Kiyah Price receives 2026 Lieutenant Governor Medal

Kiyah Price has a strong interest in building inclusive, accessible, and meaningful community spaces, and she found the perfect fit for her passion in UFV’s College of Arts, where she recently completed a Bachelor of Arts in sociology along with a Bachelor of Regional and Community Planning.

For her dedication and efforts, UFV has awarded her with the Lieutenant Governor’s Medal for 2026, given annually to a student who has made exceptional contributions in support of inclusion, democracy, or reconciliation. For Kiyah, combining sociology and community planning in her studies proved to be complementary.

“They’re really connected when you think about it,” Kiyah says. “Sociology gives you that base level understanding of people and relationships. It gives you an understanding of how environment affects one’s upbringing and their social interactions, their social sphere as a whole, and how they’re going to operate in different situations. And when you look at community planning, it’s kind of the exact same thing. Your environment is going to determine your circumstances and your environment can also determine how you act. When you really think about it, you’ll see how it can actually change the fabric of somebody’s life and the people around them.”

While completing two degrees at the same time, Kiyah has taken on multiple community development projects. In Abbotsford, she’s worked with the Atangard Community Project Society to support community housing residents faced with eviction. She contributed to the planning and delivery of Stetís ímexstowx: Walk Beside Us, a National Day for Truth and Reconciliation event organized by the UFV Peace and Reconciliation Centre (PARC) and the City of Abbotsford. Kiyah has studied the accessibility of local community spaces and presented her findings and recommendations to city representatives. Her research was also presented at the 65th Symposium of the Western Division of the Canadian Association of Geographers, addressing housing inequities affecting Indigenous veterans.

She studied abroad at the University of Nairobi, where Kiyah wrote course outlines for refugees in resettlement and grant applications for the Movement for Community-Led Development.

“In Kenya, I got to see a lot of people that had absolutely nothing, but somehow still managed to have the biggest smiles on their faces and would give absolutely anything to anybody. I didn’t even have to ask for something and I was being offered it,” Kiyah remembers.

“It was just such a crazy experience. I felt that this is a group of people that’s so deserving, and they aren’t getting what they deserve, and it’s just so unfair to me. Being able to do that work was honestly life-changing for me. It really shows you what is important and what is not at the end of the day.”

Kiyah’s family history helped inspire her passion for social justice, and played a part in her decision to study sociology and community planning. Conflict over borders, land use and occupancy changed the course of her mother’s life, bringing her from Palestine to Canada as a child. Her father grew up in an underprivileged community with low access to public services and social supports; he left home at 14 to free up limited resources for his siblings. He later became a civil rights activist who was forced to move across the American border to Canada, where he met Kiyah’s mother.

“They just experienced a life that was so different than mine,” she says. “I look at both my parents, and I see how their environments directly shaped the trajectory of their entire lives. So I know how that can affect other people. And if I can better it for somebody, that would be awesome.”

Kiyah feels shocked and happy to receive this award, and extends her gratitude to Professor Cherie Enns for providing support and opportunities.

“I have worked really hard for a really long time. Over the span of these five years, I’ve tried my best to help people in any way I can with the projects and the coursework that I’ve been given and make an impact in any way possible. I’m just happy to have that recognized and to know that somebody sees it.”