Award-winning youth leader Shiza Hirani has achieved an extraordinary milestone, earning two of Saskatchewan’s most prestigious honours. She was awarded City of Regina’s 2025 Henry Baker Scholar Award by the Mayor and members of City Council at Regina City Hall, a distinction reserved for post-secondary students who exemplify exceptional academic excellence, community leadership, and civic engagement.
Shiza’s achievements were further celebrated on the provincial stage when she was awarded the 2025 Outstanding Youth Philanthropist Award by the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) South Saskatchewan Chapter on National Philanthropy Day. Presented in the presence of esteemed dignitaries, including the Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan, the award highlights Shiza’s profound influence on youth-driven philanthropy and community empowerment. This award celebrates young changemakers whose leadership, compassion, and sustained commitment to service inspire others and strengthen the culture of philanthropy in their communities.
As a Global Youth Advocate, Shiza Hirani is the Founder of Youth MentorNet Café, a youth-led nonprofit organization that she has sustained entirely on a volunteer basis for over five years. Recognized globally by the United Nations Joint SDG Fund and provincially by the Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan through the RCE Saskatchewan Education for Sustainable Development Recognition Award, her non-profit organization is committed to building inclusive learning environments through free workshops, culturally rooted mentorship, and accessible digital learning tools. Youth MentorNet Café advances the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals #4 (Quality Education) and #10 (Reduced Inequalities), reflecting Shiza’s mission to empower young people through equitable access to education.
Today, the platform has reached more than 150,000 youths across 15+ countries, providing free mentorship, career guidance, leadership development, and soft skills training. Shiza has personally created more than 150 open-access learning resources, delivered 30+ free workshops, and trained 1,500 Literacy Ambassadors worldwide, many of whom now lead local literacy chapters, book drives, and community reading circles.
Shiza’s philanthropic leadership extends well beyond her non-profit work. In 2025, she became the first youth from Saskatchewan appointed as an Advisory Board Member for the Permanent Mission of Canada to the United Nations, where she advises Ambassador and Canada’s diplomatic team on youth priorities in global policy.
Selected from thousands of national applicants, Shiza is one of only ten Canadian youth advisors shaping Canada’s engagement at the UN. Her work has informed discussions at the 80th United Nations General Assembly and the Commission on the Status of Women, and she is actively advocating for the establishment of Canada’s first fully funded National Youth Delegate Program to the UN. She has also spoken twice on the UN panel series: Understanding Inequalities in Education, contributing expertise on girls’ empowerment and early childhood development.
Nationally, Shiza serves as a Youth Advisor to a Canadian Senator. As a working group member with the National Vote16 Committee, she played a key role in launching a youth petition that contributed to the introduction of Bill S-222, now supported by more than 33 Senators in the House of Commons in Canada. Her educational resources on democratic reform have mobilized hundreds of young Canadians to understand and advocate for their civic rights.
In 2025, she became the first and only youth from Saskatchewan appointed to Enactus Canada’s Inaugural National Student Council. She has also served as the youngest workshop facilitator at the First Nations University of Canada’s Igniting the Conversation: Self-Determination in Indigenous Social Work Conference, where she contributed to advancing dialogue on Indigenous resurgence and youth-led leadership.
Her voice as a speaker and educator is widely recognized. With 30+ workshops and presentations delivered to more than 10,000 participants, Shiza has addressed national nonprofit leaders, HR professionals, and academic audiences. She became the youngest keynote speaker at Disrupt HR YQR, where she spoke about empowering Generation Z in the workforce.
For Shiza, leadership is about empowering young minds and souls. She believes leadership means nurturing the potential of others, building equitable pathways, and creating inclusive spaces where everyone can thrive.
Source: Regina City Council
Related Links:
https://ismailimail.blog/2025/08/20/canada-shiza-hirani-inspires-hr-leaders-at-disrupthr-yqr-2025-event/
https://www.jointsdgfund.org/article/mentorship-action-uplifting-youth-voices-through-youth-mentornet-cafe
https://ismailimail.blog/2025/06/04/canada-shiza-hirani-received-the-rce-saskatchewan-education-for-sustainable-development-award/
https://www.sasktoday.ca/regina-today/regina-news/u-of-r-student-striving-to-transform-community-through-mentorship-10752843
https://womenshealthresearchcluster.com/learn/womens-health-blog/championing-change-shiza-hirani-receives-rce-saskatchewan-education-for-sustainable-development-recognition-award/
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