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The Rights Based Approach
The jhr Team
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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.
Ben Peterson
Co-Founder and Executive Director
 Since its founding in 2002, jhr has harnessed the power of the media in 15 different countries in sub-Saharan Africa, including major operations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Liberia and Sierra Leone. jhr has also established a presence in universities and high schools across North America, empowering students to spread rights awareness in their communities. Previous to jhr, Ben worked in Ghana's Ministry of Justice, leading Ghana's efforts to write reports to the United Nations on various international human rights treaties. Ben has also worked for the Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Lloyd Axworthy, and in the offices of David Bonior, the former Democratic Whip in the United States House of Representatives. 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 the work of jhr have been featured in the Toronto Star, the Globe and Mail, and on the CBC among others media outlets. Vists Ben's blog at www.benpeterson.ca. Aileen Doyle
Community Programs Coordinator
Aileen has an honours Political Science degree from the University of Ottawa, focusing on international development and has also taken various journalism courses from Ryerson University. Prior to becoming full time staff Aileen was an international programs intern with jhr. Her international experience includes extensive work and travel throughout Europe and Northern Africa. While completing her degree Aileen spent a year studying at the Institut diEtudes Politiques in Aix-en Provence, France in addition to working as a language assistant for the French Ministry of Education in Marseille.
Jonathan Wong
Creative Engagement Specialist
With a B.F.A. in film studies and a diverse background in advertising, marketing and creative in both the non-profit and for-profit sectors, Jonathan joins jhr after volunteering for the organization since its founding. Prior to jhr, Jonathan has worked overseas for several years in Ghana as a small-business consultant for Geekcorps and in Thailand as a communications consultant for Human Rights Education organizations in the Asia-Pacific region. Most recently, Jonathan was an award-winning Associate Creative Director at Mindblossom/Isobar. Over the years, he has worked with clients such as Volvo, Mitsubishi, Virgin Mobile, The Walrus, Sirius Satellite Radio, GAP Adventures, eBay, Bell Canada, Honda and Lavalife to name a few.
Wes Normington
Grant Writer and Fundraising Coordinator
Wes Normington is the Fundraising Coordinator and Grant Writer for jhr. Wes is the former Manager of Development and Emergency Programs for the international disaster relief organization GlobalMedic. Wes has led relief missions in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Mexico, China and Burma (Myanmar). Previous to GlobalMedic Wes was an English language instructor in Tokyo, Japan.
Wes has a degree in Honours Political Science from the University of Western Ontario. Linda He
Fundraising Coordinator
Carissa MacLennan
International Programs, Education Specialist
Carissa received her Masters in Education from the University of Western Ontario, focusing on International and Comparative Education. Prior to starting her Masters, Carissa completed a B.A in Environmental Studies, a B.A (Hon) in Geography, as well as a Bachelors of Education. As an Ontario certified teacher and a graduate student, Carissa has taught, conducted research and interned in a variety of Asian and African countries. Carissa is also a Board Member for the Canadian Sudanese Volunteers for Development. Through her academic and work experiences, Carissa has come to believe in the role of education and training to empower and build the capacity of communities around the world.
Sarah Lee
International Programs Coordinator
Sarah Lee is in charge of Overseas Support within the International Programs division at jhr. An eclectic person, Sarah earned her Honours Bachelors of Drama with a minor in Political Science at the University of Guelph. Her international experience includes having worked with an international NGO to build housing in Belize and Nicaragua. In addition, she has taught theatre in Costa Rica and volunteered with at risk youth in the Favelas of Rio de Janeiro. Most recently Sarah received a post-graduate diploma in International Project Management from Humber College and interned as project manager for a grassroots South African development program shortly after. Sarah is currently working on personal long-term project ideas which employ theatre as an information dissemination tool for at risk youth.
