Get Inspired: YOUTH LEADERSHIP AWARDS 2019 – in honour of January Marie Lapuz

Simply the Best – The Luisa Marshall Show
Every Sunday at 11pm & Monday at 10:30am & 9:00pm primetime
on SMC

Channel 4 – Vancouver, BC
Channel 10 – Calgary, Canmore & Banff, AB
Channel 116 – Squamish, Pemberton and Whistler, BC
Channel 901 – Shaw Blue Sky

ALL NEW – Simply the Best – The Luisa Marshall Show:
Airs on Sunday, March 15 at 11pm & Monday, March 16 at 10:30am & 9:00pm on SMC.

On the Show:

Watch our simply the best interviews!
And some super highlights of the Youth Leadership Awards Ceremony!

ALL NEW – SIMPLY THE BEST Season 11!

Get Inspired! January Marie Lapuz’s legacy continues!

The January Marie Lapuz Youth Leadership Award was created by Sher Vancouver (founded by Alex Sangha) in 2015 to recognize young leaders who are advocates for the LGBTQ+ community. It is named after Sher Vancouver’s late social coordinator, January Marie Lapuz, a transgender Filipina woman who was tragically murdered in New Westminster, BC, in September 2012.

There were numerous applicants from all over Metro Vancouver, Ontario, Newfoundland and India. The top prize winner went to 27 year old Lebanese transgender journalist, and activist Norma Lize of Vancouver ($1,000).

Other 3 top winners are:

Queer biracial student researching LGBTQ issues, Andy Holmes, First Runner Up ($600 prize) – 23 years old | Vancouver, BC
Media artist and creative facilitator, Jackson Wai Chung Tse, Second Runner Up ($400 prize) – 29 years old | Vancouver, BC

We would like to also recognize the honourable mention, Sonali Patel. Sonali (Alyy) Patel is a graduate student in Ontario, LGBTQ+ rights activist and co-founder of a national non-profit organization, the Queer South Asian Women’s Network. Sonali strives to bring visibility to “issues and experiences of queer South Asian women in the LGBTQ community through research and advocacy work.”

For more information: