2020 Digital Publishing Awards Jury

Jennifer Abela-Froese is the Art Director of Digital at Strategic Content Labs, a storytelling and content marketing consultancy. With almost a decade of experience in the industry she has created experiences for Toronto Life, Weddingbells and Fashion Magazine, some of which have been nominated and won awards for Best Service Feature: Lifestyle and Best Digital Design.

Journalist since 2003, Malorie Beauchemin has been at La Presse since 2005, covering everything from general news to political correspondent in both Quebec City and Ottawa. She came back to Montreal in 2011 to be assignment editor, and then became deputy Managing Editor for News, Politics, and more recently Sports. She was very recently appointed Managing Editor for Arts, Culture and lifestyle sections.

Karim Benessaieh is a reporter for the Montreal daily newspaper La Presse, specialized in technology in the Business section. He has contributed to the creation of the Canoe and LaPresse.ca news sites and has long been involved in provincial and municipal politics.

Chris Bond—I am a freelance art director and designer with a background in editorial print and digital design, digital content development and management, integrated marketing and promotion. Most recently, in the role of Manager, Digital Platforms for English magazine brands at TVA Publications, I had the opportunity to work with a variety of iconic Canadian magazine brands, including Canadian Living, Style at Home and ELLE Canada. During this time I worked with development, digital and editorial content, sales and marketing teams to facilitate the creation, implementation and management of digital best practices, technical innovation, partnerships and strategy across all digital platforms.

Aneurin Bosley is an assistant professor in the School of Journalism and Communication at Carleton University. Mr. Bosley joined Carleton after 14 years as an editor at the Toronto Star. Much of that time was spent in digital, where Mr. Bosley worked extensively with interactive technologies. He has a Master of Journalism from Carleton and a Master of Arts in philosophy from the University of Ottawa. Before joining the Toronto Star, Mr. Bosley was the editor of The Internet Business Journal and a technology columnist on CBC Radio One in Ottawa. Mr. Bosley was also writer and co-producer for Paul Kane Interactive, a digital exhibit that was installed at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. Paul Kane Interactive was also a recipient of an Interactive Project Lab fellowship at the Canadian Film Centre’s Media Lab.

Lise Boullard is a passionate lifestyle editor and writer with over a decade of experience. After completing a master’s degree in publishing from Simon Fraser University, Lise’s French roots drew her east where she served as associate editor of Reader’s Digest in Montreal. Back in Vancouver, Lise joined Glacier Media, where she spent three years living the good life—and writing about it—as managing editor of Vita and Vancouver Living magazines. Lise now works at the forefront of Canada’s digital publishing industry, crafting copy that appeals to both humans (and algorithms) as content manager of Glacier Media’s digital department. She also shares her lifestyle musings on her blog, The Editor’s Diary at theeditorsdiary.com

Chris Boutet is a strategist, problem solver and collaborator with more than a decade of experience working in digital media environments. He specializes in launching new business strategies and inspires his colleagues to combine rigorous analysis with creative execution to produce exceptional solutions for clients. He is currently working with the University of Toronto on building a new digital editorial team that is dramatically reimagining that institution’s content and engagement strategies on social, web and mobile. Previous to that, Chris helped launch a new media intelligence division at Infomart, which provided data-driven, strategic consultation to brand marketing and PR leadership at more than 80 companies across Canada.

Currently George Browne is Lead, Special Projects for Corus Entertainment, responsible for developing new program and podcast initiatives. Previously as Director, News Content for digital, George oversaw the daily editorial content, workflow and digital strategies for Global News web properties, leading a team of national digital journalists across the country and helping grow Globalnews.ca into one of Canada’s most visited websites. George is also the founding Executive Producer of Global National, Global’s nightly national newscast, a premier destination news program for Canadians from coast to coast. George has over a quarter century’s worth of experience working in news at the local and national levels. He is also a passionate documentary filmmaker and former journalism instructor at Centennial College. He has won more than a dozen national and international awards for his news and documentary work, and has earned five Gemini nominations.

