On April 28, 2026, the Janusz Korczak Association of Canada gathered at Government House in Victoria for the presentation of the 2025 Korczak Medal and Statuette. Hosted by Her Honour, the Honourable Wendy Cocchia, Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia, and held in the historic Maclure Room on the traditional territories of the Lekwungen Peoples, the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations, the event brought together leaders in child advocacy, Indigenous governance, education, and public service to honour two extraordinary champions of children’s rights. Among those present were Aleksandra Kucy, Consul General of the Republic of Poland; Dr. Jennifer Charlesworth, British Columbia’s Representative for Children and Youth; and waamiiš (Ken Watts), Elected Chief Councillor of the Tseshaht First Nation.

The ceremony opened with welcoming remarks and a territorial acknowledgement delivered by Jerymy Brownridge, followed by reflections from Jerry Nussbaum, President of the Janusz Korczak Association of Canada, and Consul General Kucy. Remarks from Dr. Parmis Aslanimehr and Dr. Jennifer Charlesworth each returned, in their own way, to the same idea: Dr. Korczak’s vision that every child deserves dignity, respect, belonging, and protection remains an urgent responsibility today.

The presentation of the 2025 Janusz Korczak Medal for Children’s Rights Advocacy to Debra Foxcroft, OBC, served as a reminder that advocacy, at its most enduring, signifies less a campaign than a lifelong devotion. Since 1981, when Nuu-chah-nulth Chiefs called upon her to design and implement child and family services across their fourteen Nations, Deb Foxcroft has spent close to five decades insisting that children deserve to come home, to family, to community, to culture, and to language. The founding of Usma Nuu-chah-nulth Child and Family Services in 1985, British Columbia’s first Indigenous Family and Child Services Agency, marked the beginning of a career that would extend through leadership roles with the First Nations Health Council, the Ministry of Children and Family Development, and most recently the National Children’s Chiefs Commission. A recipient of the Order of British Columbia, she speaks about this work today not just as a professional, but as a grandmother and matriarch.

The Association also proudly presented the 2025 Janusz Korczak Statuette for lifetime achievement in child advocacy to Professor Val Napoleon, PhD, whose life’s work has persistently challenged the terms on which recognition is so often granted. As the Law Foundation Chair of Indigenous Justice and Governance at the University of Victoria, co-founder of the JD/JID dual degree program, and founding director of the Indigenous Law Research Unit, Professor Napoleon has devoted her career to affirming Indigenous legal traditions as living systems of governance, accountability, and care for children, families, and communities. Her scholarship and leadership have helped shape a generation of students, scholars, and advocates working toward justice grounded in Indigenous law and responsibility.

Following the formal presentations and acceptance remarks from both laureates, the ceremony concluded with a renewed sense of collective responsibility for upholding the dignity and well-being of every child. Like Dr. Korczak himself, this year’s recipients have shown that lasting change often comes through working within institutions while continuing to push them toward something better, through persistence, courage, and care.