Emerging Leader Impact Award
Celebrating our recent alumni of the last decade
The Emerging Leader Impact Award recognizes the exceptional accomplishments of our recent alumni who have graduated from the Schulich School of Law in the past ten years.听
The 2026 nominations for this award must be for alum who graduated from the Schulich School of Law between 2015 - 2025.听
2026 Nomination Deadline: May 1, 2026
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Recipients of the Emerging Leader Impact Award
2025 - Marissa Prosper (JD '20)
Marissa Prosper (Photo by Tammi Hayne)
The AV俱乐部 Law Alumni Association Emerging Leader Impact Award was established to recognize the exceptional accomplishments of an alum who has graduated from the Schulich School of Law within the past decade. This year鈥檚 recipient is Marissa Prosper (鈥�20), a Crown Attorney with the Nova Scotia Public Prosecution Service and the first Indigenous Crown in the Pictou office.
The award reflects the law school鈥檚 commitment to fostering a community of excellence and inspiration by honouring a remarkable graduate who embodies the esteemed values of the Weldon Tradition of unselfish public service, seamlessly merging outstanding professional achievements with a significant commitment to the community.
From Pictou Landing to the courtroom
When Prosper was growing up in Pictou Landing First Nation, a Mi鈥檏maq community located on Nova Scotia鈥檚 Northumberland Strait, becoming a lawyer was something she could have only dreamed of.
鈥淚 have always been driven to make a meaningful difference in my community and Nation, and I saw education as a powerful tool to achieve that,鈥� she shares. 鈥淗owever, it wasn鈥檛 until I was in my final year at StFX that I saw law school as an option. Up until then, I hadn鈥檛 seen myself reflected in the legal profession, so it never felt like a space where I belonged.鈥�
Prosper says that discovering the Indigenous Blacks & Mi'kmaq (IB&M) Initiative at the Schulich School of Law changed that. The program, established in 1989, works to increase representation of Indigenous Blacks and Mi'kmaq in the legal profession to reduce discrimination.
鈥淚t showed me that we belong in these spaces and our voices are needed,鈥� she says. 鈥淏efore learning about the IB&M Initiative, I had never met an Indigenous lawyer.鈥� This shift in perspective allowed her to see the value she could bring to the legal profession, and that a legal education could be a powerful way to achieve her goals.
She applied to the Schulich School of Law and was accepted in 2016. As the first person from her family and her community to pursue a law degree, she recalls the culture shock she felt when she arrived at Weldon.
鈥淏eing the first to do anything, isn鈥檛 easy and the transition was harder than I expected,鈥� she admits. 鈥淐ommunity is such a large part of Mi鈥檏maq identity and I found myself further away from home, my family and supports. I often felt isolated, had an overwhelming sense of self-doubt and questioned whether I belonged.鈥�
Overcoming challenges and embracing identity
She was able to find her community through the IB&M Initiative and a welcoming faculty at the law school who helped her navigate the new environment. Prosper turned to cultural teachings and ceremony to reconnect and ground herself. She began smudging and beading, which served as a way to support herself financially through the program. 鈥淚 learned to embrace my identity and lived experiences and see the strength in that,鈥� she says.
鈥淓arning my law degree and getting called to the Bar was more than just a personal goal 鈥� it was a way to empower and encourage others,鈥� she adds. 鈥淏ecoming a first-time mother during the Bar Admissions Program only deepened that commitment. I want my daughter to grow up knowing that our voices matter and that she comes from strength as a Lnu鈥檚kw (Mi鈥檏maw woman).鈥�
Empowering the next generation
Prosper, is now passing on that knowledge to the next generation interested in law. This year, the y introduced a new internship program, Inspiring Future Indigenous Black & Mi鈥檏maq Lawyers Internship Pathways (IB&MIP), decades after the Marshall Inquiry recommended steps to increase the representation of Mi'kmaw and African Nova Scotians working in the justice system. The program offers Indigenous Black and Mi鈥檏maq high school students in grades 10-12, from across the province, the opportunity to be exposed to the legal profession through a week-long intensive program.
鈥淗elping to create spaces to encourage others to see themselves reflected in law has always been a passion of mine, and my role with IB&MIP is another way for me to do that,鈥� says Prosper, who serves as the project coordinator. 鈥淓ncouraging and welcoming youth at an earlier opportunity is also a way to honour the late Donald Marshall Jr. and the Inquiry鈥檚 recommendations.鈥�
In 2025, during March break, 20 students 鈥� 10 Mi鈥檏maq/Indigenous students and 10 African Nova Scotian/Black students 鈥� took part in the inaugural program in Halifax, where participants gained hands-on experience while meeting lawyers and judges from diverse areas of the legal profession. Thanks to overwhelmingly positive feedback, plans for next year鈥檚 program are already underway.
