joined more than 25 conferences playing different roles as conference chair and co-chair, and has won seven best presentation awards. Three of them are the best student presentation awards (First place). Also, she has won the TA award of excellence at Ryerson and has served the community at the senate level. While in Afghanistan, Farokh was an Assistant Professor and vice dean of the engineering faculty at Balkh University. She also led women-related projects regarding teacher training at the International Assistance Mission. She has won several teaching developments awards from USA and Germany while in Balkh University.

Melissa is a strong believer in entrepreneurship, creativity, and innovation as the path toward a sustainable future. With eight years of experience in academia, government, consulting, community initiatives, and the non-profit sectors across Canada, she draws from multiple perspectives in her work advancing the fields of natural resource management, conservation, and sustainable business. Melissa holds a BSc in Geography and an MSc in Biology from Carleton University.

My name is Tekaherha Logan Lazore, and I am wolf clan from the Mohawk territory of Akwesasne. I graduated from Trent University with a BA in Indigenous Environmental Studies and am currently working for the Mohawk council of Akwesasne’s environment program as their environmental field technician.

Karissa Aubie is a Project Manager at the Ontario Clean Water Agency (OCWA), where she oversees water and wastewater infrastructure projects. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science from Trent University and a Master of Science in Environmental Practice from Royal Roads University. Karissa is also a certified Project Management Professional (PMP). Her expertise includes environmental compliance, project management, and sustainable water management practices.

Melissa is Director, Policy & Programs at Pollution Probe, a national not-for-profit, charitable organization that seeks to improve the health and well-being of Canadians by advancing policy that achieves positive, tangible, environmental change. She is responsible for leading the organization’s Circular Economy and Great Lakes Programs and also contributes to its transportation file. Since joining Pollution Probe in 2010, Melissa has worked in partnership with a wide range of stakeholders to find common solutions to challenging environmental issues. She has led a variety of research and development initiatives and public outreach and education campaigns related to environmental health, the Great Lakes, plastic waste, chemicals management and consumer engagement.