Erin Millar has received multiple awards for her journalism innovation work, including being named 2015 Bob Carty Fellow by the Canadian Journalists for Free Expression, a solutions journalism fellow by Ashoka Canada and an AmEx Emerging Social Innovator. She has given talks and hosted workshops across Canada and internationally, including at the University of British Columbia, the Canadian Association of Journalists national conference, the International Journalism Festival and as part of the Knight Foundation/8 80 Cities collaboration, the K880 Fellowship.

Previously she worked for The Globe and Mail, Maclean’s, Reader’s Digest, The Walrus, The Times of London and other publications. She has reported from over a dozen countries on three continents. Her work has been translated into 20 languages and published in 34 countries. She is a published author and has taught journalism at Quest University Canada and Langara College.

Debbie Douez is a marketing and business development strategist with more than 20 years of experience spanning corporate and non-profit worlds in Canada, the U.S. and Europe. Her passion for the arts, new media and social change has drawn Debbie to projects designed to make an impact in local communities and society at large.

She has worked with large corporations such as Intrawest, the Royal Bank and Bristol-Myers Squibb; with non-profits such as The Minerva Foundation, AIDS Vancouver and Blind Beginnings; and with artist collectives such as The Human Emotion Project, Exquisite Corpse Video Project and Bocallave Colectivo, where she has explored new collaboration methods with artists from around the globe. Most recently, Debbie was the Director of Marketing and Development at the Museum of Vancouver, actively participating in the development of exhibitions focused on issues facing Vancouver today. As the owner and director of Video4Web, she produced over 40 short videos for various not-for-profit and corporate clients. 

Wawmeesh Hamilton is a fellow at Discourse Media and an award-winning journalist and photographer who works out of Vancouver, B.C. He has won three B.C.-Yukon Community Newspaper Association awards and three Canadian Community Newspaper Association awards, each for writing and photography. He and colleague Peter Mothe won a Canadian Online Publishing Award in 2015. Hamilton’s work has been published with CBC, The Canadian Press, The Globe and Mail, Metro and The Tyee. Hamilton graduated with an MA from the UBC Graduate School of Journalism in 2016. His thesis documented the banishment and reintegration of Indigenous sex offenders from their communities. Hamilton is a member of the Hupacasath First Nation in Port Alberni, B.C.

Chloe Sjuberg grew up on Salt Spring Island, B.C., spending her formative years in the newsroom of the Gulf Islands Driftwood newspaper, where she developed a passion for proofreading and a connection to journalism that serves communities. Chloe holds a BA in Human Geography and Communications from Simon Fraser University. She has a background in administrative and communications work with community development-focused organizations, including mentoring young women through the Salish Sea Girls' Leadership Project and supporting local professional artists at the Craft Council of British Columbia. She is excited to be back in the newsroom contributing to projects with social impact.

Rachel Nixon is an award-winning digital news executive with deep experience in shaping the digital and editorial strategies for international news organizations. Prior to working with Discourse Media, she was Editor-in-Chief of MSN News and Sports in the U.S. Rachel also has a long history with and passion for public media, having served as Senior Director of Digital Media for CBC News in Toronto, where she led the relaunch of the digital news service and drove high-impact projects that secured large audiences and multiple awards for the corporation.

Before coming to Canada, Rachel was one of the first journalists for the world-renowned BBC News website in London. She held senior editorial roles in her nine years with the site, and was named BBC World Service Editor of the Year in 2007. Rachel is now based in Vancouver.

Daina Lawrence has worked as both a staff and freelance writer for the past eight years. Specializing in business and finance coverage, her work has appeared in both international and Canadian publications, including the Financial Times, The Globe and Mail, Canadian Business magazine, Maclean's, The Toronto Star and The Walrus.