Leading with purpose
Prosper is also an active committee member, serving on the Nova Scotia Barristers鈥� Society鈥檚 Truth and Reconciliation Committee, the Public Prosecution Service鈥檚 Equity and Diversity Committee, and , a committee of Mi鈥檏maq lawyers.
鈥淢arissa鈥檚 mentorship, collaborative approach to justice reform, and ongoing advocacy for systemic change makes her an ideal recipient of the Emerging Leader Impact Award,鈥� says one of her nominators. 鈥淪he is not only a rising leader in law, but within the Mi鈥檏maw Nation 鈥� she is a force for transformational change. Her work and spirit embodies every element of the award: community impact, leadership, and collaboration. She is a deep inspiration to others.鈥�
For Prosper, the work to make a difference in her community and Nation continues. 鈥淭o use my legal education and my personal background to serve the public, as well as my community, is a dream come true.鈥�
2024 - Emilie Coyle (JD '14)
From left: Schulich Law Dean Sarah Harding and Emilie Coyle (Photo by Nick Pearce)
This story originally appeared in the 2024 edition of Hearsay, the Schulich School of Law Alumni Magazine.
The AV俱乐部 Law Alumni Association (DLAA) Emerging Leader Impact Award was established this year to recognize the exceptional accomplishments of an alum who has graduated from the Schulich School of Law within the past decade.
Reflecting the law school鈥檚 commitment to fostering a community of excellence and inspiration, the new award honours a remarkable graduate who embodies the esteemed values of the Weldon Tradition of unselfish public service, seamlessly merging outstanding professional achievements with a significant commitment to the community.
The inaugural recipient, Emilie Coyle (鈥�14), is described by her former classmates as 鈥渨arm and welcoming, open and non-judgemental, a calm in the turbulent waters of legal education.鈥�
Aaron Dewitt (鈥�14), James Foy (鈥�14), Caitlin Urquhart (鈥�14) and Amanda Whitehead (鈥�14), classmates of Coyle, nominated her. They believe she truly embodies the Weldon Tradition through her commitment to social justice and by living those values through her work, volunteerism and advocacy.
Coming to Schulich Law later in life with years of work experience and a young family, Coyle knew why she was at law school and what she was hoping to gain.
鈥淗er leadership style is welcoming, open, caring and full of compassion,鈥� they share. 鈥淚n class, she was practical and never afraid to challenge conventional wisdom or the status quo, especially when she saw that it did not align with her moral compass or would further oppress or marginalize vulnerable communities.鈥�
Her community building at Schulich Law resulted in her selection as valedictorian in 2014, where she delivered, in her nominators鈥� words, 鈥渁 spoken word masterpiece we will never forget,鈥�
鈥淐ommunity involvement and community building are at the core of all of the work and volunteerism that I have been involved with over the years,鈥� says Coyle. 鈥淲hat appeals to me about that work is the collective drive to create a world where everyone has what they need, and everyone can find their place.鈥�
After graduating, Coyle articled and worked in private practice in Dartmouth, before moving to Ottawa with her family to join the YMCA-YWCA as senior director of newcomer services. Eventually, she moved on to the role of director of national programs at the Refugee Hub while also teaching refugee law at the University of Ottawa.
In addition to supporting refugees and newcomers, she has been a long-time ally and advocate of the 2SLGBTQ+ community. In her volunteer work, she has supported several Rainbow Refugees, those fleeing persecution due to their sexual orientation or gender expression, and has spoken out against protests at drag story time in her neighbourhood.
鈥淓milie has a great skill for hard conversations, for holding people and institutions accountable with grace and for holding space for conflict and disagreement without ever losing sight of her values,鈥� say her former classmates.
Her passion to give back led her to run for Ottawa City Council in 2018 and while she did not unseat the incumbent candidate, she raised awareness about many issues impacting vulnerable members of her community and inspired and energized new voters and volunteers.
Two years later she was selected as the executive director of , replacing now-Senator Kim Pate (鈥�84). In this role she demonstrated her skills as an advocate with numerous appearances before parliamentary committees, authoring articles in a variety of publications and sitting on many panel discussions on issues such as solitary confinement, bail reform, housing and the overrepresentation of Indigenous women in federal prisons.
鈥淓milie has proven that a law degree is not solely a gateway to the practice of law but can lead to the pursuit of a better world,鈥� say her nominators. 鈥淪he鈥檚 an inspiration to all who come to know her.鈥�
Coyle is grateful to her classmates for the recognition. 鈥淭his award is shared with them and with everyone who leads in their own big or small ways, as this world requires us all to work together.