Vanessa Redditt

Committed to Fighting Social Injustice

Vanessa Redditt recently obtained her bachelor’s degree in international development from McGill University. During the course of her studies there, she developed a true passion for promoting health, particularly among people on the fringe of society. Setting herself apart by her leadership, vision and contagious energy, Vanessa aspires to create a type of medical clinic with broader social policies that would combine personal and community commitment in order to work towards the greater welfare of all members of society.

As a member of the McGill Global AIDS Coalition since 2004, as well as its director last year, Vanessa took the opportunity to set up workshops for high school students providing information on the social, economic and political repercussions of Aids. She was also in charge of the fund raising campaigns for three years and, as the coordinator of the recruiting committee, enabled the organization to increase its membership to over 750 people. Her crusade against Aids also motivated her to spend three months working in a medical clinic in Malawi in the summer of 2006.

“As director of the McGill Global AIDS Coalition, Vanessa worked very hard towards inspiring, informing and rallying all those around her in her fight for greater social justice. Thanks to her true leadership, Vanessa brilliantly succeeded in mobilizing students, coordinating volunteers and organizing educational activities. Her commitment is outstanding!” stated Franca Gucciardi of the Canadian Merit Scholarship Foundation.

All of Vanessa’s initiatives are carried out in a spirit of cooperation and she always strives to generate tangible results for the community. This was the case for example when she worked at the Montréal YMCA’s Refugee Centre helping children between the ages of 4 and 15 to learn English through art activities. Prior to this, she had also carried out volunteer work helping patients at the Montréal General Hospital.

“She is profoundly dedicated to greater social justice and is the perfect example of a brilliant mind with an enormous heart,” said Nancy A. Ross, professor at McGill University.

Vanessa’s commitment doesn’t stop there: she is also the coordinator of a project for Doctors Without Borders, a member of the executive committee of the McGill University chapter of Amnesty International and a Red Cross volunteer. “I have begun to increasingly assert myself as a group leader, bringing vision and energy. I believe in cooperation and dialogue. And this is how I intend to follow through on my desire to contribute responsibly to improving our society,” Vanessa Redditt concluded.

Vanessa Redditt