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The jhr Team
We are collective of inspired, approachable and enthusiastic individuals. We are worldly without pretense, knowledgeable, inclusive, inquisitive and most importantly - we passionately believe in positive change. Our entrepreneurial, can-do spirit is focused on making positive contributions to the quality of life of others as well as achieving success and fulfillment in our own lives.
Rachel Pulfer
Executive Director
 She currently works as a contributing editor for Corporate Knights, a Toronto-based magazine focused on corporate social responsibility, and Azure, an international design and architecture publication based in Toronto. She has freelanced for publications ranging from The Walrus to Toronto Life, and has been nominated for three National Magazine Awards for feature writing and the editing of editorial packages. As a journalist, Rachel doesn't like being told what to do or write. But as a humanitarian who grew up in several developing countries, she believes jhr's mission – using powerful pieces of accountability journalism to inform people of their human rights – is an excellent way to put her profession to work for a greater good. She is pleased to be part of making that mission a reality. Ben Peterson
Co-Founder and Former Executive Director
 Ben continues to serve on jhr's Board of Directors. Ben has a BA in Economics and a BAH in Political Studies from Queen's University, and an MSc in Political Theory from the London School of Economics (LSE). Ben has received many national and international awards for his work, including Canada's Top 40 under 40 Award, the Action Canada Fellowship and the Queen's University Alumni Humanitarian Award. A published author and accomplished public speaker, Ben and his work have been featured in dozens of media outlets, including the Toronto Star, the Globe and Mail, and the CBC. Aileen Doyle
Community Programs & Fundraising Coordinator
 Asif Nawaz
Financial Coordinator
 Asif is a qualified Chartered Accountant (ICAP) and also holds an Associate Public Accounting degree (PIPFA). He is also a registered professional member of MANGO (Management Accounting for Non-Governmental Organizations), an organization whose mission is to strengthen the financial management of non-governmental organizations (NGOs). With jhr, Asif continues to utilize his experience in the non-profit sector as he strives to contribute to the improvement of global accounting practices and standards for non-profits. Carissa MacLennan
International Programs, Education Specialist
Justine Yu
Social Media Coordinator
 Kathryn Sheppard
International Programs Coordinator
 Ken Zolotar
Youth Engagement Coordinator
 Ken completed a BAH in Global Development Studies at Queen's University. Jonathan Wong
Creative Engagement Specialist
 Visit his blog and portfolio at www.jonnymedia.com. Naregh Galoustian
International Programs Assistant
 Freddy Mata Matundu
Country Director, The Democratic Republic of the Congo
  His interest in issues of violence against women and girls, child abuse and illiteracy, pushed him to report from the most remote neighbourhoods of Kinshasa and regions most hit by tremendous human rights violations, including Orientale and Southern and Northern Kivus. Realizing the power of the microphone, Freddy, a graduate in social communication, initiated projects to raise awareness amongst the Congolese on topics such as HIV/AIDS, gender-based sexual violence, reproductive health, child soldiers and ‘child sorcerers’. He continues his fight for human rights alongside Top Congo FM’s journalists. A jhr Fellowship recipient in 2009, Freddy Mata, along Larissa Diakanua, is the first Congolese journalist ever awarded with the prestigious Lorenzo Natali Prize (Radio) by the European Union in 2010 on the issue of the marginalized and abused ‘child sorcerers’. This recognition caused Congolese journalists to show interest in human rights reporting and drew the attention of international institutions to one of the worst nightmares experienced by African children. Freddy became jhr Country Director for the DRC in 2010, and has since contributed tremendously to the success of jhr in one of the most challenging environments in which jhr has ever operated. Lamii Kpargoi
Country Director, Liberia
Lamii Kpargoi, jhr's Country Director for Liberia is also Program Director at the Liberia Media Center (LMC), where he is responsible for implementing the “Good Governance through Strengthened Media” project. This project provides training in human rights reporting to media institutions and journalists across the country.
For 5 years, between 1997 and 2003, he served the country’s legislature in the public affairs capacity -- an experience that gave him a bird’s eye view of the national politics. Now Kpargoi regularly contributes to his country’s sociopolitical debate by appearing on talk shows and writing political/social commentaries. He is a fervent believer in democracy and protection of fundamental rights and briefly went into politics between 2004 and 2005. He holds an LLB from the Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law at the University of Liberia and is a member of the Liberian Bar Association. Nana Ama Agyemang Asante
Country Director, Ghana
Journalism was not always Nana’s first love - her plan was to study law and become
prosperous. But all that changed when she started listening to Joy FM in Kumasi
and heard two of the smartest and witty female voices on radio asking questions
and tackling issues that shaped national discourse.