Kitra Cahana (b.1987) is a freelance documentary photographer, videographer, a photo/video artist and a TED speaker. She is a contributing photographer to National Geographic Magazine. She has a B.A. in philosophy from McGill University and a M.A. in Visual and Media anthropology from the Freie Universitat in Berlin.    Kitra is the recipient of numerous grants and awards, including two Canada Council Grants for the Visual Arts, a 2016 TED Senior Fellowship, a 2015 Pulitzer Center for Investigative Reporting grant, a 2014-2015 artist residency at Prim Centre, the 2013 International Center of Photography’s Infinity Award, first prize for the 2010 World Press Photo, a scholarship at FABRICA in Italy and the Thomas Morgan internship at the New York Times.

Diplômée de HEC Montréal, Barbara-Judith Caron a fait ses premières armes en journalisme en remportant une place de jeune correspondante au concours Radiomonde de Radio-Canada. D’abord reporter en Amérique latine, elle a par la suite collaboré à plusieurs productions de la télé et de la radio publique dont La soirée est (encore) jeune, Medium Large, Bienvenue en 2067 et Infoman, à la fois en recherche, en idéation et en création de contenus. Elle est, aujourd’hui Directrice du contenu numérique chez URBANIA.

Derek Chezzi is a Media Leader & Digital Strategy Expert with 10+ year senior track record in online consumer trends, thought leadership and staff management in the media & communications sectors. He leverages data insights into actionable plans to support business growth. Derek is skilled in process efficiencies, optimizing workflow and establishing best practices across Canada. He guides people and teams through management change and integrates new practices and priorities into their roles.

Alicia Cox Thomson has been in the media industry for close to 20 years, working as a digital and social media editor for Chatelaine, Flare and HGTV Canada. She has been published by Today’s Parent, CBC Life, Elle Canada, Refinery29 and more. Thomson is currently freelancing, working on a dream first novel and raising two great kids with her husband in Hamilton.

Florent Daudens est directeur de l’information du Devoir, après avoir occupé le rôle de directeur de l’information numérique de 2016 à 2018. Il a auparavant œuvré à Radio-Canada, où il a participé au virage numérique, ainsi qu’à La Presse et pour différents magazines. Il est également chargé de cours en journalisme numérique à l’Université de Montréal, et à été membre des conseils d’administration ou d’organisation de Hacks/Hackers Montréal, du magazine Trente et de la Fédération professionnelle des journalistes du Québec.

Michelle Da Silva—I am a Toronto-based writer, editor and journalist with nearly a decade of experience pitching and researching stories, conducting interviews, reporting breaking news and producing engaging content for diverse audiences. I am particularly interested in millennials, race, gender, mental health and electronic music.

Amanda De Souza is an award-winning producer with close to a decade of experience in media and journalism. She is currently a Senior Producer for Verizon Media Studios, leading news and feature video content for HuffPost Canada and Yahoo! brand newsrooms as well as RYOT branded content. Amanda started her career in broadcasting, writing, producing and reporting for CTV News, OMNI News and Canada AM. Her HuffPost Canada documentary short, Run the Risk, was selected and screened at national and international film festivals. You can hear her every day on your smart speaker hosting HuffPost’s daily news briefing, The Splash.

Julia De Laurentiis Johnston is the Podcast Director at Church + State. Having worked at Shameless magazine for nearly 15 years in various roles, including running the Shameless Podcast camp for teen girls and trans youth, she currently serves on the board. Julia won the first DPA for best podcast series for the Maclean’s culture podcast, The Thrill, which she co-produced & co-hosted.

Journaliste indépendant depuis plus de 15 ans, Simon Diotte est rédacteur en chef du magazine Géo Plein Air et collaborateur régulier aux magazines L’actualité, Nature sauvage, RandoQuébec et Châtelaine.

Victoria DiPlacido is the digital director at ELLECanada.com, where she oversees all content on the website and on social media. Previously, she was the beauty director at ELLE Canada. Her work has been syndicated in ELLE publications internationally. 

