AVI's Executive Director Wins Alayne Hamilton Community Social Work Award

Miki Hansen (left) and Tomoko Okada (right) at award ceremony.

AIDS Vancouver Island Executive Director Miki Hansen is the recipient of the inaugural Alayne Hamilton Community Social Worker Award. Hansen received the award in recognition of her passion for social work education, inspirational organizational leadership, and continued contributions to the legacy of social justice symbolized by Alayne Hamilton’s remarkable career.

The University of Victoria’s School of Social Work presented the award at a ceremony on March 28. The award is named in honour of the late founder of the Family Violence Project, the BC Violence against Women in Relationship Committee and the Ending Relationship Abuse Society of BC. Hamilton died in August 2006.

“This award is our way of thanking Alayne for her passionate contributions to social work education and her commitment to social justice,” says Barb Whittington, award committee member and professor in the School of Social Work.

Hansen received her social work degree from UVic in 1988, the same year that World AIDS Day was conceived and adopted by 140 countries meeting at the first World Summit of Ministers of Health on the AIDS epidemic. She has just returned from Libode, South Africa, where AIDS Vancouver Island is working on a project focusing on bereavement support for children affected by HIV and AIDS.

Other award nominees included: Tomoko Okada, UVic Family Centre; Brenda Macevisius, Esquimalt Neighbourhood House; David Turner UVic School of Social Work professor; Jani Cardinal, Alzheimers Resource Centre; and Sandee Mitchell, Camosun College First Nations Program.

“I am humbled to have won this award," said Hansen. "My personal connection to Alayne and her family makes this tribute especially sweet.”