Reproductive Changemaker award

Wellness Within is pleased to announce that we will be bringing back our annual Reproductive Changemaker Award for its fourth year! 

Reproductive justice, developed by women of colour in the US and with long histories in Indigenous communities expands the legal framework of reproductive rights to examine the intersectional human rights and equity implications of reproductive decisions. This award seeks to recognize individuals who have exhibited a deep commitment to reproductive justice in their work: whether that be clinical, academic, political, community-based or artistic.

Nominees must be a Nova Scotia resident who has made a difference in the fields of reproductive health and justice. The successful applicant will share in our values as a feminist, anti-racist, anti-poverty, pro-2SLGBTQIA+, pro-inclusion organization. Wellness Within board members are not eligible.

Wellness Within is working for reproductive justice, prison abolition, and health equity in Nova Scotia, and it is our hope that the award will recognize the efforts of reproductive justice leaders and advocates in our communities. We ask for your support in sharing the request for nominations within your networks. 

Please email nominations using the form below by October 10th, 2026. Tell us who you are nominating and the changemaking they have done! Recipient will be announced at the Wellness Within Annual Conference: Saturday, October 17th 2026 at the Weldon Law Building, 6061 University Ave, Halifax, NS. (Registration open!)

Nominate a reproductive changemaker

Past Reproductive Changemaker Award Recipients:

  • Sheila has worked with pregnant, birthing, and postpartum patients for over 20 years. This time spent working in health care illuminated to Sheila the care gaps that new parents face regarding infant feeding after hospital discharge.

    Sheila has been a key provider at the Halifax Primary Care Clinic, where she works to ensure access to publicly funded skilled lactation care for families in Central Zone. She leverages her experience to offer timely assessments and interventions for parent-infant dyads attending the HPCC clinic.

    Additionally, Sheila conducts a weekly infant feeding drop-in, which allows community members to have access to free breastfeeding care without needing a referral, a service that is generally costly to access once in the community. Sheila has seen hundreds of parent-infant dyads through the infant feeding drop-in alone. Sheila is passionate about advocating for publicly funded, equitable, skilled lactation support and is committed to promoting infant feeding assessment and approaches with her primary care colleagues.

    Thank you, Sheila, for playing a vital role in supporting parents in HRM in meeting their infant feeding goals!

  • A graduate of the Dalhousie University Master of Nursing Nurse Practitioner Program. Ateka was incarcerated for 2 months with her family when fleeing Afghanistan.

    Since coming to Canada as a refugee, she continues to advocate for her loved ones and community members. Despite ongoing challenges that come with speaking about sexual and reproductive health care, Ateka is a champion for reproductive healthcare and rights in the Afghan community. Her strength and compassion are an inspiration!

  • Dr Yoshida is the Family Medicine Co-Medical Director of the Reproductive Options and Services ROSE Clinic in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

    She has been providing safe and compassionate abortion care for over 20 years, having completed her training with Dr. Henry Morgentaler . This dedication to ensuring patients have autonomy over their bodies and lives is extraordinary. Dr. Yoshida is a force for innovation and expansion in access.

    In 2018, having worked hard to bring publicly funded medication abortion to the province, she founded the Nova Scotia Centralized Abortion Network. Nova Scotia is the only jurisdiction in Canada where people seeking abortions call one toll-free centralized referral line and are directly connected to providers across the province, allowing care close to home and through telemedicine. Dr. Yoshida mentors over 2 dozen medication abortion providers in the network, and always welcomes medical students, residents and new providers to learn from her.

    Alongside Dr Melissa Brooks, Dr Yoshida worked to eliminate the need of referrals for abortion in Nova Scotia, allowing patients to self-refer. She spearheaded a $50,000 campaign to purchase the clinic’s first onsite ultrasound machine, and led the successful effort to partner with the QE2 Foundation and the government of NS to ensure access to free long acting reversible contraception like IUDs and Nexplanon for all abortion patients.

    She was the first provider to perform an abortion on PEI when the service was re-instated in 2017. And from its beginning in 2020, Dr. Yoshida has served as core faculty in Dalhousie University’s Interprofessional Abortion and Contraception course, the only interprofessional stand alone course on family planning in the country.