Hazel McCallion Alumni Award of Excellence recognizes UTM alumna and Anishinaabe designer Lesley Hampton

Photo by Alvaro Goveia.

Hazel McCallion, Mississauga’s longest-elected mayor, served 12 consecutive terms over 36 years. Remembered as a trailblazer, a passionate innovator, and a tireless volunteer and a fierce champion for the underrepresented, McCallion led Mississauga’s transformation into a power center for business, innovation, and education.  

Hazel McCallion was a fervent advocate for UTM, generously donating her time for many years to various projects, initiatives and programs that benefitted the UTM community. In 2010, McCallion was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Toronto and she is the namesake of the campus library.  

Hazel McCallion passed away in 2023, but will always be remembered for her relentless passion, advocacy and leadership. The Hazel McCallion Alumni Award of Excellence will be another avenue to honour the values that shaped her legacy. Presented annually to an alum who exemplifies Hazel McCallion’s inspiring determination to “live life with purpose,” the award recognizes an individual who may have taken risks or challenged the status quo, driving positive change to break down barriers, or raise the voices of others.  

2024’s inaugural recipient of the Hazel McCallion Alumni Award of Excellence, Lesley Hampton (HBA 2015 UTM), is an inspirational innovator and thought-leader in the arts and fashion world and a role model among the UTM alumni community. As an Anishinaabe artist and fashion designer, she is focused on mental wellness and body neutrality through the lens of the Indigenous worldview combined with her perspectives from an international upbringing.  

Since UTM’s previous interview with her, which was only last year, Hampton’s designs and vision have taken the world by storm. She has been listed on Toronto’s 30 young leaders under 30 list by Forbes Magazine, has dressed award-winning actress Lily Gladstone as well as styling a campaign for the Toronto Raptors and creating custom designs for the Toronto Maple Leafs. And she showcased her work during Milan Fashion Week in 2023.  

Her 2024 Collection, Alkaline, which just launched, focuses on fashion's power to neutralize the acidic or toxic and polarizing environment presented in the media and beyond. Alkaline premiered at Santa Fe Indigenous Fashion Week in New Mexico in May, and showcases at Indigenous Fashion Arts Festival in Toronto in June.  

Hampton’s drive for inclusivity in fashion, and the portfolio of viral moments and international media it has created, has shown the industry the ability to allow more bodies and Indigenous voices into the fashion world.  

“I hope to continue this work – creating pieces in fashion, art, and design while continuing to shift the industry's perspective, all while building and supporting my home life and family,” Hampton says. 

During her time at UTM, Hampton had the honour of hearing Hazel McCallion speak at a student entrepreneurship conference. “She said something that has always stayed with me,” Hampton recalls, “that ‘success depends on character in everything you do.’ And I really believe that is true about the life that I have built since graduation, not only with my business that focuses on mental wellness and body neutrality in fashion, but also by learning how to thrive and have balance in my personal life. It is an honour to receive an award in Hazel's name and I hope to always continue to embody her vision.” 

Hampton will receive the Hazel McCallion Alumni Award of Excellence on November 13, 2024. 

Originally published by University of Toronto Mississauga