On February 6, 2025, Cooperation Canada celebrated the 2024 Cooperation Canada Awards ceremony recognizing excellence and merit in the field of international cooperation by awarding prizes to individuals or organizations that have distinguished themselves in the past year.
Cooperation Canada and World University Services Canada (WUSC) were proud to present the 2024 Individual Innovation and Impact Award, recognizing Canadian individuals that are doing impactful and innovative work, to Dr. Roopan Gill!
Dr. Roopan Gill is a leading expert in sexual and reproductive health, recognized globally for her innovative contributions to improving access to care in underserved and crisis-affected regions. As co-founder and CEO of Vitala Global, she has revolutionized reproductive healthcare through a groundbreaking digital health platform, aimed at providing abortion and contraception care to women and girls in some of the world’s most challenging contexts, including Venezuela, Guatemala, Colombia and Canada. With a background as an obstetrician-gynecologist and expertise in family planning and abortion care, Dr. Gill has worked extensively in emergency settings in Nigeria and Yemen with Doctors Without Borders, and supported women’s health projects in countries like Malawi, Chad and Pakistan.
Dr. Gill’s career also includes significant roles with the World Health Organization (WHO), where she contributed to the inclusion of Mifepristone in the WHO Essential Medicines List and was a key member of the Evidence Review team for the WHO’s Medical Management of Abortion guidelines. She holds a Masters in Public Health in Global Health from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and serves as a Clinical Investigator and Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto. Dr. Gill has been recognized in Forbes as one of seven female founders leading inclusive, impact-driven organizations and was named one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women in the Women of Courage category in 2022.
Congratulations, Dr. Gill, on this well-deserved recognition! Read more about the other winners of this year’s Cooperation Canada Awards.