In a year defined by heart-led community engagement and transformative impact, the Pathy Foundation Fellowship is proud to announce Chama Laassassy as the recipient of the inaugural Lifetime Changemaker Award.
The Lifetime Changemaker Award was established to commemorate the enduring legacy of Harry Critchley, whose life was marked by relentless compassion and advocacy. Remembered as a beloved and fierce community advocate, a loving family man, and a loyal friend, Harry catalyzed transformative initiatives throughout his life – from co-founding the East Coast Prison Justice Society to pioneering restorative justice programs, and more. This award aims to celebrate and perpetuate the spirit of transformative leadership that Harry so passionately embodied.
After completing her Master’s of Second Language Education, Chama applied to the Pathy Foundation Fellowship with the aim of preventing school abandonment and promoting youth success in Nador, Morocco. With familial ties to the community, Chama spent her summers there as a child and continued to visit regularly after moving to Canada as a teenager. In the summer of 2021, she met a 10-year-old boy named Marwane, who shared with her that he intended to drop out of school.
Knowing she had a background in education, Marwane’s mother approached Chama and asked her to convince him to stay in school. Instead, Chama organized a play-based Math tournament for Marwane and seven other at-risk youth. Chama worked with these youth over the course of the month, and by the end, their math had improved, and they all planned to continue with their education the following school year. This pilot became the foundation for Chama’s Pathy Fellowship initiative, ⵉⵙⵡⵉ | ISWI – a youth success and dropout prevention program working to reignite purpose and ambition, supporting youth to achieve their goals.
The Lifetime Changemaker Award was created to honour Harry’s legacy of leadership which is both bold and deeply grounded – leadership that listens before it speaks, that builds trust over time, and that centers the voices of those most affected by injustice. In recognizing Chama Laassassy, we celebrate a changemaker whose work reflects those same enduring values.
Chama’s nomination by her peers as the inaugural recipient of the Lifetime Changemaker Award is not only a celebration of her work, but also a reflection of the deep respect and admiration she has earned from those around her. Chama leads with a rare blend of courage, humility, and unwavering commitment to justice. Her work is not driven by recognition, but by a deep-rooted belief in the power of community and the importance of showing up consistently, compassionately, and with integrity.
Chama’s peers describe her as someone who not only leads with vision, but with presence. As one nominator shared, “Even when we’re all swamped with our own projects, she reaches out, listens, and wants to help make everyone’s initiatives stronger.” Whether offering encouragement, thoughtful feedback, or simply checking in, Chama shows up with consistency and care; “Chama reminds us that true changemaking isn’t just about the work we do, but how we show up for each other along the way”.
This relational approach to leadership is mirrored in the way she engages with her community in Nador. “She didn’t just show up for her community – she stayed, she listened, and she worked side by side with them,” wrote another peer. Long before her Fellowship began, Chama was laying the groundwork for what would become ⵉⵙⵡⵉ | ISWI. When faced with skepticism, she responded not with defensiveness, but with clarity and humility – choosing to build trust, not just programs.
Her work is also deeply rooted in joy and possibility. One nominator reflected, “Chama has and will continue to demonstrate an exponential impact on the youth of Nador, Morocco, and the world”, adding that she has “shown how community work centered in joy can thrive.” Through ⵉⵙⵡⵉ | ISWI, Chama reframes dropout prevention as youth success – an intentional shift that speaks to her belief in the potential of every young person she works with. Her initiative is not just about keeping students in school; it’s about helping them rediscover purpose, confidence, and possibility.
The Lifetime Changemaker Award honours leadership that is transformative not only in outcome, but in approach. It recognizes those who move through the world with integrity, who build with and not for, and who understand that lasting change begins with deep listening and sustained presence. In celebrating Chama Laassassy, we honour a changemaker whose work and way of working will continue to ripple outward for years to come.