Gillian Dobias is a producer specialising in films about architecture, design and culture. Her career in television began at the CBC where she worked on “The Journal,” “On The Arts” and “Fashion File.”  BBC commissions “The Desk” and “Counter Culture” followed and in 2007 Gillian joined the launch team at MONOCLE to head up the editorial and commercial films division. During this time she oversaw the production of a specially commissioned broadcast television series for Bloomberg TV. Now working as an independent Gillian is harnessing her background in international television production and online journalism to produce bespoke content for companies wishing to tell their stories in film.

Christian Duperron is the director of news for HuffPost Québec, a team he joined 6 years ago. Previously, he worked as director of digital platforms and web editor-in-chief for the Métro Montréal newspaper.

Nicole Duplantis studied applied photography at Sheridan College and graduated with high honours in 2009. Since graduating, she’s worked at several photography studios where she discovered a passion for post-production. Nicole currently works for Chatelaine and Today’s Parent magazines and is a freelance photographer and retoucher.

Daniel Ehrenworth was born in Ottawa and received his BFA in photography studies from Ryerson University.  In addition to commercial photography, Daniel is a gallery artist, dad, video director, ex-food blogger, Muppet fan, and jube jube aficionado.  His commercial and editorial clients include Bloomberg, Businessweek, Canada Goose, The Fader, Ford, Google, Hyundai, Kia, Maynard’s, Sick Kids Hospital, Sport Check, Target, Tim Horton’s and The Verge to name a few.  He has received numerous awards for his commercial work from the ADCC, American Photo, Applied Arts, Communication Arts, the D&AD, Luerzer’s Archive, and the National Magazine Awards. Daniel is represented in Canada by Rodeo.

Carley Fortune is the Executive Editor of Refinery29 Canada. Prior to joining R29, she was the Editor-in-Chief of Chatelaine. She has more than 13 years experience as an editor at the country’s top publications, including The Globe and Mail, Toronto Life, and The Grid, and is the recipient of several National Magazine Awards. Carley is a lover of bold ideas and a bold lip. She lives in Toronto.

Matt Frehner leads the Visual Journalism team at The Globe and Mail. The award-winning group of editors, designers, developers, photographers, videographers and graphic artists works to make sense of a complicated and fast-moving world through high-impact visual journalism.

Bien qu’elle ait des études de cinéma en poche, c’est avec la radio qu’Élodie Gagnon tombe en amour alors qu’elle fait ses débuts derrière le micro de la radio étudiante CISM. Repérée par Radio-Canada, elle apprend les rudiments de la création radiophonique à travers la réalisation de reportages sur des enjeux sociaux et culturels. Elle enchaîne pendant douze ans les rôles d’animatrice, de reporter, de réalisatrice et de chroniqueuse pour les différentes chaînes radiophoniques de Radio-Canada/CBC. Après plus d’une décennie dans le service public, Élodie fait le saut au secteur privé comme productrice et réalisatrice de L ’ Aquarium , la radio en direct de C2 déployée dans les conférences internationales de commerce et créativité, ainsi que du C2 Podcast , une série qui met en vedette les solutions des leaders les plus innovants de la planète face aux plus grandes problématiques de notre époque. Élodie est aujourd’hui la directrice du studio de production de podcasts RECreation , dont le siège social est à Montréal, et qui est derrière le podcast à succès Pourquoi Julie? .

Entrée au Soleil en 2003, Valérie Gaudreau a travaillé aux faits divers, au pupitre et aux arts et spectacles avant de couvrir la scène municipale de Québec de 2011 à 2017. Elle a fait cette année-là le saut à la direction comme directrice de l’information avant d’été nommée rédactrice en chef du Soleil, poste qu’elle occupe depuis juin 2018.

Science writer, old school blogger, freelance health journalist in his early days, Bruno Geoffroy has distilled words since 2009. He was one of the recipients of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Journalism Awards in 2012. He currently uses his #SciWri #SciComm skills at the University of Montreal Hospital Research Centre. There he mostly discusses science… and wine.

