Convocation 2024 - Cheryl Perera - Honorary Degree Recipient
Cheryl Perera is a renowned international children’s rights activist, celebrated for her groundbreaking advocacy that has protected and empowered more than 100,000 of the world’s most vulnerable children from sexual exploitation. Her work began at age 16, without funding or resources, during a time when the topic was taboo. Today, she is frequently summoned to the United Nations for her expertise as founder and president of OneChild – a trailblazing organization that empowers children across the world to protect themselves from sexual exploitation.
Appointed to the Order of Ontario in 2018, Perera is a highly sought-after public speaker who has received more than 30 international and national prizes including the World of Children Founder’s Award known as the ‘Nobel Prize for child advocates’ and the World Economic Forum Young Global Leader Award. In 2006, at age 21, she was given the distinction of being the youngest recipient of Canada’s annual Top 100 Most Powerful Women by the Women’s Executive Network.
Perera’s remarkable achievements have been recognized by organizations such as UNICEF, World Vision International, and the Child Welfare League of Canada.