The National Media Awards Foundation is pleased to introduce the roster of judges for the 2024 Digital Publishing Awards. We are immensely grateful to each of these judges who volunteered their expertise and time to help us select and celebrate the tremendous talent within the Canadian digital media industry.
A reminder that this year’s nominees will be announced on April 25 at 11:00 a.m. EDT.
KJ Aiello
KJ Aiello is an award-winning writer. Their work has been published in The Walrus, The Globe and Mail, Chatelaine, and This Magazine, among others. Their debut book, The Monster and the Mirror, will be published in 2024.
Akin Akinwumi
Akin Akinwumi works in book publishing. He is the founder and principal at Willenfield Literary Agency, an independent literary agency focusing on innovative and culturally relevant writing. His main areas of specialization are literary fiction, literary nonfiction, general nonfiction, visual narrative, and poetry. His clients include writers who have won or have been nominated, longlisted, or shortlisted for the International Booker Prize, Scotiabank Giller Prize, Dublin Literary Award, Novel Prize, Republic of Consciousness Prize, National Book Foundation and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Science + Literature Award, Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize, and many other literary prizes. Akin lives in the Edmonton area with his family.
Marisela Amador
Marisela Amador is an award-winning journalist based in Montreal, currently working at APTN National News. Previously, she served as a Reporter-Editor at The Canadian Press. Marisela began her career at the community newspaper The Eastern Door, covering impactful stories in Mohawk communities across Southern Quebec. Originally from Nicaragua, Marisela moved to Montreal as a child.
Leslie Andrachuk
Leslie Andrachuk has worked in the digital media and marketing space for over 25 years, working for a variety of companies launching and operating digital media such as Eyeweekly.com, CanadianImmigrant.ca, Sway Magazine, Real Estate News and others. Her marketing experience includes time at The Globe and Mail and at HomeStars where she was Director of Marketing at both companies. Leslie is currently the Digital Director at The Health Insider. Prior to this, she founded a multi-platform media network called Alpha Woman. As a fluent speaker of French and English, Leslie also worked overseas with a number of global brands, launching an ISP for Vodafone Romania and heading up an account team for McCann Erickson Romania where she managed brands such as Coca-Cola, L’Oreal and Unilever.
Luc Archambault
Journaliste, auteur, éditeur, Luc Archambault se démarque par sa grande curiosité intellectuelle, sa passion pour le cinéma et son appétit pour les destinations lointaines. Ainsi, il a bourlingué un peu partout en Amérique du Nord, a vécu deux ans en Allemagne, un an au Maroc, un an en Inde et trois ans en Chine, sans compter les innombrables heures à explorer les méandres de l'expérience humaine via son immense bibliothèque personnelle.
Odette Auger
Odette Auger (Sagamok Anishnawbek) lives on Klahoose territory in the ʔayʔaǰuθəm (Ayajuthem) speaking part of the Salish Sea. Using our voice is the most important thing we can do right now. In my storytelling that means deep listening, respectful interviewing practices, and centring Indigenous voices. As an independent journalist, my work has won recognition from Indigenous Journalists Association, Amnesty International, and Mindset Mental Health Awards.
Emily Baron Cadloff
Emily Baron Cadloff is the senior editor at Modern Farmer covering all aspects of food and agriculture. She's also a freelance writer and editor with publications such as The Walrus, Maclean's, The Globe and Mail, and more. Previously, she was an on-air reporter with CTV, CBC, and Global News. Emily's writing has garnered National Magazine Awards and the Digital Publishing Awards nominations, as well as winning two Atlantic Journalism Awards. She's based in Halifax.
Nathaniel Basen
Nathaniel Basen is the senior editor for TVO Today.
Sheima Benembarek
Sheima Benembarek is a Moroccan Canadian writer and magazine publishing professional. She has worked as a senior editor for Toronto Life, an events manager for The Walrus (where she focused on developing programming for The Walrus Talks series that featured underrepresented voices), a business development and brand communications lead at Corporate Knights, and as an associate editor at Broadview. Currently, she is an editor at Strategy. Her nonfiction book entitled Halal Sex: The Intimate Lives of Muslim Women in North America (published by PRHC) made bestseller lists and was a finalist for the Quebec Writers' Federation's Concordia University First Book Prize.
Dmitry Beniaminov
Dmitry is a web guru and technology consultant specializing in digital transformation, technology education, streamlined process operations and all things web.
Selina Boan
Selina Boan is a white settler-nehiyaw (Cree) writer and educator living on the traditional, unceded territories of thexʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), səl̓ilwətaɁɬ (Tsleil-waututh), and sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) peoples. Her debut poetry collection, Undoing Hours won the 2022 Pat Lowther Memorial Award and the Indigenous Voices Award for Published Poetry in English. Her work has been published widely, including The Best Canadian Poetry 2018 and 2020.