Jane Gerster is a Canadian journalist interested in the intersection of health and human rights. Her reporting has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, VICE, the Toronto Star, Daily Xtra and other outlets. She has reported from the Yukon and Ecuador and many places in between, mostly in English but also in Spanish.

Bruce Gillespie is an associate professor in, and coordinator of, the Digital Media and Journalism program at Wilfrid Laurier University. He is a former editor-in-chief of J-Source.ca and the author of “News Writing and Reporting: An Introduction to Skills and Theory,” published by Oxford University Press.

Gillian Grace is the deputy editor of Chatelaine. She was previously an online editor at the National Post and a senior editor at Toronto Life.

Sue Haas is the VP, Digital Media at Blue Ant Media working across several niche multi-platform brands including Cottage Life, Animalogic, ASide and Makeful. She oversees end to end success of digital content and products on web, mobile and social including strategy, content and product development, operations and delivery, marketing and revenue generation.  She strives to continually adapt and evolve digital media to appeal to the latest industry trends and audience expectations.

Malcolm Johnston is a senior editor at Toronto Life, where he writes and edits features.

Pierre Kattar is a video journalist and documentary filmmaker. He started at The Washington Post’s website in 1999, where he produced video news stories and short documentaries. He left the Post in 2010 and now works as an independent filmmaker. Born in Beirut, Lebanon, he grew up in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Kattar graduated from DePaul University with an International Studies degree focusing on gender, power and race. He now lives in Rome, Italy. 

Caitlin Kenny is a Toronto-based editor and content marketer. After a joint degree in journalism from the University of Ottawa and Algonquin College, her career began in the print world with seven years in FLARE’s beauty department. As magazine brands began to embrace the web, Caitlin joined The Kit as digital director, leading content strategy for thekit.ca, social and email. Now freelance, she’s working across media outlets and translating her skills to the brand side as a consultant for Walmart. She has also written for Hello! Canada, Glow, Cosmetics and Beautezine, consulted for Burt’s Bees and Schaf Skincare, and appeared on The Social and Global Morning.

Manisha Krishnan is a senior editor and host at VICE, reporting on subjects such as the cannabis industry, firearms, race, and sexual violence against women. In addition to closely covering Canada’s move to legalize weed, Manisha has hosted several documentaries including one on women’s gun culture in America and another on a psychedelic commune in BC. Her work has been nominated for two Canadian Screen Awards.   Manisha previously worked for the Toronto Star, Maclean’s magazine, the Calgary Herald and many other publications.

Canadian Geographic editor-in-chief Aaron Kylie is an awarding-winning writer/editor /manager of national magazines. He was previously publications manager at the Canadian Wildlife Federation, where he oversaw Canadian Wildlife, Biosphere and Wild magazines, and prior to that, the long-time managing editor at Outdoor Canada magazine. Photo credit: Neil Ever Osborne

In her career, Kim Latreille has directed some of Canada’s largest magazine publishers including Rogers Publishing, Cottage Life Media, and St. Joseph Media. Her teams delivered innovative magazine content across multiple platforms, mobile devices, web applications, and in print.   As a publishing consultant, she researches digital audience development, business process solutions, and workflow integration for Magazines Canada and clients that include Inuit Art Quarterly, Canadian Horse Journals, Canadian Art magazine, and Eva’s Phoenix Print Shop. In 2018, Kim published the premier edition of Femke Magazine.

Andree Lau is the editor-in-chief of HuffPost Canada. She has led daily news, live broadcast events, long-term projects, and newsroom realignments and strategy with HuffPost in different roles. Lau spent 13 years at CBC News as a TV reporter, producer, videojournalist, and web reporter in newsrooms across Canada, and has also worked for CTV.

