NEWSMAKERS 2023: Order of Vaughan recipient Jumol Royes gets restorative justice

Man recognized with Order of Vaughan for his work in the community. We chose to highlight his story of receiving the award and the complicated history the name Vaughan brings up

Yorkregion.com
Jan. 8, 2024
Brian Capitao

Jumol Royes has a lot of accolades to his name. In fact, so many that I could not include everything in the article. In addition to being the director of communications and community engagement for Elevate Media Group and IN Magazine, he is a volunteer advisor to the board of the 482 Collective, a Vaughan-based charity serving the GTA and beyond that supports women, children, and individuals from diverse 2SLGBTQIA+ communities who have fled intimate partner violence and human trafficking by providing timely support of essential items -- on matters of diversity, equity and inclusion.

Now he can include Order of Vaughan recipient to the list -- the highest civic award bestowed on citizens. Recently, I wrote about his complex feelings toward the award with the history of Benjamin Vaughan -- the City of Vaughan’s namesake and what this achievement meant to him.

Royes is quite accomplished as a director of communications, but I wanted the article to highlight some of the tangible effects he’s had as a changemaker in the city. One thing that stood out to me was his work with the Diversity and Inclusion Taskforce to help establish the rainbow crosswalk that can be seen at city hall. While, as Royes says, it is largely symbolic, it is a tangible step forward for progress.