Inspired from a distance, Nana applied for an internship at Joy FM, where she continued to work for three years before moving on. Her years at Joy were challenging but fun and inspiring, the experience exposed her to the impact journalists can make in society by asking questions. Working for jhr has allowed Nana to truly discover why she chose to switch careers. jhr’s approach to working with partner media organization is a great and invaluable way of acquiring a collection of voices to speak for the people and help to create a society which can create and direct the national discourse and help reduce, and ultimately eradicate, human rights violations. Nana has a degree in Sociology and economics from the University of Cape Coast, located in the central region of Ghana. And she likes to laugh. Omega Mulwafu
Country Director, Malawi
 
+265 991 668 044
 Her passion for women and children is evident in her continued work around women's human rights issues, including empowerment and vocational talks with high school students in preparation for 'life outside the classroom'. Stephen Douglas
Acting Country Director, Sierra Leone
  For almost twenty-five years, Stephen has devoted his attention to enlivening debate and increasing attention on domestic and world events. Stephen has authored six non-fiction books, countless feature articles and provided photographs to most of Canada's national magazines. He has edited magazines, newsletters and books. In addition, Stephen continues to create imaginative and revealing reportage documentaries throughout Canada and abroad. Stephen is also an accomplished professor and public speaker. His travels and media expertise has served as educational fodder for thousands of learners from adults to young children. He is currently the Acting Country Director for jhr – Journalists for Human Rights, based in Freetown, Sierra Leone, Africa. jhr | Liberia Team Bonnie Allen
Workshop Facilitator, Monrovia
 Tamasin Ford
Liberian Women’s Democracy Radio, Monrovia
Tamasin Ford has been working as a journalist for the BBC for the last ten years, covering stories from around Europe for radio, online and television news. Her main outlet is Radio 1, the BBC's youth station, but she has reported on many of the BBC's domestic and international news outlets. Tamasin has worked in Cameroon and Madagascar, training journalists at community radio stations. She is now working with reporters at Liberia's first radio station for women; Liberia Women Democracy Radio.
Robbie Corey-Boulet
Print Trainer, Monrovia
 Yeama Thompson
Elections and Curriculum Strategist, Monrovia
Lawrence Randall
Elections and Rural Radio Strategist, Monrovia
jhr | Sierra Leone Team Damon Van Der Linde
Radio Journalism Trainer, Freetown
 Damon studied journalism and geography at Concordia University in Montreal, where he spent much of his extracurricular time working late nights as a writer and editor for the weekly student newspaper, The Link. After graduating, he returned to his hometown of Toronto where he worked in journalism and communications across media platforms, including experience at Discovery Channel Canada's Daily Planet, Resource Investing News, and environmental not-for-profit Green Roofs for Healthy Cities. In 2008 Damon interned for Journalists for Human Rights at Breeze FM, a community radio station in the small eastern Zambian city of Chipata. He is excited to once again be working in radio, an accessible medium with the valuable ability to communicate human rights in a country with a roughly 40 per cent literacy rate. Jessica McDiarmid
Print Media Trainer, Freetown
 Jessica has been based in Freetown, Sierra Leone, since April 2011, working as jhr's print media trainer. As the in-house trainer at Awoko newspaper (www.awoko.org), Jessica has worked with local journalists on stories about rights for children and people with disabilities, and a series of pieces on government efforts to combat one of the world's highest rates of maternal mortality. Along with working for jhr, Jessica has reported from Ghana, Ivory Coast, Liberia and Sierra Leone. She completed a journalism degree in 2007 and has worked at various Canadian news agencies, including The Hamilton Spectator and The Canadian Press. Andrew Ewoku
Senior Radio Media Trainer, Freetown
 He will travel throughout the country training and mentoring journalists in three community radio stations. Andrew is passionate about working with up-and-coming journalists, some of whom have little or no training. Andrew has over 13 years of broadcast experience and has worked in Uganda, Tanzania, Nigeria and Ethiopia. He holds a bachelors degree in mass communication from Makerere University in Uganda and certificates in film and television production from DW-ACADEMIE Berlin. jhr | DRC Team
Eugene Kandolo
University Coordinator, Kinshasa
Papy Tonde Angonge
Kinshasa
Jacqueline Segahungu
Trainer, Kinshasa
jhr | IYIP-Ghana and Malawi
Nina Lex
Malawi Institure of Journalism, Blantyre, Malawi
 Now, in the spirit of discovery about Africa, Nina has found herself working at the Malawi Institute of Journalism, where she is able to combine her three passions: journalism, teaching and travelling. Ali Schofield
Malawi Institute of Journalism, Blantyre, Malawi
 As a student of Global Studies and Political Science at Wilfrid Laurier University, Ali naturally found herself writing for the international news section of her campus newspaper, The Cord, and had an academic article published about the right to education. Along with her impassioned curiosity about cross-cultural experiences and interest in education, Ali will also be bringing her skills and experience to the Malawi Institute of Journalism. Elena Sosa Lerin
