For Immediate Release
August 17, 2004
WINNIPEG
– The Canadian Bar Association has named Sandra Jakab of Vancouver as the 2004 recipient of the Touchstone Award.
“Sandra Jakab has spent her career fighting for and defending human rights and diversity,” said CBA President F. William Johnson, Q.C., of Regina. “In recognition of her deep-seated commitment and unwavering efforts, we are proud to present her the Touchstone Award.”
Since receiving her undergraduate degree in 1982, Ms. Jakab has been involved in promoting equality. From 1982 to 1989, she was a member of the National Association of Women and the law. In 1989, she joined the West Coast Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF), and has remained a member to this day.
Also in 1989, Ms. Jakab joined the CBA B.C. Branch’s Women’s Practice and Equality Issues Section, and from 1999 to 2001, she was its chair and co-chair. From 1995 to 1999, Ms. Jakab served as staff liaison for the Law Society of British Columbia’s Equity and Diversity Committee (and its predecessor, the Gender Equality Monitoring Committee).
Her expertise and experience led her to a seat on the B.C. Branch’s President’s Forum Steering Committee in 2001, which focussed on women lawyers succeeding in the legal practice. She was also a member of the Women’s Advisory Committee, which led to the creation of the Women Lawyers Forum for the B.C. Branch of the CBA.
Ms. Jakab co-chaired the B.C. Branch’s Equality Committee in 2001-2002 and acted as Equality Liaison to the Executive Committee of the CBA’s B.C. Branch. She is currently on the Executive for the B.C. Branch’s Women Lawyers Forum and has been appointed to the CBA’s National Standing Committee on Equality.
Ms. Jakab received both her undergraduate degree and her law degree from the University of Calgary. She was called to the Bar in Alberta in 1986 and in B.C. in 1989. She has served in a number of capacities over the years, including diversity consultant, legal counsel for the Law Society of B.C., legal counsel for the Canadian Venture Exchange, and her current position as senior legal counsel for the B.C. Securities Commission.
The Touchstone Award celebrates the accomplishments of an individual who has excelled in promoting equality in the legal profession, the judiciary, or the legal community in Canada. The award recognizes significant national initiative to advance equality and/or contribution relating to race, disability, sexual orientation or other diversity issues in the community.
The Standing Committee on Equality will present the award at the Touchstone Reception held as part of the Canadian Legal Conference in Winnipeg on Tuesday, Aug. 17 at 4:30 p.m. in the VIP Salon of the Winnipeg Convention Centre. The event is open to accredited journalists who have registered with the CBA Media Centre.
The Canadian Bar Association is dedicated to improvement in the law and the administration of justice. Some 38,000 lawyers, notaries, law teachers, and law students from across Canada are members.
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CONTACT: Hannah Bernstein, Canadian Bar Association, Aug. 13-17, Winnipeg Convention Centre, Meeting Room 16, (204) 957-4375.
