The Summer Abroad Inclusion, Diversity and Excellence (EDI) Award was created to recognize exceptional students at the University of Toronto who are contributing to the advancement of equity, diversity and inclusion. We are pleased to announce these outstanding Summer Abroad participants as members of the 2025 cohort of Summer Abroad award recipients.
If you have any questions you would like to ask about awards granted through Summer Abroad, please contact the Summer Abroad team at summer.abroad@utoronto.ca
Claudia Miller
Oxford, England | IRE332Y0 - Work and the British Industrial Revolution
Arts and Science St. George, New College, Bachelor of Arts
Claudia actively pursues her passion for Indigenous justice, recognition of rights, and sovereignty through her academic work, public service career, and community involvement. She implements reconciliation efforts throughout all aspects of her life whether it is through her coursework, federal policy, or her involvement in grassroots community initiatives. Claudia uses every opportunity to advance inclusion, diversity, excellence for all.
She began her public service career as an Analyst with the Reconciliation, Treaties, and Engagement Branch at the Ministry of Canadian Heritage where she supports modern treaty negotiation tables between the Federal Government and First Nations. She also works on development of department-wide policies such as Indigenous reconciliation policy and Indigenous mentorship. Claudia worked for the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation Governance Department, as the Justice Intern, helping develop and implement the Restorative Justice Program and providing research for the advancement of Indigenous data sovereignty, Indigenous policing, and Indigenous law enforcement.
Claudia has taken on key leadership roles throughout her career including presenting at the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation Chief and Council Meeting on Indigenous Cannabis Commissions and speaking at both the Indigenous Recognition of Rights Commission and the department-wide launch of Canadian Heritage’s Reconciliation Action Plan. She also authored a professional blog post for Canadian Heritage honouring the life and legacy of Senator Murray Sinclair. Claudia was chosen by her Executive Director to attend the National Conference on the Enforcement of First Nations Laws to engage with First Nations leaders on innovative approaches to enforcement of First Nations law. Claudia also attended the First Nations Education Collective Table to discuss and collaborate with education professionals to advance First Nation on-reserve education. Claudia will be going to represent the University of Toronto at the Senate of Canada’s “Model Senate”, where she will use her voice to advocate for Indigenous rights, sovereignty, and recognition.
Outside of government, Claudia volunteers with Shelter Movers, helping women and children transition from shelters to permanent housing. She also supports Six Nations youth empowerment by attending Six Nations Youth Council events and through her ongoing involvement with the Six Nations Anti-Bullying Task Force. On campus, she is a member of the Indigenous Student Association and participates in events held by First Nations House.
Claudia’s participation in the Summer Abroad program at the University of Oxford, studying the British Industrial Revolution will enhance her understanding of the history of institutions and provide a global lens on governance and systemic inequality. This experience will provide her with knowledge for her future legal and policy work, equipping her to challenge colonial legacies and support equity-driven transformation for all.
Amin Ali
Oxford, England | CIN378Y0 - Aspects of a National Cinema: Black Britain
Scarborough Campus (UTSC), Major in Public Policy, Double Minor in History and Sociology
Amin has worked to advance EDI in both at University of Toronto and the broader community. At UofT, has served as a mentor with the Imani Black Academic Mentorship Program at UTSC, where Black UTSC undergrads serve as mentors for Black students in K-12 in east Toronto, providing academic tutoring and social support. Hie is also currently a youth stakeholder advisor to the Confronting Anti Black Racism Unit at the City of Toronto, supporting the development of the new 10 Year Toronto Action Plan to Confront Anti Black Racism. Furthermore, he is also a board director on Social Planning Toronto, a longstanding policy & research, stakeholder convening and advocacy nonprofit that works to spark social change and equity-conscious investments in the City of Toronto budget.
Amin’s participation in the Summer Abroad program will advance his future work in EDI in two principal ways. One, the content of this course he is taking will equip him with a rich blend of academic and experiential learnings on class, migration and Black lived experience. Amin will be studying CIN378 National Cinema of Britain: Black Britain at Worcester College, Oxford this summer. This course looks at the experience of Black people and communities making their way in post-Imperial Britain through the medium of film. The Black community in post-war Britain is one marked by experiences of migration and settlement in shifting economic and political terrarian, as seen through the experiences of the Windrush Generation. This will uniquely provide him with a new lens for his EDI work — for he will be studying locational and social mobility in one of the most class-conscious countries on Earth.
Additionally, the Summer Abroad program will allow him to scope out graduate school options at Oxford. Amin has long been interested in pursuing graduate studies in social policy and economic history with an aim to a policy career spanning health, education and applied macro-economic policy with class-based social mobility as a common denominator. He often feels discussions of class can be excluded from EDI discussions and I’d like to work on scholarship looking at how class dynamics evolve with “political settlements”. With the Summer Abroad program, he will have an invaluable opportunity to explore his academic next steps to support his policy career.
