40 over Forty AFW 2018 Magazine

ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
CONGRATULATIONS!
Lucy Santoro
Health & Wellness
AWARDS SPONSORED BY
Rwaida Al Absi
Community Leader
Lucy is the co-owner of Kra
Company (Kra Co.). After being in
corporate finance, customer service
and a training Supervisor over 5
years, Lucy decided to follow her
passion in holistic services. She has
been a Reiki Master for 10 years
and offers additional services in Angel Guidance and
Healing, as well as Meditation.Having been diagnosed
with Breast Cancer at the young age of 36, Lucy has been
active in her healing and helping others heal. She provides
support at Wellspring and shares her voice and
experience with Cancer Care Ontario and her local
hospital. She is also an Ambassador for After Breast
Cancer.
Lucy is currently the Director of the H.U.B Inc
Hamilton/Burlington Chapter where she is building a
community of business owners and entrepreneurs to
network and connect with one another and help create
purposeful collaborations and growth. Lucy thrives in her
connections with others and in being of service.
Rwaida AL-Absi who came from Yemen two
years ago with her husband and adorable
three boys. Yemen one of the most exotic
countries in Arabian Peninsula. A place
where you will see many interesting
historical peculiar landmarks. Rwaida
joined the Yemeni Canadian club and
become one of its board members.
She is a great asset to The Yemeni Canadian club who helps
gather women in many different activities and involve Yemeni
women in the community and with other communities.
Rwaida with her outstanding communication skills and in a short
time could adjust and participate in the community by doing lots of
volunteer work and has introduced herself very fast to everyone
by her great work. With her strong and diplomatic personality, she
could easily become a member of different communities which
make it easy to involve women from our community with others.
Rwaida honorably represented Yemen as Yemeni Ambassador in
the Canada 150 celebration last year 2017 in women in diversity.
This year she is receiving an award from Absolutely Fabulous
Women for her achievement as a leader on behalf of her
community.
Councillor Nirmala Armstrong
Community Service
Nirmala Armstrong is a Regional
Councillor for the City of Markham.
In addition to being the first South
Asian woman to become a
Regional Councillor in the City of
Markham, she is also a highly
regarded lawyer with a BA Specialist Degree in Political
Science from the University of Toronto, an LLB Degree from
Queen’s University - Faculty of Law and an LLM Degree
from Osgoode Hall Law School.
Within the York Region, she is a member of the Audit
Committee, Housing York Inc., Transportation Master Plan
Advisory Task Force and the Seniors Strategy Advisory
Task Force.
Nirmala is married to Tim Armstrong. She is the mother of
four children and a proud grandmother of three
grandchildren. Nirmala has several hobbies outside of her
work as a Regional Councillor for the City of Markham. In
her spare time, she likes to watch romantic movies and
loves listening to country and western music.
Recently, she has also been a recipient of the Inspiring
Women Award from ANGEENA International Non-Profit
Organization, the Award of Excellence from Council of
Agencies Serving South Asians, the award for Leadership
and Support from the South Asians Gift of Life Committee in
Collaboration with the City of Markham, and an award of
appreciation from Carrom Canada.
Teenaz Javat
Advocacy
By blood Indian, by bond Pakistani
and by choice Canadian, would
best describe Teenaz Javat, a
senior writer at the CBC Toronto.
Long before she became a
journalist, Teenaz was a story
teller.
Her stories form part of The Shoe Project, a women-only
artists collective that document immigration stories through
the lens of shoes.
A multiple award-winning journalist, Teenaz was part of a
team at CBC Radio's Metro Morning that won the Adrainne
Clarkson National Award for a town hall on Domestic
violence against women in the GTA. She does not shy away
from taking a hard look at topics like Arab Spring and its
impact on Canada, or the not-so-uncommon practice of
female feticide among some communities in the GTA.
Teenaz came to Canada with an 8-month-old daughter. She
has been a stay-at-home mother, a full-time student at
Sheridan College, a full-time journalist at the CBC, and an
adjunct professor at Sheridan college, all along volunteering
in the local school system and editor of her community
newsletter.
She lives in Mississauga with her husband and children, and
loves having breakfast with her friends when she is not in the
newsroom on the early morning shift.
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