Kay Livingstone Memorial Award

Kay Livingstone was born in London, Ontario in 1918. Her parents, James and Christina Jenkins were leaders in the Black community and founders of the newspaper, “Dawn of Tomorrow”.

In 1950, Kay became involved in the Canadian Negro Women’s Association (CANEWA). She started a new organization, became its first president and encouraged members to commit to service projects. They raised funds to provide scholarships to young Black students who showed promised. The group also formed the Calypso Carnival, which was a forerunner to today’s Caribana Festival that is held each year in Toronto.

From 1951 to 1953, Kay served as President for CANEWA. She initiated the first National Congress of Black Women. Two hundred women from across the country attended the gathering. Workshops on single parenting, education and seniors were offered. The focus of the Congress was to encourage Black women to form close personal relationships. Kay was President of the Women’s Section, United Nations Association; Chair, International Affairs of Local Council of YWCA and Regional Chair of the National Black Coalition.

Kay pioneered the cause of Black women in Canada and was an advocate of social justice for all individuals. In 1992 the London Chapter established the Kay Livingstone Scholarship in her memory.

*This award is made possible through the generosity of Dirka Prout and Maurus Allum who wish to encourage and support a student pursuing education in a STEM field. The Congress is grateful for the opportunity to assist another young person this year. Thank you Dirka and Maurus.

2016 Kay Livingstone Memorial Award Recipients

My name is Shanee Stone and I am 19 years old. I am a proud student of Montcalm Secondary School. I am a kind and enthusiastic individual who loves to volunteer and connect with people. I am a good motivator for my peers and I am always willing to help in whatever way I possibly can. In the future my aspiration is to become a successful Social Worker as I enjoy working with children, youth, adults and seniors. My hobbies are singing, dancing, writing poems, and listening to music. My aim in life is to never give up, always strive for excellence and to make a difference in the world.

My name is Rachael Eniola Motunde and I was born in London, England in 2009.. I moved to Windsor, Ontario and later to London in just over a year. I am the oldest of five children, so a lot of responsibility is placed upon me to take care and be an example for them. From a young age I have had an aptitude for math, which has grown strongly over the past few years. With my interest in math, I plan to pursue an education in the field of actuarial science at the University of Waterloo. I am extremely grateful to receive this scholarship which will further aid me in achieving my goals

My name is Tamar Rose. I am an 18-year-old African-Canadian female who’s attending Sir Frederick Banting Secondary School. Back in grade 6, I used to be an extremely lazy child, not wanting to do assignments and never handed in my homework on time. Since I was not doing my homework and assignments, I was considered an IEP student to the school’s system. My laziness all changed after attending Byron Somerset Public School. In grade 7 and 8, I was in a classroom full of IEP students; we were trained not only to finish our school work and hand them in on time, but we were taught how to organize and manage time. It was very helpful! From grade 9 to today, I have been on honour roll with an average 80%. Throughout my high school career, up until 2014, I have put in 65 hours in community service. I currently have a part-time job at the Keg. Now, I am balancing my education and job, aspiring to be financially stable for college while maintaining high grades. Education has been nothing but important to me ever since attending Byron Somerset Public School.