Victims and Survivors of Crime Week 2025 Excellence Awards

Carrie Stober

It is our pleasure to announce that Carrie Stober, Victim Assistance Navigation Specialist at the Medicine Hat Police Service in Medicine Hat, Alberta, is the recipient of the Victims and Survivors of Crime Week 2025 Excellence in Victim Service Award.

Carrie Stober exemplifies the criteria that this award was designed to recognize. She has empowered victims and survivors of crime through her innovative engagement with facility dogs. Carrie launched a campaign inviting children to design ties for facility dogs and helped create a tangible connection between victims, their families and the comfort that facility dogs can bring during court proceedings.

As a focused court liaison, Carrie provides continuous, personalized support of victims throughout the entire judicial process. Her proactive coordination of referrals and resources ensures that victims never feel isolated, empowering them to navigate the system with confidence and dignity. This includes supporting aftercare and ensuring long term survival and recovery of victims from the trauma and effects of crime. Carrie has inspired other service providers, by consistently demonstrating empathy and meticulous coordination leading to other service providers to adopt similar practices.

By integrating innovative approaches to support victims such as using facility dogs during court testimony, Carrie has helped empower victims by ensuring their emotional comfort and encouraged other agencies to integrate such support measures. Carrie has achieved meaningful change by improving the experiences of those affected by crime in her community. She has not only streamlined victim support, but also bolstered her team’s ability to provide continuous, personalized assistance to victims.

Award Recipient Biography

Carrie Stober is a dedicated Victims Assistance Navigation Specialist with deep roots in her community in Medicine Hat, Alberta. Originally a teacher in rural Alberta at Seven Persons School, Carrie transitioned from education to focus on family and raise her children. Carrie began volunteering with the Medicine Hat Police Service’s Victims Assistance Unit in 2016, in addition to supporting its Major Crimes Unit, before stepping into her current role as a Victim Assistance Navigation Specialist in January 2022. As a pillar of her community, Carrie brings her rich personal, cultural, and family experiences to her work, supporting victims with empathy and expertise. Her commitment is further reflected in her active engagement in community events and her cherished role as a devoted mother.

“Carrie embodies a strong moral compass and has an un-matched passion for her work. She is dedicated to providing emotional support, managing expectations, and empowering victims to help them manage their situation from the trauma they have experienced to come away from their experience feeling supported and heard.”
– Kim Fishley, Medicine Hat Police Service

Justice and Nia Faith

It is our pleasure to announce that Justice and Nia Faith, co-founders of Révolutionnaire in Toronto, Ontario, are the recipients of the Victims and Survivors of Crime Week 2025 Excellence in Volunteer Victim Service Award.

Sisters Justice and Nia Faith are dedicated volunteers and advocates for victims and survivors of crime. Their leadership is driven by action—mobilizing resources, engaging new allies, and ensuring survivors have access to the support they need. Their commitment to victim advocacy is deeply personal. Nia, a survivor of child abuse, uses her platform to support peers facing similar harm, focusing on prevention and education. Justice advocates for systemic change, she works to improve policies and programs that support young victims navigating the justice system.

Justice and Nia have empowered victims and survivors of crime by helping to build survivor-centred programs from the ground up, ensuring that resources go directly to where they are needed most. They have inspired other service providers by acting as connectors who bridge gaps between sectors, bringing together diverse professionals—including community leaders—to build capacity and expand access to services. They have achieved meaningful change that has improved the experiences of those who have been affected by crime in their area by bringing new voices, funding streams and collaboration for victim support. Through their work improving victims services, they are ensuring that survivors are heard and supported with the resources they need to heal.

Award Recipients Biographies

Justice and Nia Faith are the co-founders of Révolutionnaire, a global advocacy movement empowering young leaders with the knowledge and resources required to enact change in victim services, community service, social justice, and policy reform.

Révolutionnaire has collaborated with globally recognized organizations across industries, such as Rogers, the Shawn Mendes Foundation, the United Nations and Global Empowerment Mission, to launch impact-driven partnerships that champion youth voices, community, and the power of social justice.

Justice and Nia are ambassadors for VOW for Girls, an organization committed to reaching underfunded and emerging girl and women-led organizations, who are working to end child marriage in their own communities. These organizations develop and implement comprehensive, locally relevant and gender-transformative projects, joining forces with others while leading local, national, regional, and global movements.

The sisters also lead as inaugural Young Patrons for the Misty Copeland Foundation, a New York-based nonprofit, which provides free, trauma-informed, and age-appropriate ballet classes to children in Harlem and the Bronx.

In 2024, they began volunteering with Victim Services Toronto as co-chairs of RISE, leading an 18-member committee of young professionals to support victims of crime and lead efforts to fund Canada’s first specialized therapy program for young victims after they have testified in court.

Justice and Nia are actively mobilizing young changemakers many of whom are first-time volunteers and donors. The sisters are catalysts for change, expanding what’s possible in victim services.

Justice and Nia have been recognized as Forbes 30 Under 30 Honourees, Essence Black Future Shapers, Canada’s Top 25 Most Influential Women, Canadian Arts and Fashion Award Changemaker Honourees, and Toronto Star’s Top 24 of 2024.

“I have witnessed firsthand the transformative impact of Justice and Nia Faith’s volunteer leadership. Their innovative approach ensures that victim services aren’t just maintained but expanded and improved for generations to come.”
– Carly Kalish, CEO, Victim Services Toronto

Dale McDonald

It is our pleasure to announce that Dale McDonald, Safety Officer and Supervisor with the City of Winnipeg’s Community Safety Team, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, is the recipient of the Victims and Survivors of Crime Week 2025 Excellence in Victim-Centered Policing Award.

Dale McDonald exemplifies the criteria that this award was designed to recognize. She has demonstrated an outstanding capacity to respond to the needs of victims and survivors of crime in her unique role with the Community Safety Team, offering a compassionate and trauma-informed approach to the most vulnerable residents in need—those experiencing homelessness, addictions, and mental health issues. A highly respected officer, Dale inspired other police services professionals throughout her 30-year career by giving her time, resources, and support to victims of crime. Dale ensured that victims of crime and their family members were informed about their rights and the services, assistance, and laws in place to help them by going to great lengths to see them through the many challenges brought on by a traumatic event.

Award Recipient Biography

With family roots from Trinidad and Tobago, Dale McDonald is a proud mother of two adult children, a son and daughter. Dale is a highly experienced and dedicated Law Enforcement Officer with 30 years of service to the City of Winnipeg and its citizens. She currently serves as a Safety Officer for vulnerable citizens, as part of the newly established Community Safety Team.

Dale attended Red River Community College as a member of the inaugural Constable Development Program in 1992. Upon graduation she was accepted into the Winnipeg Police Academy, where she graduated in 1995.

As a Community Relations, Crime Prevention, and Diversity Officer from 1994-2024, Dale organized and led crime prevention training sessions for community members and organizations and community engagement strategies to foster positive relationships between law enforcement and diverse communities.

Dale is a recipient of the Black Manitobans Chamber of Commerce (BMCC) Veterans Legacy Award honoring the resilience, contributions, and sacrifices of Black, Indigenous and People of Color who have served with distinction and helped shape the province’s communities.

“Throughout her career, Dale has worked tirelessly to establish strong, mutually respectful relationships between police and people of all cultures, by prioritizing the needs, experiences, and well-being of victims while enforcing public safety.”
– Anne Boyko, A/Chief of Police, Victoria Beach Police Service