Marianne Boire
Journaliste et communicatrice depuis plus de 20 ans, Marianne se passionne depuis toujours pour les sujets qui touchent la santé, l’environnement et la saine alimentation. Après avoir œuvré dans l’univers télévisuel, elle est aujourd’hui rédactrice en chef du webzine 100°, pour l'OBNL M361, où elle s’intéresse de près à l’impact social des différentes initiatives en promotion de la santé. québécoise des critiques de théâtre.
Christopher Bond
Chris is an art director with over 25 years experience working for some of Canada’s top brands in all areas of print and digital publishing and marketing. Chris recently joined the team at Zoomer magazine as Art Director, working on the print magazine and all digital channels. Chris lives on the east side of Toronto with his husband and Pug, Piper.
Chris Boutet
Chris Boutet is an award-winning digital communicator with over 15 years' experience leading digital strategies in support of news, communications and marketing operations. Chris is the Director, Content Innovation, for University of Toronto Communications, where he oversees interactive video production and web design, development, and content strategies for the University's institutional website, utoronto.ca. He also is responsible for guiding how generative AI is used in marketing and communications at U of T.
Magdaline Boutros
Magdaline Boutros est journaliste depuis une vingtaine d’années. Depuis 2018, elle travaille comme reporter au Devoir où elle se spécialise dans la couverture des enjeux sociétaux, au Québec comme à l’international. Au fil des ans, elle a réalisé des reportages en Ukraine, au Liban, au Pakistan, en Argentine, au Mexique et au Kazakhstan, entre autres. En 2022, elle a été nommée journaliste de l’année, conjointement avec sa collègue Améli Pineda, au Concours canadien de journalisme. Photograpie - Adil Boukind
Jamie Bradburn
Jamie Bradburn is a Toronto-based freelance writer/historian who currently contributes regularly to TVO. His work has appeared in many online and print publications, including the Toronto Star, Spacing, the Canadian Encyclopedia, The Grid, and Torontoist.
Richard Burnett
Dubbed “Mr. Montreal” by CBC Arts, Richard “Bugs” Burnett is a journalist and columnist for various media. His pioneering column Three Dollar Bill is the only syndicated LGBTQ column in Canadian publishing history. Bugs has interviewed everybody from Cher to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and knows Montreal like a drag queen knows a cosmetics counter.
Oana Cazan
Oana Cazan is an Art Director with over 8 years of experience in the digital publishing industry. In the past she's worked for S/ Magazine, Sharp Magazine, The Kit & The Toronto star. She has contributed a lot of work while working at The Toronto Star by developing story driven sponsored content as well as impactful visuals, video and digital media in the publishing space. Her focus on creating stories that have meaningful messages is what drives her creativity. Now working in the Ecommerce marketing world, she is bringing her knowledge of storytelling to a new medium.
Philina Chan
Philina Chan is a Toronto-based Designer and Creative Director. Over the past 20 years she's led and supported creative teams with an editorial lens across print, digital and experiential media. With a creative background in branding, publishing and marketing, Her first appearance on a masthead was in 2000 while interning for an online magazine in the late days of the dot-com boom, and despite the bubble bursting, she was hooked. Since then she has appeared on the mastheads of Toro, Chatelaine, and FLARE, and designed a winning campaign while volunteering for a Toronto City Council candidate in the 2022 municipal election.
Hannah Chubb
Hannah Chubb is the Lifestyle Editor at Cosmopolitan USA, where she writes and edits the magazine’s home, travel, food and bev, culture, and health stories. A proud Canadian, she is originally from Kitchener, ON. She went to McGill for her undergrad and then NYU for her Master’s in Journalism.
Marine Corniou
Marine Corniou est journaliste scientifique. Formée en agronomie et biologie, elle a travaillé dans la presse médicale et grand public en France et au Québec et se passionne pour tous les sujets scientifiques, de la cosmologie à l’environnement, en passant par les nouvelles technologies ou l’agriculture. Elle est rédactrice en chef du magazine Québec Science depuis janvier 2024.
Stuart Coxe
Stuart (pictured here this month with Antica Executive Producer Laura Regehr) owns and runs Antica Productions, which produces TV, film and podcasts for Canadian and global audiences. Recent shows include “Love, Janessa” (BBC/CBC), “Shermans” (Lionsgate/CBC) and “Gord Downie’s Secret Path”. Stuart is a founding board member of the Downie Wenjack Fund and was personally nominated for 13 Canadian Screen awards before he finally won one, for being the original producer of “Dragons’ Den.”
Nathalie Cusson
Nathalie Cusson is a multidisciplinary Creative Director with 20 years in the Advertising and Design industries. She brings extensive hands-on experience in corporate identity, branding design, editorial design, and art direction, as well as retail environment design, motion and film making. She has worked on many iconic Canadian brands, including; LCBO, Air Canada’s enRoute, Fairmont Hotel & Resorts, CIBC and Telus as well as not-for-profit organizations such as Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, Rethink Breast Cancer, BlackCAN and Unicef Canada. Nathalie is currently Executive Creative Director of Design for The Humanity Agency.
