What is Toast to Success?
The Toast to Success Awards of Professional Excellence honour two remarkable professionals in the Tamil community who have demonstrated professional growth and strong commitment to community. The two streams of nominations for the awards include: Emerging Professional and Established Professional.
Nomination Criteria
Emerging Professional
A professional in the early stages of their career, with exposure in their respective field, community and/or area of expertise.
- Has graduated from post-secondary education or attained similar credentials (ex. Apprenticeships, training, certifications, diplomas…),and has up to 7 years of work experience.
- Has made a significant impact (ex. achievements/contributions demonstrating nominee consistently going “above and beyond” the normal scope of their role) in their field and has supplemental materials and/or information to demonstrate and exemplify impact (media engagement, awards/recognition, research, etc).
- Has outstanding voluntary footprints in their field and/or community.
- Must provide two professional endorsement letters (if requested).
Established Professional
A professional who is experienced, has made a strong record for career growth and has accomplished significant achievement in their field.
- Has graduated from post-secondary education or attained similar credentials (ex. Apprenticeships, training, certifications, diplomas…) and has 7+ years of work experience.
- Has passion, integrity, showcases exemplary role modeling and inspires others in the community.
- Achieved distinction and recognition in their respective field/occupational portfolio.
- Regarded as a leader and has made a significant impact in their career and community.
- Has outstanding voluntary footprints in their field and community.
- Demonstrated consistent contribution towards being heard and known within their profession.
- Facilitated noticeable improvements and/or progressive shifts in their profession.
- Must provide two professional endorsement letters (if requested).
Eligibility
- Nominees must be a resident of Canada and of Tamil descent.
- Nominees are eligible for re-nomination in subsequent years.
- Nominees cannot be previous award winners of the same award category for which they had won.
- Nominees can nominate themselves if they choose.
Exclusions:
Members of the 2023 Board of Directors, 2023 Advisory Board Members, Awards Selection Committee Members, current volunteer team members of CTPA or volunteer team members of CTPA within the past two years cannot be nominated for these awards.
Why Nominate
By nominating an individual, you are telling them and the world that they are an inspiring individual, making an impact in the lives of others. You are honoring their accomplishments, validating their hard work and dedication, elevating their personal and professional profile and giving them an opportunity to be recognized in the community and around the globe. Let’s help shine light on these individuals!
Method of Selection
The Awards Selection Committee, appointed by the Board, will be responsible for the selection of the winners for these awards. The Awards Selection Committee will consist of CTPA’s current Board of Directors and Advisory Board members. They will review the nomination packages and supporting documents, contact endorsers and interview prospective winners.
The Awards Selection Committee reserves the right to move a nominee to a category more suited to their strengths and skill sets without notification. When required, additional information may be requested. The Awards Selection Committee also has the right to refrain from granting a specific award when it is not deemed meritable.
Award Recognition
Award winners will be invited to attend the Toast to Success event held in person Sunday, September 17th 2023. More information including dates and location will be confirmed soon.
Overview for Submission - 3 phases:
Phase 1. Submissions either self-nominations or peer nominations via webform.
Phase 2. Requesting resumes for the nominations and permission to carry forward with the nomination process.
Phase 3. Requesting endorsement letters for the top applicants.
Submission Instructions
The deadline to submit the nomination package is August 24th, 2023 at 11:59 p.m. ET. All questions must be answered fully for award consideration. No late submissions will be accepted. Please note that only award winners selected by the committee will be contacted.
For further inquiries, contact Luckzani Balakrishnan, Head of Signature Events , by email at [email protected]
2022 Recipients
Vivetha Thambinathan
Vivetha Thambinathan is an Eelam Tamil activist-scholar, community-engaged researcher, and public health professional. Vivetha is a doctoral candidate in the Health and Rehabilitation Sciences program at Western University, where her research project focuses on refugee health justice, historical trauma, and arts-based healing within the Toronto Tamil refugee diaspora. She is the former Research Director at Washington-based PEARL (People for Equality and Relief in Lanka), a non-profit organization dedicated to advocating for justice and self-determination for the Tamil people in the North-East of Sri Lanka. Driven by her passion for equity and justice in higher education, Vivetha also founded @diversityinacademia – a platform with over 100,000 followers – as a radical space to amplify voices typically excluded from narratives shared within the academy. Vivetha feels most inspired working at the intersections of community mobilization, creative storytelling, & healing justice.
Naren Balakrishnan
With over 18 years’ experience in information technology, including the last 14 years in professional services and consulting, Naren Balakrishnan helps companies access Government funding programs and to file maximized and substantiated tax credit claims. His clients represent a number of industries including Telecommunications, Software/IT, Electronics, Financial Services Institutions, Aerospace and Defence, Health-IT and Bio-Technology. He assists clients in a number of areas including: determination of eligible expenditures, preparation of technical reports, review of documentation, incorporating best practices to maximize claim size and handling potential CRA matters including audit defense. Naren is heavily involved in business development initiatives, working with international companies to enter the Canadian market, developing strategic partnerships with technology associations and working closely with start-up companies to help them get to the next level. He also works to mentor, connect and introduce companies to other accounting and business functions at Grant Thornton.
Click to learn more about our past recipients!
