Kwantlen Polytechnic University nursing instructor Dr. Balbir Gurm has been nominated for a YWCA Women of Distinction award in the Community Champion category.
“I feel very honoured and privileged to be a nominee for I am passionate about my community engagement projects that I have done over the years,” says Gurm.
“As a university professor, I am in a position of privilege I feel it is my obligation to use my privilege to improve society. I did not ever expect I would be recognized for this work when I started my first community project over 25 years ago.”
Gurm is the founder of Network to Eliminate Violence in Relationships (NEVR), a team working across multiple disciplines and sectors to address relationship violence. The network has grown to include 200 participating organizations, groups and individual members.
Gurm recently wrote a book, Making Sense of a Global Pandemic: Relationship Violence & Working Together Towards a Violence Free Society. The book focuses on providing multiple perspectives and a comprehensive overview of relationship violence as a pandemic.
One of the co-authors is also her nominator for the award from YWCA Metro Vancouver. Sheila Early, who has also received the YWCA Women of Distinction Award in Health in 2019, thought Gurm was the perfect candidate for the award.
“Having known her community work over more than two decades, I could not think of anyone being worthier of being named a woman of distinction 2021 by YWCA,” says Early. “She is a tireless community advocate on so many fronts and has been responsible so many positive changes in both our community and beyond.”
The nominees were announced on Mar. 8 via Zoom. The winners will be announced on Jun. 8.
The YWCA Women of Distinction Awards web page has more information about the event.