Diana Colangelo, a full-time graduate student in the MPNL program, is this year’s recipient of the MPNL Alumni Award.
“I found out I received the Award when I got admitted to the program,” she says. “I’d had no idea that the Award existed, and it was a pleasant surprise to receive it. I felt honoured, and had an overwhelming sense that all my hard work from the past was paying off.”
Established by generous alumni in the fourth cohort of the MPNL program, in 2017, the MPNL Alumni Award celebrates hundreds of MPNL alumni and provides opportunities to future students. All MPNL students are automatically considered for the MPNL Alumni Award.
“Getting this Award was liberating in the sense that finances are one less thing I need to think about in grad school, which is a huge emotional commitment and a huge time investment, but for most people, it’s also a huge financial commitment,” Colangelo says.
“The Award means I focus less time on how to finance my studies by having the flexibility of working part-time, and focus more time on actually studying with my peers and learning from the professors and guest lecturers.”
Colangelo is the Communications and Administrative Coordinator at the Durham Rape Crisis Centre, in Ontario. She’s worked in the field of gender justice for a few years, and she and her team are recipients of the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General’s 2021/2022 Victim Services Awards of Distinction for their work empowering survivors of violence and creating positive change for victims of crime.
She graduated from the University of Waterloo in 2020 with an Honours Bachelor of Arts with Distinction in Social Development Studies, Specializing in Social Work and Individual Well-Being and Developing, with Minors in French and Psychology. She began the MPNL program in the summer of 2023.
“The program isn’t that old — it’s only in the 11th year — and already, there’s an Alumni Award,” she adds. “This speaks to the quality of the program and how much it’s needed: it’s the only program of its kind in Canada. There are so many things about the program and the Award that are unique.”
Click here to support the MPNL Alumni Award.
Diana Colangelo is on LinkedIn. Banner photo is courtesy of JP Valery.
Monday, November 20, 2023 in For homepage, News & Events
Share: Twitter, Facebook
