Sad News From HEDR

It is with heavy hearts and great sadness that we announce the passing of Samina Zubairi on September 8, 2022 due to health reasons. Samina first joined HEDR as the Coordinator in 2018. Over the past five years she has propelled the work of the Roundtable with many notable achievements including championing the Halton Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Charter as well as the Organizational Self-Assessment Tool. Samina was passionate about supporting the Halton community to advance our knowledge and understanding of equity and diversity issues through raising the voices of equity seeking groups. She was the conduit of community connections that allowed us all to deepen our understanding of issues residents experience in an effort, to impact positive change. Samina recently led the Social Inclusion Project through which many lessons were learned, and key recommendations were raised that will be critical as we

continue our work around diversity, equity and inclusion.

Samina was kind, considerate, caring and a dedicated individual. Her ability to bring community together, to celebrate what connects us all and highlight critical discussions in a compassionate and respectful way will be deeply missed. May we all take solace in our shared connection with Samina and our beautiful memories of a wonderful person, gone much too soon. Through our continued efforts, Samina’s legacy will live on.

As this news comes with great shock, we encourage everyone to take care of your health and wellbeing. If you require support, please contact the Canadian Mental Health Association Halton Region Branch at 289-291-5396 and you will be contacted by a counsellor within 24 business hours.

The Membership Meeting slated to be held Tuesday September 12, 2022 will be postponed as we take time to mourn the loss of our dear colleague. We will continue to reach out to our community and will hold a celebration to honor Samina in the coming weeks.

The Coordinating Committee will be meeting in the coming days to ensure the work continues. Please contact Marcus Logan if you have any questions or have projects with HEDR 905-815-2042 ext 5091 marcus.logan@oakville.ca.