Jennifer Lavallee is a writer from the prairies, where she lives with her busy family of five in the Edmonton Metro Region. Jennifer crafts children’s stories (meant for young to old!) with the wholehearted belief that kidlit is where magic is born. Jennifer’s stories have appeared in print anthologies, literary magazines, and as part of some really cool projects in Alberta, like YEG Words Coffee Sleeves and Short Edition’s short story dispensers. In 2017, Jennifer was nominated for the Pushcart Prize by Blank Spaces Magazine. Jennifer’s debut children’s picture book is being published by Greystone Kids. You can find her on Twitter at @acutelyjen

Leata Lekushoff is an award-winning writer, editor and content creator with 15+ years experience in publishing and corporate communications. She was most recently the Senior Editor at Professionally Speaking/Pour parler profession magazine. During that time, dozens of contributors were nominated as well as rewarded for their work under her direction, both at national and international levels. Leata began her career in film and TV, and has a background in photography. She is proud to be part of the jury for the 2020 Digital Publishing Awards.

Guy Leshinski is the managing editor at Star Metroland Media. He’s an award-winning editor and writer, content manager and strategist. Guy is also a published cartoonist and illustrator.

Dan Levy is a Montreal-based writer, editor and content strategist. Since earning a master’s degree in journalism from Boston University, he has navigated the fascinating waters of media think tanks, global marketing agencies and fast-growing tech startups. He was the founding editor of the award-winning online magazine Sparksheet and currently serves as Editorial Director at Smooch, which was recently acquired by Zendesk. 

Dan Lytwyn is a video journalist with BBC News in Toronto. He previously worked as a video producer and studio lead at HuffPost Canada.

Catherine Marineau-Dufresne a été journaliste, réalisatrice et productrice vidéo pour Radio-Canada, le magazine L’actualité et VICE Québec. Son travail a été récompensé par un prix Lizette-Gervais, et elle a été finaliste aux prix Gémeaux et Numix pour des reportages avec VICE. Elle est aujourd’hui réalisatrice-coordonnatrice pour l’émission La semaine verte et pour Carbone, l’équipe numérique dédiée à l’environnement de Radio-Canada.

Adrienne Mason is the managing editor of Hakai Magazine, a digital publication that focuses on science and society in coastal ecosystems. Prior to starting at Hakai she helped launch KNOW, a science magazine for children and was its managing editor for six years. Adrienne also writes about science, nature, and history, and has published over 30 books, the most recent on Long Beach, one of western Canada’s favourite destinations.

For more than a decade, Josianne Massé has been in the media industry, earning the title of “slasher” with multiple talents: web editor, proven social media manager, blogger and writer. Josianne is above all a journalist passionate about education, cinema and society issues. A leading woman, she is also an entrepreneur who founded and supported for two years an extraordinary publication that redefined the notion of women’s magazine. 

Matthew McKinnon—I am a journalist who learned to code, years before that became a troll Twitter meme. Since 2016, I have worked for Strategic Content Labs (contentlabs.ca), a division of St. Joseph Communications, Canada’s largest privately owned print, media and communications company. In my current role as SCL’s director of digital operations, I am a leader of a creative team that pursues agile solutions to all sorts of internal and external projects. I am an admin and daily user of Confluence and Jira (scrum > kanban). I collaborate with developers, designers, product managers, project managers, podcast producers and others, and am often active from discovery through deployment.

Jessica Murphy is veteran print and broadcast journalist with over a decade of experience in the media industry. She is currently news editor with the BBC News Canada bureau and has previously worked as a political correspondent for Sun Media in Ottawa and Washington.

Susan Nerberg is a Montreal-based journalist who writes about science, nature and the environment; architecture and design; and social and environmental justice. You can read her stories in Azure, Broadview, Canadian Geographic, Hakai Magazine and Report on Business Magazine, among others. 

Jen O’Brien is an award-winning digital editor and freelance writer with more than a decade of experience managing some of Canada’s top lifestyle websites. She served as executive digital editor at Weddingbells.ca from 2012-2019 and prior to that she helmed the online content strategy at Chatelaine.com as senior digital editor. She is a regular contributor to CBC’s lifestyle vertical and her work has also been published in a variety of magazines, newspapers and on websites across Canada including The Kit, Chatelaine, Weddingbells, Fashionmagazine.com, Flare.com, Canadianliving.com, Outpost, glow and The Coast.

