Indigenous grad students and ISSP alum honoured at awards event

Wed. Apr. 1, 2026

The UWinnipeg campus community gathered to celebrate the efforts of Indigenous students, staff, and faculty at the 2026 Honouring Indigenous Achievement (HIA) Awards on March 19.

The Office of Indigenous Engagement honours recipients who model leadership, academic achievement, and community-building. The recipients all contribute to Indigenous excellence at the University of Winnipeg and beyond.

Four of the very deserving 11 award recipients were either current graduate students or alumni of the Indigenous Summer Scholars Program!

Em Penner (2025 ISSP alum) received the Indigenous Community Staff Award (under 10 years service).

Maya Tighe (2025 ISSP Alum, grad student in the Bioscience, Technology, and Public Policy MSc program) and Athena LeFort-Lynx (grad student in the Master of Marriage and Family Therapy program) both received an Indigenous Community Graduate Award. 

Simon DePasquale (grad student in the PhD in Bioscience and Policy) program was honoured for receiving the Weweni Future Scholars Award.

To learn more about the students and the Honouring Indigenous Achievement, check out the full story from UWinnipeg news!