Michelle Cyca
Michelle Cyca is a freelance journalist from Vancouver, Canada, and a member of the Muskeg Lake Cree Nation in Treaty 6. She is the editor of Indigenous-led conservation coverage for The Narwhal, a contributing writer to The Walrus and a contributing editor to Maclean’s. Her essays and journalism can be also found in Chatelaine, The Globe & Mail, The Tyee, and many other places.
Lucius Dechausay
Lucius Dechausay is a multiple CSA nominated, award winning director, producer and editor based in Toronto. His short films, docs and animations have screened at numerous festivals around the world and been published online on a number of platforms. His documentary KETTLE, premiered at Hot Docs and was listed by Now Magazine as one of the top five films to see at the festival that year. In 2022, he won Best Digital Series at the Canadian Screen Awards for his work producing CBC Arts' 21 Black Futures, which was the most nominated series of the night with 9 nominations. Currently, he is the Senior Producer of Unscripted Video Content at the CBC.
Britney Dennison
Britney Dennison is the executive editor of the Global Reporting Centre (GRC), an award-winning journalism centre based at the University of British Columbia's School of Journalism, Writing, and Media. Her work has appeared in major media outlets, including NBC News, PBS NewsHour, Mother Jones, the PBS series FRONTLINE, the Toronto Star and more. She has won several awards, including five Edward R. Murrow awards, an Online Journalism award, and a Canadian Association of Journalists award. Britney is also a sessional instructor for the Global Reporting Program at the School of Journalism, Writing, and Media at UBC.
Larissa Diakiw
Larissa Diakiw is a writer currently living and working in Tkaronto (Toronto). She has been published in Brick, Hazlitt, the Walrus, anthologized in Best Canadian Essays, and won a silver NMA for her essay Secrets Are a Captive Country. She writes and illustrates comics as Frankie No One. She is currently finishing a genre-bending graphic novel that explores the history, politics, and lyricism of how we live through time and a hybrid nonfiction novel. Her debut poetry collection, Undoing Hours won the 2022 Pat Lowther Memorial Award and the Indigenous Voices Award for Published Poetry in English. Her work has been published widely, including The Best Canadian Poetry 2018 and 2020.
Kira Dorward
In the past, Kira has worked for Magazines Canada, The National Magazine Awards, The Digital Publishing Awards, and The Canadian Business Media Awards. She is a former reporter for the London Publishing Corporation, Mackasey Howard Communications, and has contributed to various literary journals at the University of Toronto. She is currently a freelance writer for In the Hills Magazine, Great Living Spaces and Lifestyle Magazine, and is working on her first novel.Her debut poetry collection, Undoing Hours won the 2022 Pat Lowther Memorial Award and the Indigenous Voices Award for Published Poetry in English. Her work has been published widely, including The Best Canadian Poetry 2018 and 2020.
Joshua Duchesne
Joshua Duchesne is an award-winning art director with over a decade of experience across various sectors, including large corporate structures, luxury brands, publishing, and entrepreneurship. He ran his own print-only arts and culture magazine, ARCHIE, achieving nationwide distribution and international readership. His education includes studying fine art and art history at the University of Toronto and Sheridan College, where he earned awards in drawing and curatorial writing. He is now Associate Creative Director at Made by Emblem, a design studio through which he offers drop-in mentorship for students and early-career creatives.
Christian Duperron
Christian Duperron est directeur adjoint de l'information au Devoir. Il s’est joint au média en 2021 et son travail est axé sur l’actualité numérique et le développement des plateformes numériques. Auparavant, il a notamment été directeur de l’information au HuffPost Québec, où il a travaillé de 2013 à 2021, après avoir occupé le poste de directeur des plateformes interactives à Métro Montréal, média où il a fait ses débuts de 2005 à 2012.
Ralph Elawani
Ralph Elawani est journaliste, écrivain et directeur littéraire. Il est l’auteur d’une biographie du romancier Emmanuel Cocke et d’un essai sur la contre-culture au Québec. Il a signé quelques centaines d’articles dans la presse spécialisée depuis 2010 et a codirigé en 2020 XPQ : traversée du cinéma expérimental québécois. Il a fondé et dirige les collections NITRATE et FILMÉCRITURE aux Éditions Somme toute. Crédit : Annabelle Moreau
Eugénie Emond
Eugénie Emond est journaliste et animatrice. Son travail lui a valu deux médailles d’or aux Prix canadiens d’excellence en publication numérique et trois Grands prix du journalisme indépendant. Également détentrice d’une maîtrise en gérontologie de l’Université de Sherbrooke, elle signe le livre SAVOIR FAIRE - Histoires, outils et sagesse de nos grands-parents, paru en 2022 aux Éditions Cardinal. On peut l'entendre régulièrement à l'émission de radio Moteur de recherche à Radio-Canada.
