One advances equality rights. Another is an outstanding clinic student. A third is an entrepreneurial trailblazer. All three – Stacia Loft, Law’20; Diana McBey, Law’21, and Nataly Dil, Law’20 – are winners of 2019 Women’s Law Association of Ontario (WLAO) awards.
Stacia Loft, a member of the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte, received an Aird & Berlis LLP/WLAO Equality Award for bringing her talent and voice to advancing equality for Indigenous peoples, and making efforts to improve their quality of life and access to justice.
“The work is rewarding as I am on my path to fulfilling my responsibilities as a Kanyen’keha:ka (Mohawk) woman, by drawing attention to the inequities that marginalized, racialized and oppressed peoples continue to face in the pursuit of a just, fair and equitable world,” she says. “It is equally rewarding when space is created for those who have not had the opportunity to share their narrative, to take the lead in advocating for appropriate and responsive solutions that work best for them.”
Before entering law school, she served as Justice Manager for the Indigenous Courtwork, Community Justice and Homelessness Partnering Strategy programs with the Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres. As an elected Band Councillor since 2015, she has been advancing the need for access to health care, mental health services, housing, long-term care, employment and education.
Her involvement at Queen’s Law has also been extensive. As an Indigenous Law Students’ Alliance member, among other things, she co-organized Orange Shirt Day to raise awareness of residential school survivors. Her work as Co-President of the Queen’s Law Level Chapter included increasing awareness of issues related to the Truth and Reconciliation Committee Calls to Action and access to safe drinking water. Volunteering with Ontario Justice Education Network, she helped develop culturally competent materials and co-facilitated anti-cyberbullying workshops for Grade 6-8 classes at Quinte Mohawk School in Tyendinaga. During her clinical externship with the Community Advocacy and Legal Centre, she assisted low-income individuals requiring support in the Ontario Disability Support Program appeals process and authored a research memo on incorporating Gladue Briefs in Social Benefits Tribunal processes at Community Legal Clinics. For her research project on the Queen’s International Law Programs at Herstmonceaux Castle, several access, equality and diversity recommendations she made – including a one-day session on Indigenous Sovereignty and Treaty-Making – are being implemented.
“WLAO’s Aird & Berlis Equality Award is meaningful to me as it acknowledges and recognizes the purposeful work and sacrifices that women in leadership make to advance equality and diversity rights,” she says. “This award represents women who have come before me, women who are actively on the ground raising the issues, and to women who will take on these leadership roles in the future.”
Diana McBey is this year’s winner of the Avril Farlam/WLAO Advocacy Award for academic excellence and her work as a first-year student with Queen’s Legal Aid.
“Although there were many excellent applications,” said Farlam, a small claims court judge, a lawyer and Vice Chair of the Ontario Appeal Tribunal, “Diana stood out because of her dedication to the legal clinic concept so early in her legal career.”
“Serving clients as a legal aid clinic volunteer is a privilege and provides a unique opportunity to help those in need of support,” says McBey. “Under the direction of our clinic lawyers and senior student leaders, we learn to apply our education and implement practical, hands-on training to assist those most vulnerable in society who need help navigating a complex system and negotiating positive outcomes for their biggest challenges.
“Sometimes,” she continues, “there’s the added time factor requirement of ensuring we’re able to reach a client of no fixed address for instructions, so clinic work can involve challenges not typical of legal work in standard office settings and requires creativity and flexibility. Clinic volunteers are able to make a difference right from the outset.”
She’ll be building on that experience in 2019-20 as a student caseworker with the Queen’s Business Law Clinic.
Long before entering law school, McBey began helping others as a volunteer for the Lawyers Feed the Hungry program. At her high school, she founded the Blood Donor Program and ran nine in-school clinics over four years. She serves as a Scouts Canada National Youth Spokesperson, and inspired her church to establish a sustained alliance with a First Nations High School in Thunder Bay, with support from her local Scouts Troop. Through that alliance, she continues to help collect and ship requested supplies to 100 Indigenous students up north. Every November at the Future Aces Foundation Youth Leadership conferences, she mentors inner-city and First Nations students in grades 7 to 10. At Queen’s, she is a member of the Indigenous Law Students’ Alliance. For her work helping others, she has received several awards, including the international Princess Diana Award for sustained youth community services.
“This advocacy award is meaningful to me because of the people who have awarded it to me, and because it reminds me daily of both the positive outcomes of my efforts, and the work I still have ahead of me,” she says. “It reaffirms the message that young lawyers can make a positive difference in the community, and is a visible symbol of the sense of responsibility for creating positive impacts on others, which is inherent in the legal community. Being selected for this award is the greatest vote of confidence and I am grateful.”
Nataly Dil won the Torkin Manes LLP/WLAO Trailblazer Award for her entrepreneurial spirit and leadership in business and law.
Dil first got her first taste of entrepreneurship and innovation during the summers, when she worked for a cold-pressed juice start-up. As a volunteer and then caseworker with the Queen’s Business Law Clinic, she has been assisting such start-ups, as well as non-profit organizations and small business owners with their legal needs. Last year, she and classmate Heather Bonnell co-founded and served as co-presidents of the Queen’s Venture Law Society, a club focused on innovative start-ups and the legal challenges they face. “Our programming does not only focus on our future as business lawyers providing legal advice,” she says, “but also on understanding the nature of business and the needs of clients.”
She won the 2019 Queen’s Law Millennium Award, nominated and selected by her peers, for being the second-year student who best demonstrated contribution to and participation in the events and activities that defined the class.
What motivates her? “I find it extremely rewarding to see individuals who are passionate about their businesses, work hard and succeed,” says Dil. “It is especially exciting working with entrepreneurs who make the work all the more interesting.
“Business is such a unique space because there is so much room for innovation and creativity,” she adds. “I love the collaborative nature of business and the opportunities it affords so many. From a more macro-perspective, business touches all aspects of life and has a social benefit of nourishing the economy.”
She should know. In addition to her Queen’s Law endeavours, last summer she cofounded a new division of her family’s wholesale diamond company, developing a consumer-facing, custom diamond jewelry brand.
“This award is meaningful to me because it demonstrates my passion for business, innovation, and women in business and the law,” she says. “It has given me the motivation to continue working hard and paving the way forward in business and law.
“Most importantly, it is really a reflection of the amazing women in the legal community who continually offer their candid advice, as well as, mentor and support me,” Dil continues. “I believe that I now have a great responsibility of reciprocating the kindness they have shown me by helping guide others as they face similar challenges.”
By Lisa Graham