Mebrat Beyene has dedicated her work to advocating against gender-based violence, and towards improving the well-being of people in at-risk communities for 30 years. In recognition of her activism and commitment to supporting vulnerable communities and workers, Beyene was named Douglas College’s Honorary Fellow at a graduation ceremony on Feb. 22.
“Community and relationships are among the College’s core values,” said Dr. Kathy Denton, President of Douglas College. “The compassion Mebrat brings to some of our most vulnerable people through her advocacy work is inspirational. As she continues to touch the lives of individuals and communities across the country, we are proud to award her with the title of Honorary Fellow.”
The title of Honorary Fellow is awarded by Douglas College to recognize outstanding achievement or distinguished service by an individual on a local, national or global scale. Past Honorary Fellow recipients include Paralympic medalist and Canadian icon Rick Hansen, Chief of Qayqayt First Nation Rhonda Larrabee, playwright Marcus Youssef and many more.
On a local level, Beyene was the executive director for WISH Drop-in Centre Society, an organization in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside that improves the health, safety and well-being of people in sex work. In collaboration with the City of Vancouver and BC Housing, Beyene helped create the 23-bed WISH shelter, North America’s first 24/7 shelter for women engaged in street-based sex work.
“Opening of the WISH Shelter was a decades-long project. Activists, leaders and sex workers themselves have passed the baton from generation to generation with the same goal of opening a shelter like this,” said Beyene. “Hearing folks express that without these services they wouldn’t be where they are now – those are the moments that make it all feel worth it.”
In addition to being part of numerous equity and diversity committees and groups both in B.C. and across Canada, Beyene also co-led a working group to develop B.C.’s first cumulative bad date reporting system, the BC BDAR (Bad Date and Aggressor Reporting). Once launched, it will be Canada’s first-ever province-wide bad date reporting system allowing sex workers to warn other sex workers about dangerous clients and predatory or suspicious behaviours. It will be the only such reporting tool in B.C. that brings together data from all other separate databases.
From her involvement with WISH and BC BDAR, to helping women’s groups access federal funding related to women’s health and safety for Women and Gender Equality Canada (WAGE), Beyene’s work earned her the 2020 YWCA Women of Distinction Award in the Non-Profit category.
As she receives her Honorary Fellow designation, she encourages new graduates to find balance in the work they’re passionate about.
“I believe that the whole purpose of being here, because our time on this planet is minuscule, is to leave it a little bit better than we found it,” said Beyene. “So, whatever you want to work on, do it in a way where you feel you’ve made an impact, but not to the point where you’ve depleted yourself."
Douglas College is the largest degree-granting college in B.C., combining the academic foundations of a university and the employer-ready skills of a college to graduate resilient global citizens who adapt, innovate and lead in a changing world.
For more information, visit douglascollege.ca.
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Contact
Elizabeth Douglas
Communications Officer
douglase2@douglascollege.ca