Melissa Fundira
Melissa Fundira is an award-winning journalist and audio producer based in Toronto. She is currently a podcast producer with The New Humanitarian, an independent newsroom reporting from the heart of humanitarian crises. She produces and co-hosts the Rethinking Humanitarianism podcast, and is also producing a new limited series about decolonizing aid Melissa was also the audio lead and associate producer on the CBC's Black on the Prairies project, an award-winning exploration of the history, contributions and influence of Black people on the Canadian Prairies.
Valérie Gaudreau
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’être nommée rédactrice en chef du Soleil, poste qu’elle occupe de 2018 à janvier 2024, qui marque un retour à l'écriture à titre de chroniqueuse politique municipale et société. Elle est aussi impliquée à la Fédération professionnelle des journalistes du Québec et accompagne depuis 2011 les jeunes journalistes du magazine de rue La Quête. Valérie est passionnée de politique, de littérature et de culture pop.
Alex Nino Gheciu
Alex Nino Gheciu is an arts and culture journalist with over 15 years in the game. He’s currently an entertainment reporter for the Canadian Press, and was previously the editor of Complex Canada and digital news director of Entertainment Tonight Canada. His words have appeared in GQ, The Toronto Star, Sharp and more.
Emilee Gilpin
Emilee Gilpin is the Senior Communications Advisor and Community Storyteller for Coastal First Nations Great Bear Initiative. Prior, she was the Managing Editor for IndigiNews and Managing Director for a National Observer series ‘First Nations Forward.’ Emilee is of mixed descent — Saulteaux/Cree-Métis, Filipina, British, Irish, Scottish — and believes her mixed background and experiences serve as a strength in her work documenting, witnessing and being a vehicle for stories.
Ximena González
Ximena González is an independent journalist based in Calgary. A background in architecture and environmental design guide Ximena’s nuanced reporting on urban affairs, housing, and real estate. Her work has appeared in local and national outlets, including the Globe and Mail, CBC, and the Tyee. In 2023, Ximena won a Digital Publishing Award for best feature article (short).
François Grenier
François Grenier, issu des sciences humaines, est un communicateur scientifique de métier. Il a d’abord amorcé sa carrière en muséologie, à titre de rédacteur et de concepteur, entre autres pour le Biodôme de Montréal et le Jardin botanique. Il a ensuite pratiqué les métiers de journaliste, de scénariste, de rédacteur en chef et de réalisateur dans le genre du documentaire scientifique tout en continuant de collaborer à de nombreuses expositions, notamment pour le Centre des sciences de Montréal et la Biosphère. Comptant plusieurs cordes à son arc, François se distingue par sa rigueur, sa méticulosité et l’originalité de son écriture qu’il met au service de M361, depuis plus de huit ans, à titre de conseiller spécial.
Liz Harmer
Liz Harmer is an essayist, novelist, and poet whose work has been published widely, in places like The Walrus, Image Journal, the Globe and Mail, the Malahat Review, the New Quarterly, PRISM, Lit Hub, Best Canadian Stories, and elsewhere. Her first novel, The Amateurs, was a finalist for the Amazon First Novel Award. Harmer’s second novel, Strange Loops, was released with Knopf in 2023.
Matt Hartley
Matt Hartley is an award-winning journalist and digital content specialist who oversees editorial strategy for Corporate and Public Affairs at TD Bank Group, one of North America’s largest financial institutions. Hartley’s team is responsible for the creation of content that runs across the Bank’s digital channels, including the award-winning TD Stories branded journalism platform. Prior to joining TD, Hartley spent a decade in newsrooms across Canada, including those of the National Post and Globe & Mail, before cutting his teeth in the content world at North Strategic.
Madi Haslam
Madi Haslam is the digital editor of Toronto Life. Previously, she was editor-in-chief of Maisonneuve.
Katie Jensen
Katie Jensen runs Vocal Fry Studios, a Toronto podcast production company creating original podcasts for media companies, brands & non-profits. She’s made podcasts for CBC Podcasts, Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment, Indigo, David Suzuki Foundation, Globe and Mail, St. Joseph Media, Canada Media Fund, Polaris Music Prize, The Atkinson Foundation, and Canadaland. Diagnosed with OCD as a child, she is currently working on the third season of Brain Canada's Playing With Marbles podcast, focusing on youth mental health.
Mitch Joel
When brands like Google, Starbucks, Shopify and GE want to leverage technology to better connect with their consumers, they call Mitch Joel. He has been called “one of North America’s leading visionaries” by Strategy Magazine. Mitch is Co-Founder of ThinkersOne - a platform that empowers companies with personalized and bite-sized thought leadership from the best Thinkers in the world. Prior to Six Pixels Group, Mitch spent close to two decades building, running and selling his agency to WPP. In that role, he was President of a global marketing agency operating in 25 countries with close to 3000 employees.
