Announcing the 2025 Green Community Award Winners

The votes have been tabulated, and Green Communities Canada (GCC) is pleased to announce the 2025 Green Community Award winners. These awards celebrate excellence in the GCC national network and were presented at GCC’s Annual Members’ Meeting in June.

“We give these Green Community Awards to recognize the achievements of our members and our teams. We also do this to celebrate our collective impact across Canada,” explained Brianna Salmon, executive director of Green Communities Canada.

“Green Communities Canada supports locally-based work in communities across Canada. Together, we represent over 70 per cent of Canada’s population. We are addressing Canada’s climate and equity goals, and we’re doing that in a way that builds lasting relationships at the local level. It is truly inspiring to be connected with these organizations and to be able to support and enable this community-based work.”

Half of these awards are based on nominations received from within the Green Communities Canada network. The other half of the awards are based on measurable impacts demonstrated through data aggregated in the Green Communities Canada Collective Impact Report, which will be released to the public later in 2025.

Nomination Awards

Green Community Member of the Year

Winner: Reep Green Solutions

Awarded to an organization that demonstrates innovation in programming, partnerships, and marketing, and successful local community (businesses, households) or broader transformation (policy, government).

Environmental Lifetime Achievement Award

Winner: Kerri MacDonald (Environment Network) & Cheryl Bradley (Environment Lethbridge)

Awarded to an individual in our Green Communities who demonstrates, through work and achievements, a lifetime contribution to improving the environment and/or climate action in their community and mentoring the next generation of change-makers (can be staff, board, volunteer).

Outstanding Staff Person

Winners: Haley Gillies (EcoSuperior), Luana Cemin (Petitcodiac Watershed Alliance) & Nicole Roach (GCC)

Awarded to a staff person who has demonstrated the strongest commitment to a Green Community, bringing about positive change and impact to the organization through their work and achievements.

Outstanding Board Person

Winners: Shelley Strain (GreenUP) & Doug Michaelides (EnviroCentre)

Awarded to a board member who has demonstrated the strongest commitment this year, providing excellent stewardship to the organization through their work and achievements.

Outstanding Youth Activist

Winner: Tianna Mighty (GCC)

Awarded to an individual under 30 in our Green Communities who demonstrates, through work and achievements, promising contributions to improving the environment and/or climate action in their community (can be staff, board, or volunteer).

Awards based on Measurable Impacts

Largest Contributor to Carbon Reduction

Winner: EnviroCentre 

Awarded to the organization with the largest cumulative GHGe emissions reductions across their program areas.

Most Innovative Program

Winner: Windfall Ecology Centre for their vHeatTM Program

Awarded to the organization that has developed a new program or delivery model that has had a significant impact in their community and has the potential for impact across the country. 

Transformational Impact: Community Action

Winner, Small- to Medium-sized Community: Environment Network 

Winner, Large Community: London Environmental Network 

Awarded to the organization that engaged the greatest share of their community in direct action. This is awarded to one organization working in a small- to medium-sized community (<250K) and one organization working in a large community (250K+). 

Transformational Impact: Youth Action

Winner, Small- to Medium-sized Community: EcoSuperior 

Winner, Large Community: Green Action Centre 

Awarded to the organization that engaged the greatest share of youth in their community in direct action. This is awarded to one organization working in a small- to medium-sized community (<250K) and one organization working in a large community (250K+). 

Equitable Leadership

Winner: London Environmental Network 

Honourable mention: GreenUP

Awarded to the organization that allocated the greatest share of their operational budget toward programs serving equity-deserving communities (50% of score) and that had the greatest percentage of leadership positions held by people in equity-deserving groups (50% of score).  

Recognizing Resilience

Green Communities Canada celebrates network member organizations that have continued to succeed, thanks to flexibility and adaptation, and have reached a milestone in longevity. 

Congratulations to this year’s winners! Winners receive a certificate and bragging rights for the year.  

Green Communities Canada is a national non-profit association of community-based environmental organizations working together for a vibrant, equitable, and sustainable future. Our mission is to connect community-based climate action groups through a national network to share resources, inspire innovative programming, and elevate our collective impact.