Outstanding Alumni Achievement Award

Outstanding Alumni Achievement Award recognizes mid-career alumni, normally less than 30 years from an undergraduate or graduate program who is making significant contributions in their field of endeavour, setting an example for future alumni to follow. 

Award eligibility and criteria

Candidates should be:

  • A Queen's alumnus/alumna more than 10 years out but not more than 30 years from graduation
  • Someone who has achieved significant success in one or more fields of endeavour and has demonstrated effective leadership in one or more areas or the community
  • An inspiration to the Queen's community

2023 Recipient

Cheyenne Arnold-Cunningham

Cheyenne Arnold-Cunningham

Cheyenne Arnold-Cunningham, a Métis with mixed European ancestry, is a lawyer at the Indigenous Law Research Unit at the University of Victoria. Cheyenne works in partnership with Indigenous communities across Canada to revitalize their laws on a variety of projects connected to citizenship, human rights, families, lands, resources, and water. 

Cheyenne also works as in-house counsel for the Union of BC Indian Chiefs, working to support the acknowledgement, protection, and exercise of First Nations' title and rights. In this role, Cheyenne assists with legislative reform work, aligning provincial and federal law with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.  Cheyenna also takes on additional legal, policy, and academic-based work, such as working with the First Nations Leadership Council on the development and implementation of the BC First Nations Climate Strategy and Action Plan. In all of her efforts, Cheyenne works towards decolonization, and is keen to support and enable Indigenous Peoples to exercise their inherent, constitutional, and human rights.