Laurier’s Andrea Davis honoured for empowering learners and enriching Black intellectual life

April 20, 2026

Wilfrid Laurier University is celebrating Andrea Davis, associate vice-president: equity, diversity and inclusion (AVP: EDI), who is the recipient of the 2026 Waterloo Region Black Excellence Award for Education and Mentorship. Davis was presented with the award at a gala event hosted by Kind Minds Family Wellness on April 11.

The award recognizes a Black educator, mentor or academic leader whose work empowers others through learning, knowledge-sharing and community education. Davis was honoured for her sustained contributions to advancing Black intellectual life, fostering meaningful mentorship, and creating educational spaces where Black students and scholars can thrive.

“I am truly honoured to receive this award and to have found a place at Laurier where I can work in partnership with students and colleagues, as well as community organizations in the region,” says Davis. “I am thankful to Kind Minds Family Wellness for their community leadership and everyone who supported my nomination and make the work I do possible.”

Since joining Laurier as AVP: EDI in 2024, Davis has worked with university leadership, faculty, staff, students and community partners to advance equity, diversity and inclusion while centering care, collaboration and community. Key initiatives include co-convening a professional development retreat for Black and Indigenous early-career scholars and supporting Laurier researchers in building connections with Caribbean intellectual communities. She has also helped expand the Black Brilliance conference partnership between Laurier and the Waterloo Region District School Board, which brings hundreds of Black elementary students to campus to explore academic and career pathways through sessions led by Black faculty, staff, students and alumni.

As a professor in the English and Film Studies department, Davis teaches Black Canadian literature, giving Laurier students the opportunity to explore the perspectives and contributions of Black writers in Canada. She has enriched the intellectual life of the university and the wider community by organizing public lectures that feature thoughtful, sometimes challenging, conversations about inclusion, justice and the role of universities in society.

“Dr. Davis is well-deserving of this honour,” says Heidi Northwood, provost and vice-president: academic. “At every level, she supports student success and faculty flourishing. Her leadership demonstrates how rigour and excellence, anchored in care, can shape institutions and the futures of those who work and learn within them.”

Before coming to Laurier, Davis spent more than two decades as a faculty member at York University, where she earned recognition as an outstanding education and internationally-respected scholar. Her honours include the President’s Teaching Award and the 3M National Teaching Fellowship, Canada’s most prestigious award for excellence in teaching and educational leadership. She has supervised and mentored more than a dozen graduate students who have gone on to academic careers in Canada and abroad.