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. K. Abdullai Kamara
Country Director, Liberia
  Abdullai has been an influential member of the Press Union of Liberia and its outgrowth, the Liberian Media Law and Policy reform Working Group. In line with his belief in the new world information order, Abdullai has been active in the WSIS process, having participated in the run up to the Geneva Summit in 2003 and the Tunis Summit in 2005. Generally, he feels at home in a journalism environment, and has been quite loud in freedom of expression advocacy Adelard Mambuya ObulOkwess ("Obul")
Country Director, The Democratic Republic of the Congo
Adelard Mambuya ObulOkwess, or Obul to most, is a 36 year old Congolese journalist with 11 years experience in the DRC's Radio, TV and Print Media. A graduate of journalism, Obul is currently working towards his Masters degree, which he will receive in January 2008. He is also a lecturer at the Kinshasa School of Journalism (IFASIC). Well traveled throughout the great lakes region and his own country, Obul has also visited France, Belgium and South Africa. Obul is the proud father of three children with his wife, who is also an accomplished journalist. Fluent in French, jhr's Country Director for the DRC is happy to be employed in a position where he can use and develop his English skills.
jhr | Liberia Team Arwen Kidd
Renaissance Media, Monrovia, Liberia
Originally from Boggy Creek, MB, Arwen holds an honours degree in Journalism and International Development from Halifax's University of King's College. In the past, Arwen has volunteered and worked with a number of different NGOs and media organizations throughout West Africa and Eastern Europe, and has experience producing writing and photography for both magazines and newspapers. Over the past year she has also directed three documentary films focusing on issues in Sierra Leone and The Gambia, co-written a book about a rock band in Romania, helped present a weekly 'Human Rights Hour' radio program, and conducted research with local journalists as part of a Media Watch Project for a human rights organization in SW Cameroon. As she is particularly interested in working with media in post-conflict societies, she is very much looking forward to her jhr placement in Liberia.
Rebecca Murray
Workshop Facilitator, Monrovia, Liberia
Rebecca is a freelance writer, most recently based in Tyre, south Lebanon (Sept 2006 - April 2008), where she was a regular contributor to Inter Press Service (IPS). She grew up in Kenya, the UK and US, and got her start writing in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Rebecca previously worked in feature film production, and completed a Masters degree in International Affairs from the New School University in New York City.
Bonnie Allen
Bonnie Allen has been working as a Television and Radio journalist for the past 10 years. She has reported on social, political, and economic issues across Canada for both CBC and CTV. In 2001, Bonnie opened CBC's first TV bureau in northern Manitoba and focused on social issues in remote aboriginal communities. In 2005, she volunteered as a jhr media trainer in Ghana and produced several documentaries. Most recently, Bonnie completed her Master's Degree in International Human Rights Law with Distinction from Oxford University. Despite her love of travel, Bonnie's favourite place is still her parents' farm in southern Saskatchewan.
Myles Estey Bior
The Daily Observer in Monrovia, Liberia
Myles Estey currently works with The Daily Observer in Monrovia, Liberia as a journalist trainer. Formerly, he worked as the editor-in-chief at Capital Magazine - an international art and culture magazine based out of Vancouver - and freelanced for a number of publications. He is a graduate of the University of British Columbia, where he did an Honours degree in political science, with a focus on politics of the media and human rights. Myles has planted slightly over 1 million trees across northern Canada, and is a passionate environmentalist. Every day that Myles does not surf a wave makes him a touch sadder.
jhr | Sierra Leone Team Stephen Douglas
Stephen Douglas is an award-winning, Canadian journalist, photographer and author. He’s written about and photographed the famous and not-so-famous… from the victory podium to the war zone… and sometimes just around the corner in his neighbourhood in Toronto, Canada. 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 a Facilitator with jhr – Journalists for Human Rights, based in Freetown, Sierra Leone, Africa.
Sulakshana Gupta
Sulakshana Gupta comes to jhr fresh out of a Masters in Journalism and Media within Globalisation for which she received a full scholarship from the European Commission. Having worked in Mumbai, Amsterdam and London as a print journalist, Sulakshana brings experiences with multicultural work and living environments to her job as jhr’s print media trainer in Freetown. As an Indian citizen who has lived around the world, she hopes that her unique perspective on human rights and cultural relativism will serve her well on the ground. In her spare time Sulakshana reads and travels and will be blogging extensively from Sierra Leone.
