Dr. Mohd Jamal Alsharif Honoured with Mayor’s City Builder Award

Dr. Alsharif was honoured for his outstanding volunteerism, for his work with refugees in Ottawa and for his service to the community. His longstanding commitment to volunteerism is emblematic of the achievements the Mayor’s City Builder Award was designed to celebrate.

Dr. Alsharif is the founder and president of the local non-profit Humans for Peace Institution, an organization that seeks an end to wars around the globe. He is widely recognized for embracing Canada’s multiculturalism, and supporting Ottawa’s multicultural communities.

As an immigrant to Canada [from Jordan], he has helped fellow newcomers establish themselves and feel welcome, and he has dedicated himself to helping children from war-torn countries with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Dr. Alsharif has been very active, working with a group of mostly Syrian refugees in Ottawa. His Children for Peace initiative with Syrian refugee children, for example, has created and sold paintings to raise money for the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO).

His other contributions include volunteering yearly for the Terry Fox Run, the Army Run, Zombie Run for Humanity, the Ottawa Run for Palestine, the Community Soccer Cup and the Shepherds of Good Hope, as well as several other community events and activities.

For his outstanding record of community service, Dr. Alsharif was recently recognized as one of the RBC Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Award winners of 2019.

The Mayor’s City Builder Award is a civic honour, created to recognize an individual, group or organization that, through outstanding volunteerism or exemplary action, has demonstrated an extraordinary commitment to making our city a better place today and for the future. This may include lifelong service, outstanding acts of kindness, inspiring charitable work, community building or other exemplary achievements.

Individuals, groups or organizations may be nominated by members of City Council or the public.