Canadian Journalism Foundation announces five new board members
TORONTO, Oct. 1, 2021 /CNW/ - The Canadian Journalism Foundation (CJF) is pleased to welcome five new members to its Board of Directors for the 2021-2022 year, each serving three-year terms.
Desmond Brown, former journalist, and currently a real estate agent with RE/MAX Hallmark Realty Ltd. in Toronto; Susan Harada, associate journalism professor, Carleton University; Farah Nasser, award-winning journalist and anchor, Global News; Sunny Puri, principal and portfolio manager, Anson Funds; and Connie Walker, award-winning journalist, Gimlet Media, will join the board this fall.
"We are delighted to welcome these five new members to the CJF board," says CJF board chair Kathy English. "Each of these distinguished individuals brings extensive experience and expertise to our mission of promoting excellence in journalism. Together, they provide tremendous breadth and depth of leadership to the ongoing challenges facing Canadian media."
Desmond Brown launched his first business venture at age 12: a Toronto Star paper route on Coxwell Avenue in Toronto. At age 38, Brown fulfilled his life-long dream of becoming a journalist by attending Ryerson's School of Journalism. He went on to have a career in the media for more than a decade as a reporter for CTV News Toronto (CFTO), Global Toronto, the National Post, Toronto Star and the Ottawa Citizen. Along with heading a small real estate team, Brown hosts his own real estate podcast called Sold In the 6ix and is the volunteer past president of the board for Beach Metro News, a popular community newspaper in Toronto's Beach area.
Susan Harada is a founding member and Chair of J-Schools Canada / Écoles-J Canada, the organization that brings together post-secondary journalism programs in Canada. She is currently on sabbatical after six years as head of the Carleton University Journalism Program, first also as the journalism school's associate director and then as its interim director (2019-2020). Prior to that, Harada worked for nearly two decades in journalism – mainly with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
Farah Nasser is an award-winning journalist and the anchor for Global News at 5:30 and 6pm. Nasser's status as a trusted journalist with a strong interest in politics has earned her the opportunity to moderate key political debates and cover major events such as the Toronto van attack, the London, Ontario terror attack which killed a Muslim family, and she was in Washington for the election of Joe Biden. Farah was the first journalist to be granted an in-person one on one with PM Justin Trudeau after the country reopened. She is a back-to-back winner of the Radio Television Digital News Association of Canada Sam Ross Award for her viral commentaries "93 Killed a Day at the Barrel of a Gun (2018)"and "What if the fighting in Aleppo was happening in Toronto? (2017)."
Sunny Puri is principal and portfolio manager at Anson Funds since 2013. Prior to joining the firm, Puri was at RBC Capital Markets in Toronto and Sydney between 2010 and 2012. He was also at PricewaterhouseCoopers from 2007 to 2010. He is a Chartered Accountant.
Connie Walker is an award-winning investigative reporter and host of the Gimlet Media podcast, Stolen: The Search for Jermain. Walker has won multiple awards for her internationally acclaimed Missing & Murdered podcast series. Additionally, Walker, from the Okanese First Nation in Saskatchewan, and colleagues at the CBC's Indigenous Unit won the 2016 Canadian Association of Journalists' Don McGillivray investigative award, a Canadian Screen Award and the prestigious Hillman Award for its Missing & Murdered: The Unsolved Cases of Indigenous Women and Girls interactive website.
For a full list of our current board members, click here.
The Canadian Journalism Foundation
Established in 1990, The Canadian Journalism Foundation promotes, celebrates and facilitates excellence in journalism. The foundation runs a prestigious annual awards and fellowships program featuring an industry gala where news leaders, journalists and corporate Canada gather to celebrate outstanding journalistic achievement and the value of professional journalism. Through monthly J-Talks, a public speakers' series, the CJF facilitates dialogue among journalists, businesspeople, academics, and students about the role of the media in Canadian society and the ongoing challenges for media in the digital era. The foundation also fosters opportunities for journalism education, training, and research.
SOURCE Canadian Journalism Foundation
Natalie Turvey, President and Executive Director, The Canadian Journalism Foundation, [email protected]
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