For over 15 years Sheila Cole has mentored me in the ways of community engagement. She encourages face to face meetings, enjoying a meal together to get to know each other and work on solutions together. This has been vitality important in both my work and volunteer life as we strive towards solutions to so many local and global environmental problems. She's a team player and has opened my eyes on the impacts of toxins in our personal lives AND in the greater environment. This is an important lessons since we need to be personally healthy to ensure the environment is healthy and vice versus.

“Sheila Cole is an important voice on the world stage as a frequent speaker at the biannual conferences of UN Habitat’s World Urban Forum. Together with her colleagues, she has presented at WUF summits in Canada in 2006, China in 2008, Brazil in 2010 Columbia in 2014 and most recently at Habitat lll in Quito, Ecuador in 2016. Through these summits she has reached people in countries all over the world with her strong environmental message regarding the interrelationship between pollutants in the air, soil and water and deteriorating health conditions worldwide. Ms. Cole and the Health Caucus of the Canadian Environmental Network also share a Multi-Stakeholder Decision-Making Process model with WUF partners and all international stakeholders as a form of robust public participation.”

” For decades Sheila Cole has raised her voice in the interests of health and the environment. She has long recognized that living in a toxic soup cannot be good for us. Championing causes from chemical environmental sensitivities to banning dangerous pesticides, Sheila is a tireless crusader.”

Sheila Cole’s knowledge of environment and health issues is absolutely leading edge. When I invited her to speak recently in Maui, Hawaii, her message about environmental toxins and their impact on human health was very captivating. Since Ms. Cole first came to Maui in 1995, she has shared her expertise with audiences on local television and as a frequent guest speaker. Now is the time for her voice to be amplified and her knowledge to be acted upon by local and national governments worldwide and by industry leaders alike.

Congratulations to Sheila Cole for this much deserved award that celebrates her long years of achievement. It is always gratifying to see those who work so intelligently, faithfully and with so much caring be rewarded by a prestigious public acknowledgement.