In the News: Surviving Memory Co-Founder Dr. Amanda Grzyb Appointed to the Order of Ontario

On June 1, 2026, Dr. Amanda Grzyb, project director and co-founder of Surviving Memory in Postwar El Salvador, attended the investiture ceremony for her 2025 appointment to the Order of Ontario. The ceremony was officiated by the Honourable Edith Dumont, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario.

Professor Grzyb was recognized for decades of collaboration with survivors of genocide and state violence, her commitment to community-based research and historical memory, and her efforts to address contemporary social injustice.

Western News highlights that Professor Grzyb has led Surviving Memory into “an award-winning collaborative research partnership that includes artists, scholars, community organizers and local leaders working with Salvadoran communities to commemorate sites and stories.”

In an interview with CBC, Professor Grzyb spoke about the relevance of historical memory and transitional justice in today’s society:

“If anyone listens to the news, they know that we're living in an era of rising authoritarianism, white supremacist thinking and ideology, residential school denial. We are surrounded by the implications of state violence, the legacies of state violence. And unfortunately, it's not going away. So I would say that every survivor I've worked with, from Holocaust survivors to Rwandan genocide survivors, to survivors of the Salvadorian Civil War, their number one concern is to prevent this from happening to anybody else.”

The Order of Ontario is the highest civilian honour in the province. Learn more about the 30 recipients appointed in 2025 here.

The Surviving Memory in Postwar El Salvador research initiative is supported in part by funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, Western University, the Canadian Foundation for Innovation, and the Ontario Research Fund.