Rhiannon Johnson
Rhiannon Johnson is an Anishinaabe journalist from Hiawatha First Nation based in Peterborough. Ont. She has been with CBC since 2017 focusing on Indigenous life and experiences. Since 2022 she has been working on CBC's only national Indigenous radio program, Unreserved with Rosanna Deerchild as a producer.
Ziya Jones
Ziya Jones is a Montreal-based writer and editor. They currently work as the senior health editor at Xtra Magazine.
Matt Joycey
Matt Joycey has worked in Montreal's news media industry for the past 12 years. He has shot and edited award winning long and short form pieces of content for VICE, Québecor and Le Devoir. He is now freelancing and continues to gain experience on the field working as a reporter, photojournalist and director of photography with collaborators like The New York Times, and l'Actualité.
JP Karwacki
JP Karwacki is a Montreal-based writer and editor focused on culture, food, drink, lifestyle, and travel verticals. Currently the Managing Editor at the local cultural magazine The Main and formerly the founding editor at Time Out Montreal, his work can be found in the Montreal Gazette, TIME Magazine, Eater, Tastet, NUVO Magazine, Cult MTL, and many other publications.
Elissa Kayal
Elissa Kayal est éditrice du journal indépendant Pivot dont elle assure la direction générale. Candidate à la maîtrise en littérature comparée, elle est également impliquée dans les milieus artistiques et culturels de Montréal à titre de poète et de dramaturge.
Amorina Kingdon
Amorina Kingdon is a science writer whose forthcoming book Sing Like Fish, about how animals use sound underwater, will be published by Crown (June 2024). Her work has been anthologised in Best Canadian Essays and received honours including a Digital Publishing Award, a Jack Webster Award, and a Best New Magazine Writer from the National Magazine Awards. Previously, she was a staff writer for Hakai Magazine. She is an avid hiker, artist, and figure skater, and she lives in Victoria, British Columbia.
Kate Knibbs
Kate Knibbs is a senior writer at Wired, where she covers how artificial intelligence is changing the media and internet.
Xavier Kronström Richard
Xavier Kronström Richard a oeuvré à Radio-Canada une dizaine d’années en stratégie numérique, où il a notamment dirigé un laboratoire d’innovation numérique dont la réputation s’est étendue jusqu’au Nieman Lab (Harvard) et à SXSW (Austin), et a donné lieu à des partenariats clés avec les GAFAM, avec Radio France, avec France télévisions, et autres médias publics francophones d’Europe. Xavier a également été responsable de revamper la stratégie numérique du Devoir, ainsi que de réaliser le premier balado quotidien d’information en français au pays. Xavier a également fondé un studio de production audio narratif nommé Grand public.
Angie Landry
Journaliste multi-plateforme, Angie Landry s'intéresse particulièrement aux enjeux sociaux et à la santé sous toutes leurs coutures. Elle est entre autres lauréate d'un prix Gémeaux (2023) pour la série Gynéco de Rad, du prix Judith-Jasmin et du prix de l'Association canadienne des journalistes (2019) pour le récit Survivre à la 117, en plus d'avoir reçu deux Grand prix En-Tête pour les reportages en santé mentale au travail (2021) et chez les jeunes (2022). Sa soif d'apprendre et son empathie sont les valeurs au centre de son travail, tout en étant les moteurs de ses réalisations.
Stacy Lee Kong
Stacy Lee Kong (she/her) is a writer, editor and the founder of Friday Things. Her bylines have appeared in publications including Maclean’s, the Globe & Mail, Reader's Digest and enRoute. She has worked at some of the largest magazine brands in Canada, including Flare, Canadian Living, House & Home and Chatelaine.
Philippe Lépine
Philippe Lépine is the deputy editor at Châtelaine. He has worked for Quebec francophone news medias Métro, HuffPost, La Presse, L'actualité as a journalist and multi-platform director. He specializes in digital environments and covers social issues, food, tourism and style trends.
Wency Leung
Wency Leung is a reporter for The Local, an award-winning independent magazine focusing on urban health and social issues in Toronto. Previously, she was a health reporter for The Globe and Mail. She has also reported for The Prague Post, The Cambodia Daily, The Vancouver Sun, and Reuters.
Tomos Lewis
Tomos Lewis is Monocle magazine’s correspondent in Canada, having previously worked as its Toronto Bureau Chief and, before that, as senior radio producer at its sister radio station, Monocle Radio, based at its headquarters in London. Prior to that, Tomos worked at BBC News in Washington DC and on its Welsh-language news programmes in his home-country, Wales. He has previously lived and worked in Beirut and is a graduate of the University of St Andrews, in Scotland, and Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, where he was a recipient of the Fulbright Alistair Cooke Award in Journalism.
