Our Advocacy Work and Women in politics
March 15th, 2023
Published in the Toronto Star Decades of research make clear that ensuring women’s voices are integrated into decision-making in every arena delivers better outcomes. Women are being silenced, violated and gaslit. And not just in Sarah Polley’s brilliant, Oscar-nominated film, “Women Talking.” In recent weeks, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Scotland First […]
read more...The ongoing commitment to ensure women’s voices are heard
Diversity Belonging + Inclusion and Our Advocacy Work
August 23rd, 2022
When Lisa Laflamme’s predecessor Lloyd Robertson signed off CTV’s nightly broadcast, he used to say, “And that’s the kind of day it’s been.” Which — to someone invested in media literacy — seemed inadvertently misleading. Because journalism, even at its best, is still a series of subjective decisions, every one of which is influenced by […]
read more...If it can happen to Lisa Laflamme… (and what you can do)
Our Advocacy Work
August 9th, 2022
Charlotte, light of my life, is 7. Her fearless physicality, fierce devotion to her brothers, and clarity about her artist’s soul… these are just three of the things that make my heart ache when I think about the many ways the world she is inheriting will fail to deliver what she deserves. But one of […]
read more...For Charlotte’s sake, say NO to the status quo
Diversity Belonging + Inclusion
February 24th, 2021
and Sweta Rajan SHARI: Sweta, when we spoke for the first time recently about how we might collaborate, you vented a bit about the whole notion of “imposter syndrome”. This is something that comes up in our workshops all the time — the extent to which many educated, experienced and competent women feel like they’re […]
read more...Reframing Imposter Syndrome
Diversity Belonging + Inclusion and Master Media Engagement
November 4th, 2020
and Amy Ede. In the context of our collaboration to engage and support more Indigenous women and gender diverse people in being heard through the media, the two recently sat down (virtually) to discuss related ideas. SHARI: I’m embarrassed to admit that when we started Informed Opinions in 2010, I seriously under-estimated the obstacles to […]
read more...Why is it so crucial that we hear from Indigenous women?
Our Advocacy Work
May 21st, 2020
Meg moved quickly behind me to close the door to her office not wanting her staff to overhear. I had showed up in advance of the MediaWatch board meeting in 1990 to let her know that even though I’d only joined the board six months previously, I would be resigning at this, my second meeting. […]
read more...Tell your mentors how much you appreciate their impact while you can
Our Advocacy Work
February 14th, 2020
I’m embarrassed to confess how long it’s taken me to wake up to this revelation. I ask women every day to step out of their comfort zones and speak up about things they know to be important — to share their insights, challenge ignorance, and make change. But recently it occurred to me that I […]
read more...The upside of getting outside (of your comfort zone)
Our Advocacy Work
September 12th, 2019
Can snowplowing be sexist? Even if you live in Ottawa, a city that removes snow from its downtown core with military precision, you’ve probably never asked yourself that. Until I read Caroline Criado Perez’s Invisible Women – Data Bias in a World Designed for Men, it had never occurred to me to pose the question […]
read more...Democracy needs women; snowplowing policy proves it
Our Advocacy Work
March 8th, 2019
Business people, bureaucrats and board members, researchers, equality advocates and journalists — that’s who showed up on February 4th at Ottawa’s Rideau Club for the launch of the Gender Gap Tracker. They came to celebrate the application of big data analytics to achieving gender equality in public discourse. And they stayed to watch an Informed Conversation […]
read more...Here’s what you missed…
