Osgoode Hall Law School student Jen Danch was awarded the Frederick H. Zemans Prize in Poverty Law on June 28.
The award is given annually to an outstanding student in the Intensive Program in Poverty Law at Parkdale Community Legal Services who has performed at a high level of excellence in all aspects of the program.
Danch was awarded the prize at the PCLS annual general meeting, and was recognized as a strong and dedicated student who understood and subscribed to Parkdale Community Legal Services’ vision and mandate.
She showed a keen interest in developing and engaging in initiatives that challenge the systemic poverty, violence and other oppressive forces affecting PCLS clients. As well, Danch identified many systemic issues that became apparent through her casework, her interactions with her clients and with members of the community.
In all her work, she took care care to engage meaningfully with vulnerable and marginalized members of the community – and she insisted that such community members must have voice and agency in decisions that impact them.
The prize was established by the friends and family of Professor Frederick H. Zemans, director of Clinical Education at Osgoode and founding director of the Parkdale Community Legal Services in Toronto.