Elizabeth Dowdeswell Award for Advancing Democracy Through Education

Black and white portrait of Elizabeth Dowdeswell, wearing a dark outfit and a double-strand pearl necklace.The Elizabeth Dowdeswell Award for Advancing Democracy Through Education commemorates the legacy of Ontario’s 29th Lieutenant Governor by recognizing individuals who have demonstrated innovative approaches to teaching, significantly contributing to the advancement of democratic principles and civic engagement. Two recipients each receive a one-time award of $7,500 which must be used towards continuing education and/or furthering educational contributions.

Eligibility

The person you nominate (self-nominations are accepted) must be:

  • an Ontario resident
  • an educator (full-time or part-time), within an elementary and/or high-school level educational institution in Ontario (public or private)
  • within active career stage at the time of nomination

You cannot nominate:

  • someone who has passed away
  • an elected federal, provincial or municipal politician currently in office
  • a public appointee currently in office

Required information

In your nomination, you will need to provide the following:

  • the educational institution name, phone number and address
  • the nominee’s first name, last name, phone number and email address
  • a brief summary of the nominee’s achievements as they relate to the award criteria
  • a detailed description of your nominee’s innovative teaching techniques, explaining the value and impact of the nominee’s achievements
  • a minimum of 2 signed testimonial letters on letterhead. The letters must be from 2 different individuals who are not the nominator. In the case of a self-nomination, the nominee cannot act as their own testimonial writer. An electronic signature or scanned copy of the signed letters are acceptable. The testimonial writers should:
    • explain the relation to the nominee (for example, student, colleague, etc.)
    • be able to explain the value and impact of the nominee’s achievements
    • support the nomination
    • the testimonial letters and supporting documents are accepted in these formats: doc, docx, pdf, jpeg, jpg, gif, png, txt. The maximum file size for each is 2 MB.
  • the testimonial writers’ first name, last name, phone number and email address
  • a short video testimonial from a student who can speak to the nominee’s impact (file types accepted, include: .avi, .mov, .webm, .mp4, .wmv, .mkv, .flv, .mpg, .mpeg. Maximum file size is 500MB)

Additional information

You may include additional materials if they give more insight into the nominee’s accomplishments, such as:

  • supplementary written testimonials
  • publications
  • media stories and news articles

Deadline

The deadline to nominate someone is May 31 of each year.

How to nominate someone

  1. Gather all the required information.
  2. Create an account (or sign in for returning users) on the Ontario Honours and Awards Portal.
  3. Submit your nomination through the portal.

Go to nomination portal

Select “I want to see all honours and awards”

Read our guide for tips on writing and submitting a nomination.

Selection process

An independent selection committee invited by the Minister of Citizenship and Multiculturalism reviews each nomination and selects the candidates.

Award presentation

This award will be presented annually in September at the Lieutenant Governor’s Legacy Awards Ceremony.