OASW Honours Three Outstanding Social Workers at our 2023 Annual General Meeting

OASW is honoured to have recognized the following individuals at our Annual General Meeting on May 5, 2023:

2023 OASW Beverley Antle Leadership Award | Dr. Samantha Anthony

OASW’s Beverley Antle Leadership Award highlights the pivotal and dynamic leadership roles played by social workers in non-traditional, leading edge positions, recognizing a social worker who exemplifies the diversity of roles and career options that can build upon a degree in social work. 

OASW was pleased to recognize Dr. Samantha Anthony as the 2023 recipient of this distinguished award. Dr. Anthony fulfills a multi-pronged academic role in research, education, and direct clinical practice. Her unique position is split between the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work at the University of Toronto, the SickKids Transplant and Regenerative Medicine Centre, and the Peter Gilgan Centre for Research and Learning. She also plays a pivotal national role in the Canadian Donation and Transplantation Research Program. Dr. Anthony is the first and only Canadian Health Clinician-Scientist in social work. A notable example of leadership and ingenuity for social workers in evaluative sciences, her unique lens as a clinician-scientist social worker exemplifies the critical impact that qualitative research can have to prioritize and promote patients’ voices in healthcare. Her leadership has been pivotal in driving meaningful change to improve practice and interventions. Dr. Anthony’s pioneering approach and personal creativity is an inspiration not only to her colleagues in social work, but to a next generation of learners seeking careers in non-traditional positions. Through her many contributions at local, national, and international conferences, workshops, and research collaborations, she unfailingly elevates and openly celebrates the fundamental nature of her background in social work. As one of Dr. Anthony's PhD committee members and an exemplary role model, Beverley Antle provided great inspiration to Samantha in her pursuit to become a leader of pediatric social work research.

2023 OASW Inspirational Leader Award | Charity Fleming and Marty Lampkin

The OASW Inspirational Leader Award is presented to social workers whose current contribution to the profession inspires others and whose professional conduct serves as a role model for those working in the field of social work. This year, OASW is pleased to recognize two outstanding social workers with this award.

Charity Fleming is an Indigenous social worker who is passionate about delivering inclusive and culturally-responsive services to Indigenous communities and to people of diverse identities and cultural contexts. As an intergenerational survivor of residential schools and the Sixties Scoop, Charity has dedicated her life to supporting Indigenous peoples’ recovery from the experiences and impacts of historical trauma. While working in Six Nations, Charity identified early on the barriers to service that Indigenous people face, and created a place where mental health services are provided directly in the Six Nations community of Ohsweken. She has developed this dream into a busy office where 20 highly-skilled professionals provide mental health services to 400 clients each year, not only locally, but also to clients in remote communities in northern Ontario, and in Quebec and British Columbia. Charity believes strongly in the concept of Two-Eyed Seeing, which integrates Western and Indigenous concepts and ways of knowing. As the co-owner of Qualia Counselling Services, she works tirelessly to create spaces, programs, courses, clinical encounters and knowledge that embody this critical concept. Notably, Charity also developed the course entitled Mikwendaagwad: It is Remembered - Sacred Circle CBT, which is a culturally-responsive approach to CBT. Offered through the Faculty of Social Work’s Professional Development Program at Wilfrid Laurier University, the course has become nationally and internationally recognized. In her mentorship of frontline professionals, doctors, educators, psychotherapists and social workers, Charity’s energy and vision are infectious. Every day, she inspires her students and colleagues through her imagination, perseverance and dedication. 

Marty Lampkin is an Afro-Caribbean woman who lives by her motto, "my ancestors did not die for me to remain silent." She is a strong advocate and educator on the intersection of Anti-Black Racism for Black people living with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), intellectual disabilities and neurodiversity. Marty’s leadership has led to the founding of the first Anti Racism Black Cultural Awareness Group within a leading developmental disability and autism agency in the city of Toronto. She not only created a safe space for Black-identifying clinicians across the agency, but led the development of Anti-Black Racism education and training for both leadership and frontline staff. Marty has consulted on discrimination issues within the disability sector and has developed a unique program for Black adults with ASD. Her work has highlighted how Black families experience a lack of culturally-appropriate care and increased incidents of racism when trying to access support for their children living with complex disabilities. Marty also developed a community program, Racism affects me too, which focuses on the impacts of Anti-Black Racism on individuals living with intellectual disabilities or ASD. As a professor in George Brown College’s School of Community and Social Services, she is an advocate, educator and consultant on issues of Anti-Black Racism, Anti-Oppression and Ableism, and has contributed to the development of a Black Futures Campus Hub Space to provide supports to staff, faculty and students. 

OASW congratulates Dr. Samantha Anthony, Charity Fleming, and Marty Lampkin on receiving these important recognitions for their outstanding leadership and contributions to the field.