Kate Price
Chief Executive Officer – kate@informedopinions.org
Prior to joining Informed Opinions, Kate was the Executive Director of the Action Coalition on Human Trafficking (ACT) Alberta, a provincial charity that provides front-line support to survivors of both labour and sex trafficking. Under her leadership, ACT Alberta’s team tripled in size, improved the quality of care for trafficking survivors, doubled the volume and reach of anti-trafficking education, and completed two national research projects with Public Safety Canada.
Kate has also worked as a fundraising and strategy consultant with Bespoke Social Profit Solutions and as the Director of Development at Discovery House, a second-stage domestic violence shelter. In the arts and culture sector, Kate was the Vice President of Visitor Experience and Interim Executive Director at Fort Calgary (now The Confluence), and led Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity’s fundraising galas and donor events. She previously completed a term on the board of the National accessArts Centre, Canada’s largest disability arts organization.
Kate holds a Bachelor of Commerce (BCom) from Royal Roads University, her Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) designation, and is an MBA candidate with the University of Calgary.
Shari Graydon
Catalyst – shari@informedopinions.org
Shari has spent more than 30 years engaging media to draw attention to issues she knows and cares about. Now she motivates and trains others to do the same, developing and delivering highly-rated conference keynotes and practical workshops across the country. The CEO and Catalyst of Informed Opinions, she’s an award-winning author and women’s advocate. Since 2010, she has helped amplify the voices of thousands of women across Canada, supporting them in sharing their insights with a broader public.
A former newspaper columnist, TV producer and commentator for CBC radio and TV, Shari also served as press secretary to a provincial premier, and as president of MediaWatch. She’s a proud alumna of the University of British Columbia (Theatre) and Simon Fraser University (Communications), where she also taught. She has published two best-selling media literacy books for youth, received the Governor General’s Award in Commemoration of the Persons’ Case, and been named one of Canada’s “Top 100 Most Powerful Women” and a “Woman of Influence”. Royalties from her edited collection, I Feel Great About My Hands – And Other Unexpected Joys of Aging, benefit Informed Opinions. Her newest book, OMG! What if I really AM the best person? offers purse-size inspiration for knowledgeable women whose voices deserve to be amplified.
Gabrielle Brassard-Lecours
Director of Femmes Expertes – gabrielle@femmesexpertes.ca
Gabrielle Brassard-Lecours is delivering Informed Opinions’ vision and mission to francophone audiences through our sister initiative, Femmes Expertes. Gabrielle is a journalist and co-founder of Pivot media. She has published in most Quebec publications, is a podcast producer and has done research for several tv and radio shows. She led the Association des journalistes indépendants du Québec from 2018 to 2022, and taught journalism at Concordia University for three years.
Samantha Luchuk
Manager, Administration – samantha@informedopinions.org
Samantha joined Informed Opinions in January 2015 offering virtual administrative support, and quickly made herself indispensable. As Manager of Administration she: oversees all financial and technical aspects of our operations; manages the enrolment, publication and promotional aspects of Informed Opinions’ database, an online tool designed to help journalists, producers and conference programmers find the diverse guests, speakers and expert sources they need; and provides vital programming support for our workshop and keynote clients. Samantha has more than 20 years of experience in office management delivering support for high-level professionals, and a background in editing and communications.
Mabel Weng
Communications Officer – mabel@informedopinions.org
Mabel understands that effective communication is key to any organization’s success. She earned a degree in public relations and marketing from Mount St Vincent and has taken additional training in content marketing and analytics. She brings to Informed Opinions four years of strategic communications experience in stakeholder relations, crisis communications and digital marketing. Previously employed by a Halifax-based PR agency, she helped a range of clients optimize their digital channels to support their communication initiatives. Her demonstrated capacity to ask smart questions and identify and implement concrete solutions is helping Informed Opinions re-evaluate and develop its communication practices to advance its marketing and impact goals.
Jacky Habib
Associate Facilitator
Jacky is a Canadian journalist based between Toronto and Nairobi. Her work focuses on humanitarian issues, social justice, and women’s rights. She has reported from a dozen African countries on issues including the famine in Ethiopia, refugee policy in Uganda, and the state of emergency with regards to sexual violence in Sierra Leone. Her work has been published by the CBC, the Toronto Star, National Post, The CS Monitor, and Global Citizen, among many others. She developed our “Insider Strategies to Become a Go-To Media Source” workshop, and delivers both it and our “Develop Your Media Interview Skills” training.
Dr. Amanda Parriag
Associate Facilitator
Amanda is the principal of ParriagGroup, an Ottawa-based consultancy focused on research, evaluation and communications. She has worked extensively with organizations to use knowledge generated to inform policy advocacy and development, helping to influence the policy landscape on a range of issues including immigrant settlement funding, housing rights, workplace sexual violence, health equity, inclusive K-12 education, and Indigenous child welfare. Amanda has lived and breathed issues of inclusion and diversity her whole life. She brings lived experience to her work with governments and organizations who are interested in doing better.
Hanita Simard
Instigator of Making Waves
Hanita is a life-long learner who believes in the power of education and the importance of personal connections. After obtaining degrees in science and education, she co-chaired a $1.6 million capital campaign to renovate St. Gerard’s Parish, and later joined UNICEF Canada’s Water for Life Gala committee, which she has co-chaired since 2014. The gala raises over $1 million a year to provide safe, clean water and private latrines at schools in Uganda so that girls can stay in school through puberty. Hanita also supports UNICEF’s women’s philanthropy initiatives investing in projects benefiting mothers and children in eight countries in the global south. She conceived of Making Waves after experiencing a workshop Shari Graydon delivered in 2018, and collaborated with her daughter, Avery and a cross-generational group of women to mobilize young women to embrace their own power.