Malawi News, Blantyre, Malawi
 She has been the editor of and regular contributor to a national arts, culture and entertainment magazine in Seoul, Korea, and most recently, worked as the communications officer of a hemispheric parliamentary organization based in Ottawa. Her curious yet conscientious nature has driven her to work and travel extensively throughout the Americas, Eastern Asia, Europe, and now Malawi, which is her introduction to Africa. She hopes that her experiences at the Malawi News newspaper will enrich her passion for exploring and documenting conflict and post-conflict zones through print and multimedia. Travis Lupick
Daily Times, Blantyre, Malawi
 He has since produced dozens of feature-length articles on issues such as Canada's role in Afghanistan, international aid to Latin America, human rights in the Palestinian territories, resource conflicts in Africa, and elections in Burma. As an avid traveler, Travis has lived in Canada, Egypt, Bhutan, and now Malawi, where he will be working alongside local journalists at the Daily Times newspaper. Sandra Ferrari
Citi-FM, Accra, Ghana
 Sandra has freelanced for both radio and print media. For the past four years, she has been a producer of both national and local programming for CBC Radio. While in Ghana, Sandra will consult and collect sounds and stories for the radio newsroom at Citi-FM, focusing on human rights based journalism, which informs and motivates her work in the field. Paul Carlucci
Daily Guide, Accra, Ghana
 In Ghana, he hopes simply for an exchange of ideas with the country and its people, particularly its journalists. Megan Ainscow
Diamond FM, Tamale, Ghana
 To satisfy her desire to engage in human rights advocacy, Megan has also volunteered on the communications subcommittee for Human Rights Watch. Following jhr since the beginning of her journalism degree at Concordia University, she has longed to do the kind of journalism that can make an impact in communities where the voices of the marginalized need to be heard. She hopes to do just that at Diamond FM. Michelle Newlands
African University College of Communication, Accra, Ghana
 She believes strongly in the power of media as a tool of development and is an experienced educational facilitator, with a focus on international experiential learning. She is pleased to have the opportunity to incorporate her knowledge in journalism, experience in facilitation and passion for human rights advocacy at the AUCC working with students and faculty as a Rights Media Educational Officer to create human rights based media. Cheryl Oates
African University College of Communication, Accra, Ghana
 Cheryl has spent the last few years working as a television news producer, videographer and anchor in Alberta, Canada. She feels jhr is providing her with an excellent opportunity to use her formal training and experience in Africa. "My goal is to get as much out of this 6 month adventure as I put into it," Oates says. "I'm excited to witness the kind of changes that can come about through media in Ghana".
jhr's Board of Directors:
Alexandra Sicotte-Levesque
Alexandra Sicotte-Levesque has a BA in International Studies from Vassar College, New York, and an MSc in Human Rights from the London School of Economics. Prior to founding jhr with Ben Peterson, Alexandra worked as a consultant in the Department of Human Rights of Côte d'Ivoire's Ministry of Justice. Since 2005, Alexandra has worked for Article 19 and as a radio producer for the BBC World Service and the United Nations' radio station in Sudan. In 2006 she was awarded a Global Youth Fellowship from the Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation, under which she directed a documentary film on Canadian gold mining interests and human rights in Ghana. She is currently working for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in New York and directing her second documentary film about Sudan's complex identities.
Francois Goudreau
François Goudreau is a Foreign Service Officer with the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) and is currently stationed in Haiti. Upon joining DFAIT in 2006, he was desk officer for Spain, Portugal and Andorra. He was then put in charge of bilateral relations with the European Union institutions (EU Council, Commission and Parliament). Since September 2010, François is working at the Canadian Embassy in Haiti as a political officer, reporting on specific issues such as justice, democracy, rule of law and human rights.
Before entering the Canadian Foreign Service, François worked with the Centre for the Study of International Law and Globalization (2004-2005). He also worked in international law with the Canadian Red Cross and the International Council on Human Rights Policy, and Rights and Democracy. He worked in Madagascar in 2001-2002 as a Junior Professional Consultant. François Goudreau has a law degree (Laval University, Quebec City) and a Masters degree in international law (University of Quebec in Montreal, Montreal). He has been on the Board of Directors of jhr (Journalists for Human Rights) since its creation in 2002. Wojciech Gryc, Board Treasurer
Wojciech Gryc is an Associate at McKinsey & Company in Toronto, where has a strong focus on using analytics to drive marketing, sales, and internal business processes. Wojciech's past client work includes launching data-enabled marketing campaigns for a bank, developing a social media strategy, and optimizing supply chains. His clients are mainly within Financial Services and Energy.
