The BBPA Women of Distinction award, and the National Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada Award in the Distinguished Services category of Equality/Social Justice. In August 2008, her native country, via the Northern Caribbean University, honoured her with the degree of Honorary Doctor of Laws "for her substantive contributions towards empowering people of colour through humanitarian gestures which have positively impacted the socio-economics of the province of Ontario and beyond.

While this array of awards is impressive enough on its own, it's what she had to do to get there that makes her a true immigrant success story. 

Her mother died when she was eleven, and her father wasn't able to take care of her. Consequently, Best and her sister moved to Michigan with a great uncle, who himself died soon after. At the age of fourteen, Best had to balance going to high school with a full-time job. Most would have had trouble with that, but she took it all in stride, and was accepted to university.

After a few years, she took a break and started a family in Toronto, giving birth to four children - one of whom, sadly, passed away - and raising them by herself. Even still, she managed to take part-time classes at the University of Toronto, persevering until she was accepted into law school.

In Margarettt Best's own words, "it was difficult but at the same time, workable. ... for the first year I was able to walk my daughter to school in the morning, go to school, and come back home to be there for her when she got back from school, before going to work that night."

In 1997, this hardworking, single immigrant mother defied all odds and became a lawyer. Her practice was successful and her rise in the community became inevitable. She joined multiple committees and councils, spearheading numerous community fundraising initiatives, giving back to Canada far more than she herself had ever received. The Shouters National Evangelical Spiritual Baptist Ministers (an organization that helps unlucky young people), the Black Business and Professional Association, and Sheen's Place Breakfast Committee have all counted her as a member.

Margarettt Best's success, in other words, is endless. Catapulted while still young into a situation that would have broken many, she fought through and became who she is today through hard work and a true community spirit. As a role model both for young immigrant women, and to a large degree everybody else, one need not look any further.

http://www.Margaretttbest.onmpp.ca/bio.aspx?id=biography