Community Spirit Awards

Celebrating leadership, dedication and community involvement in Oakville.

Congratulations to this year's award recipients!

This year, 42 nominees were recognized for the positive impact they have on the Oakville community through volunteer efforts or acts of kindness. On Thursday, June 6, 2024, nominators and nominees gathered at Queen Elizabeth Park Community and Cultural Centre to celebrate the nominees and award recipients and recognize their exemplary contributions to the community.

The 2024 Community Spirit Award recipients are:

Rachel Williams - Arts, Culture and Heritage Award
Gweneth Arumainayagam - Climate Action Award
Charles Yaeck - Good Neighbour Award
Olamidotun Votu-Obada - Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility Award
Joachim (Joe) Berkmanns and Ruth Sheridan - Inspiration Award
Fatima Sultan - Leadership and Innovation Award

Read the full list of nominees and their stories

This year’s awards were designed by local artist Cathy Lorraway who specializes in vibrant landscape paintings. Individual unique paintings were presented to each award recipient at the event, which was emceed again by media personality Chris Mei.

Watch a video on our YouTube channel to learn more about the artist and the inspiration behind the design of the awards.

Award categories

Arts, Culture and Heritage Award – sponsored by Oakville News/Village Media

Recognizes those who have made a significant voluntary contribution to the artistic and/or cultural community of Oakville. This includes the development, support, conservation or promotion of local heritage, culture, music, visual, performing, or literary arts.

Climate Action Award – sponsored by FirstOntario Credit Union

Recognizes those who have demonstrated environmental leadership. This includes significant voluntary contributions to the sustainability, protection, conservation, or beautification of Oakville’s natural and built environments.

Good Neighbour Award – sponsored by Chartwell Retirement Residences

Recognizes those who have made significant contributions in their neighbourhood. Neighbourhood contributions include showing kindness, instilling community pride, or ensuring public safety to make Oakville a better place to live, work and play.

Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility Award – sponsored by Access Abilities

Recognizes those who have made significant voluntary contribution, beyond legislated requirements, to make Oakville a more inclusive community.

Inspiration Award – sponsored by RBC Royal Bank

Recognizes those who advocate for others, motivate the community, or have had an inspirational influence on others.

Leadership and Innovation Award – sponsored by Amica Senior Lifestyles

Recognizes those who exemplify leadership or innovation, and inspire others to work collaboratively and respectfully to enhance the quality of life of others.

Selection criteria and process

All award nominees must have:

Dedicated their time to an Oakville organization or have made a difference in Oakville during the past year.
Contributed to the Town of Oakville’s vision of being a vibrant and livable community for all and demonstrate at least one of the values of the town (leadership, inclusivity, fiscal responsibility, sustainability, excellence and quality of life).
Addressed a challenge or identified a priority in the Oakville community, as it relates to the award category.
Made a significant impact/positive benefit in the community through their actions and activities (please provide specific examples).

A selection committee made up of Council members and community leaders will review each nomination and select the recipients. The selection committee reserves the right to move a nomination to a more appropriate category, if necessary. All decisions made by the selection committee are final.