A teacher from Surrey has been named Young Leader of the Year, a prestigious recognition by the World Federation of United Nations Associations.
Serving her community was a calling for Rochelle Prasad — former student and current educator in the Surrey school district — early on in life.
“I think it was around Grade 3 that I started noticing that there were gaps in the system that were leaving some kids frustrated. They weren’t able to absorb or take part in lessons as well as others, and I wondered why the adults weren’t doing more about it,” she said in a Surrey Schools release.
“That made me angry, and as I went through the system, I thought about what else was needed to help students that struggle.”
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Prasad, 25, is a teacher-on-call with the district, a lecturer at post-secondary schools and the co-founder of SPARK Foundation, a non-profit focused on training and educating young people on how to be leaders who create change.
All of her work with youth and additional steps towards building relationships with Indigenous populations is what has gotten Prasad to be recognized as this year’s World Federation of United Nations Association’s (UNA) Young Leader of the Year, the release states.
Prasad is also the first Canadian-Fijian to be the recipient of this title.
After graduating from Queen Elizabeth Secondary, the 25-year-old began working with UNA’s Canadian chapter in the Building Young Entrepreneurs Program, then transitioned to working within the organization.
“My intersection in life is basically policy and education, and I want to see what I’m able to do in that realm before I’m not longer on this earth,” Prasad said.
“I would like to see every child in the world have access to quality education, free of barriers. So, I’m starting with our city and plan to keep going larger and larger.”