Shelby Lisk
Shelby Lisk is a Kanyen'kehá:ka photographer, filmmaker, and freelance journalist based in Kenhtè:ke (Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory, Ontario). She covers stories on arts, culture, language, and environmental issues with a focus on Indigenous communities and is currently in a 2-year Kanyen'kéha immersion program in her community.
Claire Loewen
Claire Loewen is a Montreal-based media professional who holds a Bachelor of Journalism from Concordia University. Her journalism experience spans across various media outlets, including CBC Montreal and the Montreal Gazette. Claire’s reporting received a nomination for the Canadian University Press John H. McDonald Awards for Excellence in Student Journalism. She was recognized as a panel speaker at the 2020 Fédération professionnelle des journalistes du Québec conference for her coverage of the #MeToo movement in Quebec. In her current role at McGill University, she serves as a member of the selection committee for the President's Prize for Public Engagement through Media. Photo - Alex Tran
Daysha Loppie
Daysha Loppie is a journalist based in Toronto. Her work has been published by The Local, the Toronto Star, West End Phoenix, ByBlacks and more. She was the receipient of the Len Coates Memorial award for two consecutive years. Daysha is graduating from Toronto Metropolitan University with a Bachelor of Journalism and a minor in Black Studies.
Trelanda Lowe
Trelanda "Tree" Lowe holds a B.A. in Cinema and Television Arts, an M.F.A. in Visual Effects, and is working toward her third degree, an MBA. Her projects include the award-winning podcast Phenomenal Disabilities, the owner of Vision Edge Media, and Bourgeois Magazine LA as the President and Creative Conceptual Artist.
Tahiat Mahboob
Tahiat Mahboob is a multimedia journalist, documentary filmmaker, and educator. Her career spans two decades and two continents across Bangladesh, America, and Canada. Tahiat’s insatiable curiosity has led her to produce stories on a wide range of beats, from politics to pop culture. She has developed and produced stories for CBC/Radio-Canada, CTV News, Global News, Apple, HBO, Asia Society, The Daily Star, and beyond. Tahiat has taught at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and CUNY’s Craig Newmark School of Journalism.
Mark Mann
Mark Mann is a journalist and writer based in Montreal. His work has been published in Maclean's, The Walrus, Toronto Life, The Globe and Mail, and elsewhere.
Anna McKenzie
Anna McKenzie is a mother, intergenerational survivor, writer, and Indigenous Youth advocate. She is a member of the Opaskwayak Cree Nation (Treaty 5) with Scots Métis roots in Cumberland House, Saskatchewan. Anna began her career as a youth worker supporting Indigenous Youth preparing to "age out" of B.C's child welfare system. In 2020, she was offered a position as Child Welfare reporter with a digital news publication called IndigiNews. During her time as a journalist, Anna and her colleagues led the IndigiNews #birthalerts series in 2021. The work earned the team a 2022 CJF Jackman Award for Excellence in Journalism. Her life's work is to protect, honour and uplift Indigenous children, youth and families.
Megan McPhaden
Journalist and digital content strategist Megan McPhaden has spent the past ten years managing the production and strategy of editorial content from end-to-end for major market news organizations and nonprofits including Cottage Life, 660 NEWS, MaRS Discovery District, and CBC. She specializes in leveraging data insights to inform the development of cross-platform strategies for social media, video, print, and audio content.
Brandi Morin
Brandi Morin is an award-winning Cree/Iroquois/French journalist from Treaty 6 territory in Alberta. For the last 10 years Brandi has specialized in sharing Indigenous stories, some of which helped spark change and reconciliation in Canada’s political, cultural and social landscapes.
Jessica Murphy
Jessica Murphy has been in the news industry for over 15 years - currently with BBC News, where she works as a news editor with the Canadian and US digital teams. She has reported from Montreal. Ottawa, Washington DC and Toronto.
Katie O’Connor
Katie O’Connor is an award-winning podcast producer and executive. She is the managing editor of podcasts and digital video at TVO, Ontario’s public broadcaster, where she manages teams creating thoughtful, smart, and relevant content. She was previously a producer on The Agenda with Steve Paikin. She began her career in TV news, working as a senior writer for CTV National News and CBC News.
Valérie Ouellet
Valérie Ouellet is a bilingual investigative reporter with CBC News in Toronto. She focuses on data-driven storytelling, often reporting on women’s health, Canada’s carceral system and social injustices. She has won a CAJ Data Journalism Award, an Amnesty International Media Award and the prestigious St. Clair Balfour Fellowship in 2022. She also teaches data journalism at Toronto Metropolitan University and mentors early-career journalists through the Canadian Association of Journalists.
John Packman
John Packman is a portrait photographer and commercial director based in Toronto. His clients include Colliers, Indigo, WSP, Desjardins, the Canadian Medical Association, and Sinai Health. His work has appeared in The New York Times, Rolling Stone, The L.A. Times, NPR, CBC, and Toronto Life.
