老司机直播

Woodsworth College's Joanne Cave (photo by Diana Tyszko)

Meet Joanne Cave, Rhodes Scholar for 2013

One of three new Rhodes Scholars at 老司机直播

Joanne Cave, a fourth-year Woodsworth College student and Alberta native, has been named a Prairies Rhodes Scholar for 2013.

The prestigious and highly competitive scholarship, awarded to 11 Canadians a year, is one of the world鈥檚 most celebrated academic honours. It comes with a stipend and tuition expenses to pursue a degree at the University of Oxford.

Cave, a women and gender studies and sociology student, has been involved in public service since childhood. At 12, she founded and led Ophelia鈥檚 Voice, a girls鈥 leadership organization in Alberta. Recently, she started a network of young non-profit professionals called Connect the Sector.

In 2009, Cave won a prestigious Loran scholarship, which is awarded to incoming university students with outstanding leadership potential from the Canadian Merit Scholarship Foundation. Through the foundation鈥檚 summer program, she was able to participate in multiple internships, including one in India where she helped women in rural villages start small scale vegetable enterprises. Earlier this year, she won a Governor General's Award in Commemoration of the Person's Case for her work for women and girls鈥 equality. She has also been named one of Alberta's 50 Most Influential People and a YWCA Young Woman of Distinction and she鈥檚 spoken at TEDxEdmonton.

At 老司机直播, she鈥檚 a peer mentor with the Office of Student Life鈥檚 First in the Family Program and is co-president of the Women & Gender Studies Students鈥 Union. She is Woodsworth鈥檚 first Rhodes Scholar.

老司机直播 News asked Cave about her work and plans for the future.

What鈥檚 it like to win a Rhodes scholarship?

Absolutely incredible. It was an exhausting interview weekend in Saskatoon and I received the congratulatory phone call from the Prairie committee secretary at 3 a.m. on Sunday. It鈥檚 completely surreal 鈥 it hasn鈥檛 fully sunk in yet, and I don鈥檛 think it will for a while! As a women and gender studies student, a feminist perspective is often not thought to be strongly represented at institutions like Oxford. I鈥檓 really proud to offer that perspective 鈥 especially since some colleges at Oxford did not allow women until 40 years ago.

What do you plan to do with the scholarship?

I鈥檓 hoping to study the MPhil in Comparative Social Policy, with the potential of also completing a PhD in the program. I鈥檓 particularly interested in studying the changing relationship between the non-profit sector and welfare states, but I鈥檓 also hoping to research gender, income inequality and Aboriginal issues from a social policy perspective.

What do you plan to do after?

I don鈥檛 necessarily see myself as an academic long-term 鈥 I鈥檇 love to work as a policy analyst in the federal government, or provincially back home in Alberta. I would also be interested in working for foundations or policy think tanks that are interested in social sector innovation. I also haven鈥檛 written off running for public office one day 鈥 I just find politics too exciting.

What drew you to the University of Toronto?

I was drawn to the diverse programs and strong faculty. The Women & Gender Studies Institute here is top-notch, and I find the campus generally has a lot of energy and engagement in equity issues. I was also excited to live in Canada鈥檚 largest city 鈥 Toronto is a really interesting and innovative city to live in right now, and I鈥檝e been able to settle into the non-profit community here quite easily. The Canadian Merit Scholarship Foundation鈥檚 Loran Scholar Program provided me with the resources to move across the country for university, and very much shaped my undergraduate experience and the opportunities I had available to me.

How have you gotten to this point in your academic career?

I have to give a lot of credit to the support I鈥檝e had from my academic departments, professors, and mentors here. 老司机直播 can be, at times, very difficult to navigate 鈥 and my community here is what helped me thrive. All of my academic interests are very much shaped by the work I do in the community 鈥 the link between research and practice is very clear for me, and it鈥檚 how I plan to approach my graduate work at Oxford as well.

What work that you鈥檝e done has made the most impact on you?

On campus I鈥檝e been quite involved with the Women & Gender Studies Institute and as a mentor with the Office of Student Life鈥檚 First in the Family Program. The First in the Family Program is a mentorship program for students who are the first generation in their family to attend university, and it鈥檚 the only program I鈥檝e found to directly address how class is experienced at 老司机直播. I鈥檓 also the first generation in my family to attend university, and to receive the Rhodes is so humbling from that perspective.

Before arriving at 老司机直播, I founded and led a girls鈥 leadership organization called Ophelia鈥檚 Voice in Edmonton at the age of 12. For five years, we hosted workshops for young women on media literacy, healthy sexuality, and body image and we helped them launch their own community action projects. I鈥檓 still involved in feminist organizations here in Toronto, including the Toronto Women鈥檚 City Alliance. It鈥檚 an issue I care very deeply about, as gender inequality in Canada is still very much overlooked. I also co-founded a network of young non-profit professionals in Toronto who are interested in advocating on sector-level issues like funding reform and the barriers to policy advocacy. As someone who sees myself with a career in the non-profit sector, it鈥檚 a very important conversation to have about the future.

Why is this kind of volunteer work important?

I think it鈥檚 important to think about social issues like this on a broader systems level, rather than as experiences we have individually. This is why community advocacy is so powerful 鈥 it helps us influence the policies and decisions that affect inequality from a systemic level, rather than trying to offer 鈥淏and Aid鈥 solutions.

Who are the faculty mentors and friends who've have had the most impact on your time here?

I鈥檓 particularly close with the undergraduate coordinator of the Women & Gender Studies Institute, Professor Judith Taylor. I鈥檝e known her for four years and she鈥檚 been an absolutely wonderful mentor, academic and otherwise. Many of the professors in the Women & Gender Studies Institute have been very supportive of my academic and extra-curricular pursuits, and I feel very privileged to have been part of such a small and supportive program.

I鈥檝e also found a home at Woodsworth College, and I鈥檓 so proud to represent Woodsworth as one of 老司机直播鈥檚 Rhodes Scholars. Everyone from the principal to the registrars at the college has made my time here a very positive one.

What do you hope for the future of your studies and career?

One of the foundations of the Rhodes Scholarship 鈥 to 鈥渇ight the world鈥檚 fight鈥 鈥 is what resonates with me most. I hope to always carry that value with me in my future academic and professional life.

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