Cheryl Hawkes is a Toronto-based journalist and writer. She began her career as a political reporter on Parliament Hill for The Canadian Press. She subsequently worked for Reuters as a business and finance journalist in Toronto and Montreal. As a broadcaster, she wrote for CTV National News and spent 14 years at CBC Television News as a current affairs producer and on-air reporter. She has contributed to numerous Canadian magazines including Maclean’s, MORE, Reader’s Digest, Canadian Business and Canadian Living, and is an occasional columnist on Canadian affairs for the Knight-Ridder news service. She studied journalism at the University of Western Ontario in London and holds a Master’s degree in Sociology from the University of Toronto.
Robin Harvey
Robin Harvey is an award-winning writer and columnist. She worked at The Toronto Star for nearly 20 years, eventually becoming its Deputy Sunday Editor and then ombudsman. For the past five years she has worked as a media consultant for several non-profit firms, a blogger and website content provider as well as a writer/photographer for major newspapers for the Sun/QMI media chain. As a lobbyist for mental health reform she won the Courage to Come Back Award in 2006. She’s written for several magazines and won the Southam Award for ranking first in her class studying journalism at Ryerson University.
Dave Mendonca
Dave Mendonca is a Toronto-born freelance writer who has worked for various media outlets including The Dallas Morning News, Star Wars Insider Magazine and FILM.com. He’s also a former Score Television national sports reporter who covered the Toronto Blue Jays, Maple Leafs and Raptors. During his media career, he’s interviewed high profile stars such as Grammy Award winner, Beyonce Knowles and Academy Award winner, Jamie Foxx.
Sandy Naiman
Sandy Naiman is an award-winning journalist and pro-blogger. Formerly a staff reporter for The Toronto Sun, she wrote general features, profiles and columns focused on Health, Business and Women’s Issues. She was Women’s Editor at CHFI for a decade and was a syndicated columnist on CBC radio. She has contributed to numerous magazines including The Walrus, Chatelaine and Greater Good. A longtime mental health advocate and Canadian Mental Health Association volunteer, she launched her first mental health blog Coming Out Crazy for The Toronto Star and then she was invited to move it to PsychCentral.com, one of the most visited sites in the world.
Marie Nicola
Marie Nicola is from Nova Scotia and has a regular column in The Huffington Post. She is also the host and the producer of Nat & Marie, an interactive 60 minute show which highlights the last week in the life of the internet, complete with live performances, interviews (George Stroumboulopoulos was one of her favourites) and hilarious viral videos. Formerly, she was the community manager and columnist for Women’s Post and was the Editor of Dine.TO.
Ian Harvey
Ian Harvey is a freelance journalist who covers a variety of subjects and sectors, including technology, business, design, architecture, engineering and construction. He started his career in 1977 at the Peterborough Examiner before moving to the Scarborough Mirror later that year and then the Toronto Sun in 1979. He left Sun Media as Director of Web Operations in 2001 before joining Loyalty One as a senior editorial manager. He began his freelance career in 2004 and currently writes for a diverse range of mainstream media while offering communications and media consultancy services to corporate clients.