2026 Black Excellence Award winners

Demjai Edwards

Award: Academic Perseverance

Demjai is a scholar, leader, artist and community builder whose resilience and commitment to academic excellence distinguished their time at Concordia. They excelled in sociology, served as a student lead with the STEP Forward student staff leadership program, contributed to the Concordia Caribbean Students Union, the Pan African Students Union and the NouLa Black Student Centre. During a period of deep personal loss, they continued to use their creativity to explore critical social issues and inspire dialogue and connection within their communities.

Dalex Farrel Djougo Djomatchoko

Award: Advocacy

Dalex is a passionate advocate whose leadership has advanced youth representation and created pathways for meaningful social change. They strengthened youth engagement through student governance at Concordia, advocacy with Y4Y Quebec and White Ribbon, and participation in the United Nations Youth Consultation for the 69th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women, helping ensure young people’s perspectives are represented in conversations shaping more inclusive communities.

Oludamilola Ajala

Award: Community Engagement

Oludamilola is a dedicated community leader whose commitment to mentorship and service has strengthened communities both on and beyond campus. They supported students as a resident assistant at Concordia, mentored Black youth through the West Island Black Community Association and Big Brothers Big Sisters and facilitated workshops for refugee youth with Mouvement contre le viol et l’inceste, all while pursuing concurrent degrees in Pure and Applied Mathematics and Computer Science.

Camille Georges

Award: Leadership

Camille is a visionary leader whose work creates opportunities for Black and diverse youth to thrive. She designed the Pick Your Path for Black Youth mentorship program, co-founded Je Suis Montréal to explore BIPOC identity and belonging, led civic engagement initiatives at Apathy is Boring that reached over 1,000 youth and developed programming at La Maison d’Haïti that supported the growth and empowerment of young Black girls in St-Michel.

Mary Amadi

Award: Research and Innovation

Mary is an exceptional researcher whose scholarship addresses complex human rights challenges with global impact. She co-authored a major research report submitted to the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, published original research in the European Journal of International Law’s online blog, contributed human rights research for the United Nations Human Rights Council Advisory Committee and advanced understanding of African human rights systems through academic engagement at Concordia.

Mariama Kane

Award: Research and Innovation

Mariama is an emerging researcher whose work advances health equity through scientific inquiry. Her honours research in cancer biology investigated Taxol resistance in triple-negative breast cancer cell lines, contributing to greater awareness of cancer health disparities affecting Black communities, while her expertise in molecular analysis and data science earned her a highly competitive research internship in RNA therapeutics at McGill University; she also inspires future scientists through her volunteer work with Let's Talk Science.

Muriel Tchatchouang

Award: Student Engagement

Muriel is an outstanding student leader who has strengthened student life by creating spaces for connection, mentorship and belonging. As president of the African Student Association of Concordia, she expanded campus partnerships, led the flagship Uzuri Gala and Conference, supported incoming students through Orientation, helped sustain the Concordia EPIC Used Book Fair, fostered inclusion through the Mathematics, Actuarial and Statistics Student Association, and contributed to social justice advocacy through the Centre for Research-Action on Race Relations.

Student Hub

Meet the 2026 winners