Neil Parmar
Neil supports the marketing and equity, diversity, and inclusion teams at SickKids Foundation, which fundraises for The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids). He's also a board member at Community Foundations of Canada, which supports more than 200 foundations that drive local solutions for national change.
Claire Pfeiffer
Passionate about supporting communities and culture, Claire Pfeiffer is a seasoned programs and communications pro with a background in the arts, cultural industries and urban development, where she has built a unique set of skills and body of knowledge at organizations such as City Building TMU, Artscape, Ontario Arts Council, Magazines Canada and others. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and Linguistics from Concordia University, and a Master of Publishing from Simon Fraser University.
Tina Pittaway
Tina Pittaway is an award-winning radio and podcast producer and show runner. Her work has been honoured with awards from Amnesty International, the Canadian Journalism Association, the New York Festivals and the Canadian Science Writers Association. She currently oversees productions in the museum sector, publishing houses, and mental health non-profits.
Sophie Pouliot
Sophie Pouliot est journaliste culturelle depuis une vingtaine d'années. Elle chroniqueuse des arts de la scène pour le magazine Elle Québec, chroniqueuse en théâtre jeunesse pour la revue Lurelu, critique pour la revue Lettres québécoises et collaboratrice pour différents médias (Le Devoir, 24 images, etc.) Elle a aussi été cheffe de pupitre et rédactrice en chef adjointe de la revue Jeu, de même que directrice éditoriale et coanimatrice de sa série balado Poétiques des territoires. Depuis 2019, elle assure en outre la présidence de l'Association québécoise des critiques de théâtre.
Laura Pratt
Laura Pratt is a journalist, writer, and book editor whose second book, Heartbroken: Field Notes on a Constant Condition, was published in January 2023, by Penguin Random House Canada. She has an MFA in creative nonfiction. She lives in Toronto with her kids and dog.
Geneviève Raymond
Œuvrant dans les médias québécois (Radio-Canada, Québecor, Groupe Pixcom, TC Media, Musique Plus) depuis plus de 18 ans à titre de rédactrice en chef, journaliste, réalisatrice et experte en création de contenu multiplateforme, Geneviève a un intérêt marqué pour le numérique ainsi qu’une excellente notoriété dans le domaine. Elle partage aujourd’hui son expérience avec les étudiants et les étudiantes au certificat en journalisme de l’Université de Montréal.
Samantha Rideout
Samantha Rideout is a journalist and writer based in Quebec’s Eastern Townships. Besides having served for over a decade as a contributing editor and columnist for the Canadian edition of Reader’s Digest magazine, she has also written interactive features and digital stories for dozens of organizations including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, McGill University, the Trans Canada Trail and the Canadian Cancer Society. Her favourite challenge is turning complex studies or datasets into an enjoyable and accessible read.
Della Rollins
Della is a Toronto-based freelance producer, photographer and photo editor. She has worked as Photo Editor at Studio Wyse, overseeing photography for Canadian Business, University of Toronto Magazine, Toronto Metropolitan University Magazine, Willamette Magazine, Voyageur Magazine, Queen's Alumni Review and other clients. Prior to joining Studio Wyse, she was a Contributing Photo Editor and Freelance Video Producer at Maclean's. Her photo and video work has appeared in leading newspapers and magazines and she also shoots for a large roster of some of the world's top organizations.
Inori Roy
Inori Roy is a Toronto-based feature writer and associate editor at The Local magazine. She specializes in longform reporting that pairs revelatory data analysis with narrative and insights from people with lived experience. She has previously been published in the Toronto Star, CBC, and The Narwhal, and been nominated for the Digital Publishing Awards and Canadian Association of Journalists awards.
Vanessa Rusci
Vanessa Rusci, an Italian professional, divides her work between the UK and Italy. She is a curator, visual artist, and editor of the Project 100 Art Photography MAG Ebook, an innovative editorial project by NNC Gallery London Project, established in 2022. Since 2017, Vanessa has been collaborating with NNC MAG London Project as an editor and talent scout. She has been involved in projects for emerging artists for over 20 years.
Harley Rustad
Harley Rustad is a journalist, editor, and award-winning and bestselling author of Lost in the Valley of Death and Big Lonely Doug. He is a senior editor at The Walrus, a faculty editor at the Banff Centre's mountain writing residency, and the founder of the Port Renfrew Writers Retreat.
Lela Savic
Lela Savic is the founding editor of La Converse, a francophone community-powered media. She has worked at Journal Métro in Montreal, covering politics and human rights, CBC’s investigative show Enquête, La Presse and regularly presents lectures on biases and positionality in the media in Canada, the U.S. and Europe. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Communications and Psychology from Concordia University and a certificate in Journalism from the University of Montreal. The misrepresentation of her people in the media, the Roma, pushed her to the world of journalism.