Amy Gao
Ecuador | ENV395Y0 - Special Topics Field Course: the ‘Enchanted Isles’ - Ecology, Geography and History on the Galápagos Islands
Arts and Science St. George, Victoria College, Major in Neuroscience, Minors in Immunology and Physiology
Amy is deeply committed to advancing equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility (EDIA) in both academic and healthcare settings. Her passion for community-centered care has shaped her leadership and service work locally and internationally.
Amy’s EDIA efforts start within the community. As the Co-founder of Caring Minds Collective U of T, Amy leads an NGO dedicated to supporting caregivers of individuals with neurological disorders in Toronto, many of whom come from marginalized backgrounds. Through this work, she has implemented support programs and coordinated fundraising efforts to help reduce financial and emotional burdens faced by caregivers and patients who are often excluded from traditional health support systems.
Amy also volunteers at Women’s College Hospital’s Crossroads Clinic, where she supports newly arrived refugees as they transition into the Canadian healthcare system. She helps patients understand appointment procedures, ensures coordinated follow-up care, and advocates for a smooth discharge process. By facilitating communication between healthcare providers and patients facing linguistic and systemic barriers, Amy has helped improve access to care for dozens of refugee families. Her efforts have directly contributed to creating a more inclusive and respectful clinical environment, one where newcomers feel seen, supported, and empowered during a critical point in their transition to a new home.
Amy’s commitment to EDIA also extends internationally. During a service learning trip to Lima, Peru with MEDLIFE, she delivered healthcare through mobile clinics in under-resourced communities. By assisting with patient triage, supporting physicians, and facilitating clinic operations, Amy directly contributed to improving healthcare access for families who face systemic barriers due to poverty and geographic isolation. Her work helped provide essential medical services to hundreds of individuals who otherwise lack consistent care, while also supporting local health workers in delivering culturally sensitive, community-based care. This contribution advanced EDIA by promoting equitable health outcomes through ethical, grassroots service that respected and uplifted the local community’s needs.
At the University of Toronto, Amy continues this work as the Co-Fundraising Officer for MEDLIFE UTSG. She organized inclusive and collaborative events that have raised hundreds of dollars for health equity projects in Latin America and Africa. These efforts have provided direct support for underserved populations and strengthened global health infrastructure.
Through the Summer Abroad program in the Galápagos, Amy will explore how environmental and social systems intersect in shaping community well-being. The course’s focus on sustainability and the impacts of tourism aligns with her commitment to equity in healthcare access. She hopes to apply these global insights to her future work in advocacy, ensuring that inclusion and sustainability remain core to her future in health and research.
Hannah Yin
Singapore | JPA331Y0 - Rise of China as a Global Power
Arts and Science St. George, Woodsworth College, Major in Peace, Conflict and Justice; Major in Contemporary Asian Studies; Minor in Political Science
Hannah has been actively involved in promoting equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility (EDIA) through her roles at the University of Toronto and in the wider community. As Co-President of the Contemporary Asian Studies Student Union (CASSU) for the past two years, she led a shift toward embedding EDIA into the organization’s leadership and day-to-day operations. Under her presidency, CASSU introduced accessibility guidelines and restructured its executive team by integrating equity responsibilities into the Vice President’s portfolio, ensuring that inclusive practices were reflected in all decision-making processes.
Hannah’s commitment to inclusive community building can also be seen in her leadership roles with Woodsworth College, where she served as Orientation Coordinator in 2023 and Logistics Director in 2022. In these positions, she more than doubled the financial aid funding to reduce barriers to participation, ensured that all digital content met accessibility standards, introduced a designated multi-faith space to create a welcoming environment for students of all backgrounds, and reviewed all event plans to ensure they were accessible and inclusive for all participants.
Beyond campus, Hannah continued her EDIA efforts with the Urban Alliance on Race Relations (UARR), where she collaborated with a Toronto city councillor to improve digital accessibility and enhance multilingual outreach for Chinese seniors. Her work included developing a report on web accessibility to support more inclusive communication strategies. She also contributed to EDIA-related initiatives through her role at the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), where she researched the ethical dimensions of AI in conflict prediction, and at Justice for All (JFA), where she worked on social media campaigns to advocate for minority rights.
This summer, Hannah looks forward to deepening her perspectives through the Summer Abroad program in Singapore. She hopes the experience will continue to shape her understanding of EDIA in both local and international contexts. Specifically, she is excited to see Singapore’s approach to accessible architecture and urban design.