Rédactrice en chef du journal interne du CIUSSS de l’Est-de-l’ile-de-Montréal. Journaliste indépendante de 2005 à 2015, Mariève Paradis travaille sur plusieurs plateformes (web, magazines, hebdomadaires, radio et télévision). Elle cumule deux prix en journalisme, la Bourse Fernand-Seguin en vulgarisation scientifique et la Bourse en journalisme des Instituts de recherche en santé du Canada qui lui a permis de faire des reportages au Nunavik et au Groenland en 2012. Mariève est sur Twitter @marieveparadis.

Jean-Francois Parent—Senior Communications Officer at Bell Media. A geographer-cum-journalist covering the financial, securities litigation, business, natural resources and investment sectors for 15 years; Content Marketing Consultant with law firms, financial institutions, public companies, government agencies and lobby groups/think tanks for 5 years. I’m also a guest lecturer in Journalism and an upright bass player.   

Margo Pfeiff is a Quebec-based freelance writer and photographer whose stories and images have appeared in GEO, Reader’s Digest, Explore, Cottage Life, the Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, BBC, Globe & Mail and more. She has contributed to Lonely Planet’s Travel Writing guide and taught travel writing at Montréal’s Concordia University and San Francisco’s annual Book Passage Travel Writing Conference.

A Toronto-based writer and editor, Vanessa Pinto has worked with both digital and print content for nearly a decade across healthcare, pharmaceutical, tourism, academic, and not-for-profit sectors. This go- getter has a passion for em-dashes and serial commas—as well as science and technology storytelling. Her hobbies include travelling, long-distance cycling, and photography. She currently works in Marketing and Communications at the Ontario Science Centre and embraces her role as their resident wordsmith.

Bradley Reinhardt is the Art Director at Cottage Life Media, where he has the very difficult job of going to photoshoots at beautiful cottages on picturesque lakes. Previously he was Art Director at Toronto International Film Festival, Toronto Star Touch, Eye Weekly and Associate AD at Toronto Life Magazine. He is a father, husband, dog walker, and guitar player.

Sharon Riley—Journalist covering Alberta for The Narwhal. My essays, interviews, and long-form nonfiction have been published by The Walrus, Harpers.org, The Tyee, J-Source, Alberta Views, and Maisonneuve, among others. My work has been nominated in NMA, DPA, and CAJ categories. Photo courtesy of Taylor Roades.

M.E. Rogan is an award winning magazine writer whose work has appeared in GQ, Esquire, The Sunday New York Times Magazine, Toronto Life, The Walrus, Chatelaine, The National Post and other publications. 

Je suis Guillaume Roy, un journaliste boréal basé à Saint-Félicien au Lac-Saint-Jean. Spécialisé dans le domaine du plein air, de l’aventure, des sciences et des ressources naturelles, je collabore avec plusieurs médias dont : l’Actualité, Québec Science, Espaces, La Presse, Le Soleil, Planète F, Beside, Naitre et Grandir, La Terre de chez nous, Opérations forestières, Unpointcinq, Châtelaine, Les Affaires et plusieurs autres.

Mathilde Roy est journaliste et responsable des sections santé et alimentation au magazine Protégez-Vous. Auparavant, elle a œuvré à titre de journaliste et responsable de la production vidéo au magazine L’actualité. Elle est détentrice d’une maîtrise en science politique (affaires publiques et internationales) de l’Université de Montréal et d’un baccalauréat en journalisme de l’UQAM.

