Edmonton, Alberta – September 11, 2020 – Dr. Abdullah Saleh, BSc’05, pediatric surgeon and founder of ICChange, received the 2020 Arch Awards for International Career Achievement last night. This was one of just six award categories, which also includes Early Career Achievement, Alumni Service, Community Commitment, Career Achievement and Distinguished Alumni Award for Lifetime Achievement.
Presented by the UCalgary Alumni Association, the Arch Awards celebrate the University of Calgary’s alumni who have transformed business and community, art and technology, sport and health, for the betterment of all. Dr. Saleh and his five fellow award recipients have inspired, informed, and illuminated their professions and communities and the world.
“I feel like I’m very early on in my career so it’s extremely humbling to receive the International Career Achievement award”, said Dr. Abdullah Saleh during his acceptance speech. “At every stage, I feel like I’ve had to resist fitting the mold, but if we can find a way to make not fitting the mold easier for people, then I think it would help people imagine the other kinds of molds out there.”
The International Career Achievement award honours those whose international career achievements have brought distinction to themselves, credit to the university, and real benefit to their communities. And that is Dr. Saleh in spades. Although just 36, Dr. Saleh has already positively impacted the lives of over 52 million people, through the social entrepreneurial initiatives he has developed and instituted through his not-for-profit social enterprise he co-founded and directs – Innovative Canadians for Change (ICChange). These initiatives range from providing clean, sanitary drinking water to over 100,000 Kenyans, and equipping thousands of refugees on the Burma-Thai border with vocational training and access to high-efficiency stoves, to designing a cloud-based electronic medical record in order to benefit the largest slum in East Africa, plus many more.
As Don Simpson, one of Dr. Saleh’s mentors and friend said, “he’s a person who has an imaginative mind and the capacity to draw on that imagination to dream some big dreams. The descriptions of this award fit him exactly.”
In the wake of COVID-19 the Arch Awards Online Broadcast ceremony took place virtually this year, on Thursday, September 10th, 2020 from 7 – 7:30 p.m. MDT. To find more information on the Arch Awards and to see the broadcast, visit https://alumni.ucalgary.ca/events/events/2020-arch-awards/abdullah.
About ICChange
Innovative Canadians for Change (ICChange) is a global, social enterprise network that co-creates and implements scalable, sustainable solutions that tackle the most pressing problems faced by vulnerable populations across the world. Together with community partners and organizations, ICChange has improved the quality of life and well-being of over 52 million people to date through initiatives that provide access to clean water, electronic medical records and a comprehensive trauma and injury program.
Contact Information: Innovative Canadians for Change (ICChange) Leah Andrew, Communications leah.andrew@icchange.ca 416.727.1561
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