The Greater Shepparton Women’s Charter Advisory Committee announced Ms Shah had taken home the Women’s Award as part of International Women’s Day celebrations on Tuesday, March 8.
The award is an annual celebration of women who make a difference in the community and aims to acknowledge women whose actions positively impact others in the region.
This year’s theme for International Women’s Day was #BreakTheBias, a fitting theme of Ms Shah’s impact in the community.
While her long list of contributions scored her the award, Ms Shah was known for founding the Human Book Club.
A community connection program, the Human Book Club runs monthly at Shepparton library, and was created to be a safe place for stories to be heard and discussed in a safe, open and respectful environment.
Through the pandemic, she adapted the Human Book Club to a digital format and created Human Chapters.
Published in podcast and video form across streaming services and social media, it was a series of intimate conversations delving into the living narratives of its interviewees, giving them a face with a past, present, and future.
Ms Shah also created volunteer program, the Communicate with Confidence Program, to help the culturally and linguistically diverse community build their skills, through St Paul’s African House.
City of Greater Shepparton Mayor Kim O’Keeffe said it was incredibly important to celebrate days of significance such as International Women’s Day, and the annual Women’s Award was a great way to achieve this.
“We are very lucky to have so many wonderful women in our region,’’ she said.
“I’d like to congratulate Arti on being the 11th recipient of this wonderful award — thank you for the wonderful support and positive difference you’ve made in our community.
“International Women’s Day is an opportunity to both celebrate our local women, to seek out a better understanding of their stories and pave the way for the younger generations of women to #BreakTheBias.”
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