Liza Sardi is currently editor-in-chief and content director of Playback and Banff World Media Festival (BANFF).  In the role, Sardi, who has worked at the National Post, Globe and Mail and Sun Media, will be front-line in the industry and responsible for bringing timely coverage of the Canadian broadcast and production business for Brunico-owned publication Playback (both its magazine and events). She will also lead the development of the content program for BANFF and guide the Rockies Awards program.  With more than 25 years of experience, Sardi’s passion is delivering information in ways that increase its value to readers. She has worked multi-platform across Canada from Tuktoyaktuk to Toronto. She helped launch Post Media’s daily tablet newsmagazine and was behind a major relaunch of 24 Hours after building national print and multimedia coverage for Sun Media’s 200-plus tab and broadsheet publications. She was also a member of the management team that created QMI Agency. Sardi previously spent eight years directing dynamic entertainment coverage at the London Free Press.   She attended Wilfrid Laurier and Ryerson universities, earning a BA in English and History and graduate degree in Journalism.

Jen Schlumberger is a passionate content-creator and an award-winning writing, producing, and editing professional. She currently works at CBC as a digital producer in the marketing and communications department, and is a freelance writer (focusing on her comedic experiences as a parent.) She does stand-up comedy twice a year, just to keep things interesting.

Howard Solomon—I am a unilingual freelance reporter who has been writing and editing for (oh Gawd) 47 years. For the last four years I’ve specialized in cyber security and privacy news for IT professionals. I’m entering my second year doing a three-times weekly podcast aimed at consumers. I’ve been a tech reporter since 1997. Before that I was a reporter for the Calgary Herald covering courts and general news. My career started at the Brampton (Ont.) Daily Times. 

As head of programming for The Globe and Mail, Melissa Stasiuk is responsible for determining when, where and how to publish stories in order to satisfy current subscribers and attract new ones. She leads a team of 15 journalists that includes editors who work on homepage, social media, newsletters, mobile alerts, print and digital sections, and audience strategy. She is also on the hiring committee for The Globe’s competitive summer job program. She has worked in journalism for 14 years and also spent four years teaching baby sign language.

Hannah Sung is a journalist whose work includes building podcast content and strategy. Previously, she was the Manager of Digital Video and Podcasts at TVO and a reporter at the Globe and Mail, where she co-created Colour Code, an award- winning podcast about race. She started her career at MuchMusic as a music journalist and television host. She is a founding member of Media Girlfriends and a participant of the Poynter Women’s Leadership Academy.

Kat Tancock—I’m co-founder of Tavanberg, a boutique content marketing agency based in Toronto. We create premium editorial content for organizations including Sobeys, United Way, American Express, The Beer Store and M&M Food Market. Be it print or digital, long-form narrative or Instagram video, we strategize, conceptualize and create content people will want to read, watch and share.

David Topping is the Director of Newsletters for all of Torstar’s news outlets, which include the Toronto Star. In his career in Canadian media, largely in digital leadership roles, he’s launched successful products, built fledgling outlets into powerhouses, and turned decades-old legacy brands towards their  futures. He’s worked at everything from flush start-ups to poor but punchy up-and-comers, and his work has been regularly recognized as the best of its kind in the country, including at the National Magazine Awards and Digital Publishing Awards, where he’s won five.

Kathy Vey’s 38-year career in journalism spans pivotal roles at media outlets including the Toronto Star, Ottawa Citizen, Queen’s Park Briefing, and OpenFile.ca. Currently executive producer, digital, at TVO.org, Vey was the 2019 recipient of the Digital Publishing Leadership Award, which honours an individual’s career contributions to Canadian digital publishing. 

Kate Wells is the Senior Digital Editor at AirCanada enRoute.

Lisa Whittington-Hill—Experienced Magazine Publisher with a demonstrated history of working in the publishing industry. Skilled in Circulation, Advertising, Grant Writing, Magazines, Fundraising and Teaching. Strong media and communication professional with a Bachelor of Arts – BA focused in Cultural Studies/Critical Theory and Analysis from Trent University. Writes about pop culture, the arts and mental health for various publications.

Fadi Yaacoub is the executive creative director, digital for the Toronto Star.

Lara Zarum is a senior editor at St. Joseph Communications, Media Group.