Prior to McKinsey, Wojciech completed two MSc degrees (Mathematical Modelling and Social Science of the Internet) at the University of Oxford, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar. He has also spent time working at IBM Research, and has a number of publications and patent applications around data mining and social media. Outside of academia, Wojciech spent 7 years as the founder and director of Five Minutes to Midnight, an international NGO dedicated to getting youth involved in human rights through media and journalism. His non-profit work has allowed him to run projects in Chad, Kenya, Brazil, Nepal, and other countries. Helen Hambly Odame, Board Secretary
Helen Hambly Odame is an Associate Professor at the University of Guelph. Her research focuses on communication and learning processes in agriculture, environment and rural development, both internationally and in Canada. Gender analysis of household and community issues in rural areas has also been a focus of her work.
Internationally, she is involved in research on rural radio in Africa, agroforestry extension in Ghana and more theoretical work on systems of innovation in Africa. In Canada, she concentrates on rural broadband in Ontario and community media partnerships between First Nations and Africa. Helen is currently a Board member of Farm Radio International. She is a founding member of the Gender in Agriculture and Rural Development in the Information Society (GenARDIS) and a member of the Consortium for Communication for Social Change University Network. Michael Cooke
Michael Cooke was appointed Editor of the Toronto Star on March 1, 2009.
Michael Cooke was raised near Lancaster in Northern England and began his career at age 17 as an apprentice reporter. He moved on to work in and around London's Fleet Street, and at Bristol's Western Daily Press. He emigrated in 1974 to Toronto where he became assistant national editor at The Star, Canada's largest newspaper. In 1977, he moved to The Gazette in Montreal where he served as assistant city editor, city editor and co-managing editor. He moved to The Edmonton Journal in 1992 as managing editor. He became editor in chief of The Vancouver Province in 1995. During the winter and spring of 1998, Michael was one of a team of founding editors of Canada's new national newspaper, The National Post. And, for the summer of 1998, Michael served as the last editor of The Financial Post. He supervised the paper's merger with the new national newspaper. During both periods, Michael continued to edit The Province, commuting between Toronto and Canada's west coast. Michael Cooke was named editor in chief of the Chicago Sun-Times in 2000. He was appointed editor in chief of the New York Daily News in January of 2005, returning to Chicago as Vice-President of Editorial for the Chicago Sun-Times news Group (100 titles) in 2006. Michael was also re-appointed editor in chief of the Sun-Times in the fall of 2006. Renu Mandhane
Renu is the Director of the International Human Rights Program and Clinical Lecturer at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law. Renu graduated from the Faculty with a J.D., articled at Torys LLP in Toronto, and completed her LL.M. at New York University with a focus on international human rights law. In addition to publishing in the area, Renu is a the Co-Chair of the Advocacy Committee of Human Rights Watch Canada, and has worked at a number of domestic and international organizations focused on advancing women's human rights, including the Centre for Reproductive Rights in New York, and the Association for Women's Rights in Development in Toronto. Prior to joining the Faculty, Renu practiced criminal law from an equality rights perspective for approximately four years routinely represented survivors of domestic and sexual violence, as well as federally-sentenced prisoners. Most recently, Renu was an Assistant Dean at the Faculty and worked extensively on the review of the first year curriculum. Kirstine Stewart
Kirstine Stewart is an internationally renowned media executive who oversees one of the largest media outlets in Canada. As Executive Vice‐President of English Services at CBC, she is responsible for all of the public broadcaster's national English operations, including CBC Television, CBC Radio and CBC.ca.
Stewart holds responsibility in English Canada for executing the 2015 Strategy, Every One, Every Way, which seeks to ensure a strong public broadcaster for years to come. As part of that mandate, she has announced the expansion of local services in underserved markets, and is successfully delivering on CBC's commitment to programming that is uniquely Canadian. Under her leadership, audiences to television have broken record levels with many Canadian prime‐time programs have broken the million‐audience mark. She is overseeing the revitalization of CBC News – resulting in strong audience growth particularly in local news markets. Meanwhile, CBC Radio recently recorded the highest fall audiences in the broadcaster's history and she is establishing CBC as an industry leader in innovation with ground‐breaking offerings like VoteCompass.ca and Mobile Apps for Radio, Television and News. |
  
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