Kim Shiffman
Kim Shiffman spent more than 20 years as an editor in the Canadian magazine industry before recently pivoting to content marketing. Most recently, she was Content Director in the custom publishing division of SJC. Previously, she was Editor-in-Chief at Today's Parent. Kim graduated from the University of Toronto and Centennial College. She’s married, a mom of two, and sings in a rock choir.
Maryam Siddiqi
Maryam Siddiqi is an editor and writer specializing in the social impact of travel, lifestyle trends, health and other cool stuff. Her journalism work has appeared in The Globe and Mail, Chatelaine, Report on Business, National Post, Toronto Star and Elle Gourmet, among other publications.
Stephen Smith
Stephen Smith is a writer and editor in Toronto, a sometime contributor to many periodicals, including The New York Times, Canadian Geographic, McSweeney’s,The Literary Review of Canada, and The Globe and Mail. Author of the book Puckstruck: Distracted, Delighted and Distressed by Canada's Hockey Obsession (2014), he steers a blog at puckstruck.com that keeps an eye on hockey history and culture.
Marcel Soucy
Formation universitaire en sciences économiques et en marketing, Marcel Soucy a fait ses études à l’Université de Montréal et à HEC Montréal. Journaliste indépendant en début de carrière, il a fondé une entreprise de communications en 1995. Sous sa gouverne, Soury Communications s’est spécialisée en rédaction corporative et en production de documents imprimés. C’est à ce moment qu’il a commencé à collaborer au magazine Surface, dont il a fait l’acquisition au début des années 2000. Le magazine s’est mérité le prix des médias internationnaux, décerné par l’ASCER (association des fabricants de céramique espagnole), pour un reportage sur le Cevisama 2023.
Vessy Stroumsky
Vessy Stroumsky, a seasoned professional with over a decade of product development experience, merges his enthusiasm for AI and entrepreneurial ventures at ParagraphAI. He contributes to the Digital Publishing Awards and delves into technology, art, and the startup community.
Marylène Têtu
Présentement Cheffe de projets numériques pour les Médias régionaux, à Radio-Canada, Marylène Têtu a d'abord fait la coordination et l'appui éditorial de récits et de vidéos à titre de réalisatrice numérique avec l'équipe de Vancouver.
Alicia Cox Thomson
Alicia Cox Thomson has been working in digital media as a writer and editor for 20 years. Today, she writes and speaks about books, culture, style and diversity for Chatelaine, CBC Radio, Elle, Toronto Star, The Narwhal and more. Photo Credit: Christine Kufske
Lucy Uprichard
Lucy is a freelance writer and fact-checker who served as the editor-in-chief of Maisonneuve Magazine in 2023. She has been published in The Walrus, Dazed, Vice, Chatelaine and other publications, and is a part-time digital archives student at McGill University.
Natasha Vasiljevic
Award-winning advertising still life and fashion photographer and educator, renowned for 20+ years of expertise in advertising and editorial photography and over 10 years of delivering lectures and mentorship workshops. I Natasha aims to empower diverse student groups with my extensive knowledge of contemporary digital communication, personal branding, and commercial photography practices.
H.G. Watson
H.G. Watson is a writer based in Toronto. Her work has appeared in Toronto Life, The Guardian, Vice, Maclean's, Canadian Business and more. She is also an instructor at Toronto Metropolitan University, and runs all things TikTok for Maclean's magazine.
Peiyue Wu
Peiyue Wu is an award-winning journalist based in New York City. She writes about China’s technology and business, with a keen interest in how they are reshaping labor relations, social norms, and the humanities. Her work has been published by Sixth Tone and Rest of World.
Fadi Yaacoub
Fadi Yaacoub is a design and creative operations leader with a proven track record at Canada's top media companies, including the Toronto Star and CBC/Radio-Canada. He revitalizes brands, spearheads digital innovation, and builds award-winning teams. Fadi's expertise has increased audience engagement significantly and transformed brand presence. Fluent in English, French, and Arabic, he's now an independent creative strategist and coach who helps businesses thrive in a changing digital landscape through human-centred design strategies.
Hannah Yakobi
Hannah Yakobi is the Editor-in-Chief of FAJO Magazine and an award-winning journalist and communications specialist with 24 years of industry experience. Over the years, Hannah has interviewed and photographed countless fashion and entertainment icons, including Al Pacino, Dean and Dan Caten, Isaac Mizrahi, Kate Winslet, Kate Beckinsale, Kenzo Takada and Arlene Dickinson.
Ellie (Xinrui) Zhu
Ellie (Xinrui) Zhu is an award winning editor for innovative storytelling. With more than eight years of experience in digital journalism, she has designed and built numerous immersive magazine experiences for world renowned media organizations. For example, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Crain Communications, which is one of the largest privately held B2B magazine publishers in the world. Currently, Ellie is a Data Scientist at The New York Times, aiming to combine artificial intelligence potential with journalism practice.