Page 61 - Synergy see page 60

ng14ZCC Celebrati
active in teaching, research, and clinical
work. She was the Divisional Chair,
Canadian Association on Gerontology,
and Secretary/Treasurer, Aging Division
Canadian Psychological Association. She
chairs the Education Committee of the
McGill Centre for Aging.
She has extensively published and
lectured on the subject of Alzheimer
Disease, and Memory and Aging. She
has been the founder President of the
Alzheimer Society of Montreal from 1986-
91 and is the honorary Life member of the
Board. In 1990, she was recipient of the
‘Roberts Award of Douglas Hospital’ for
outstanding achievement.
She became the President of Zonta
International, Montreal Club, 1982-85, and
Governor of District 2, 2002-2004. Zonta
is an International service organization of Following in their footsteps, her motto in
executives in business and profession to
improve the status of women worldwide.
She served as the International Chair
of the Status Women Committee 1989-
1992 and attended the UN Commission
on the Status of Women, in Vienna; was
elected as member of the International
nominating committee 2010-2012, and
is now co-chair of the Zonta Foundation
Development committee 2014-2016.
Since coming to Canada, Dolly Dastoor
has been deeply involved with the
Zoroastrian Community.
From 1978-85, she was the President of
the Zoroastrian Association of Quebec,
during which time she chaired the Fourth
North American Zoroastrian Congress in
Montreal and published the first directory
of Zoroastrians living in Canada. She was
also the associate-editor of “Gavashni”.
Dolly served as the first Secretary of
FEZANA from 1988-1993 and realizing
that she had strong leadership skills, she
was elected President of FEZANA serving
two terms from 1994-98. She was the
recipient of the ‘Outstanding Zarathushti
Award’ in 1994.
Since 2005, Dolly has been the editor
of the FEZANA JOURNAL, a quarterly
publication with an international
subscriber base. In her role as editor, she
encourages the younger members of the
community to contribute articles.
She can be credited for bringing the venue
of the World Zoroastrian Congress for the
first time outside India and Iran and was
the co-chair of the 7th World Zoroastrian
Congress, 2000 in Houston. With 2,200
Zarathushtis from Argentina to Zanzibar
attending, it was truly a ‘World Congress’,
nurtured through cohesive teamwork.
She alludes her three role models and
says - “In my formative years, it was my
grandmother who raised five children
through troubled times; then my Masi,
Sheroo, who gave up her ambitions for
higher studies to be able to support her
siblings and never complained about
it and later on, my mother-in-law,
Shirin, who was forward thinking and
open-minded to new ideas in spite of a
very traditional upbringing and made
me appreciate the meaning of duty.”
life is, Frashokereti – to move the world
towards goodness and perfection in every
action she does. She believes that the
qualities which have shaped her to be
a good Zoroastrian are to abide by the
principle of doing the right thing because
it is the right thing to do, to treat others as Dolly is the mother of three successful
she would like to be treated and to give of
her time and talent for a cause.
“I firmly believe
the future of
the Zarathushti
community lies
in the diaspora of
North America. And
I will work tirelessly
to see it happen.”
Not resting on her laurels, she says: “I
firmly believe the future of the Zarathushti
community lies in the diaspora of North
America. And I will work tirelessly to see
it happen.”
Decemb
W
ber 2014
er Years Decem
2000 -
The three passions in her life are -
Ÿhelping people cope with their emotional
suffering;
Ÿempowering women by helping reduce
gender inequality;
Ÿand making the Zoroastrian faith
relevant to the young of the community
in North America.
The year 2013 was a very significant year
for Dolly Dastoor as the editorial team of
FEZANA put together the special issue
‘I am Cyrus’ which is now translated in
Spanish, Farsi and French. The same year
she travelled along the “Silk Road” looking
for the roots of the Zoroastrian religion.
A great admirer of Nelson Mandela, when
asked about the definition of power in
life she aptly sums up - “You are not born
with greatness or power, it is given to
you because of the respect you generate,
through your actions and integrity. It
comes to you because others attribute it to
you. When you use yourself for the greater
good of humanity then people think of
you as powerful or great.”
children living in different parts of the
world and says, “My six grandchildren are
the interest I’m reaping from investing
my values in my three children, who are
successful contributing members of the
community.”
December, 2014 SynergyZ 61