Jordan Kenny
Jordan is originally from Manchester in the UK. He has spent the last 18 months working in Moscow, Russia as a broadcast journalist for a 24 hour, English language news channel called Russia Today. Before that he resided in his nation’s capital, London. Here he both studied and worked, acquiring a Post-Grad diploma in TV and Current Affairs Journalism then going on to ply his trade at Channel 4 News, More News 4 and production company October Films.
Chris Stephenson
Chris Stephenson is a radio and print journalist based in Vancouver, Canada. He graduated from Langara College in 2006 from the journalism program. During Stephenson’s studies, he reported and edited for his college newspaper and managed the Langara Journalism Review--an annual trade magazine. Outside the walls of academia, Stephenson worked for an entertainment weekly, an adventure tourism magazine and a community newspaper. Stephenson spent the last year as a co-producer, reporter and host of a current affairs show on Vancouver's coop radio station. During Stephenson’s globe-trotting years, he took up teaching English in Mexico, Indonesia and Taiwan. He continued teaching ESL part-time at a private institute in Vancouver until departing for Sierra Leone.
Chris Stephenson
Chris Stephenson is a radio and print journalist based in Vancouver, Canada. He graduated from Langara College in 2006 from the journalism program. During Stephenson’s studies, he reported and edited for his college newspaper and managed the Langara Journalism Review--an annual trade magazine. Outside the walls of academia, Stephenson worked for an entertainment weekly, an adventure tourism magazine and a community newspaper. Stephenson spent the last year as a co-producer, reporter and host of a current affairs show on Vancouver's coop radio station. During Stephenson’s globe-trotting years, he took up teaching English in Mexico, Indonesia and Taiwan. He continued teaching ESL part-time at a private institute in Vancouver until departing for Sierra Leone.
Allison Cross
Allison Cross is a Canadian journalist and native of Vancouver, British Columbia. She has a B.A. (Honours) in English literature from Queen's University and a Master's in Journalism from the University of British Columbia. Her work has appeared in many Canadian publications, including the Vancouver Sun, the Globe and Mail, The Tyee, Canada Wide Magazines and Journalism Ethics. While working as a reporter and photographer at the Nanaimo Daily News on Vancouver Island, Allison was nominated for a 2007 Jack Webster Award in Community Reporting for her work on a series about fertility and reproductive technology. She was also the recipient of the Jack Webster Student Journalism Award that same year. Allison has also worked as a city reporter at the Vancouver Sun and as an associate producer at CBC Radio in Vancouver. In early 2009, she embarked on a trip to China to help film a documentary about the global trade of electronic waste, which is set to air on the PBS show Frontline World. In April of 2009, Allison was shortlisted for the Canadian Association of Journalists Student Award of Excellence. Her interests include interactive media that addresses the environment, healthcare, humanitarian issues, foreign policy, youth activism, women's rights and gender.
jhr | DRC Team
Marie-Eve Saint Georges
Marie-Eve is a freelance journalist who has worked in radio, newspapers and tourist guide. She's specialized in radio production, with major contributions to Radio France Internationale (Paris/ France) and Radio Okapi (Katanga/ DRC). Marie-Eve has a diploma on Journalism (Bordeaux Journalism Institute) with a Memory research about the 'Catholic Church in Algeria'. She also started to work for the United Nations in Niger (2005), then in DRC (2006-2007) as Public Information Officer, involved in Health issues, Gender questions and Medias support. Recently she achieved a training on 'Web conception and realization' to present also one of her hobby: photo, with sound and short stories (www.clicliotheque.com, on line early November 2008). Learning Qi Gong, travelling, going to Madonna's concerts & Mozart's operas are her spare times preferences.
David Tousignant
David Tousignant studied Communications at the Université de Montréal. He worked as a journalist for various television stations in Québec, France and Africa. In additon, David directs and produces documentaries.
From May to August 2008, he covered the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals in West Africa realizing a series of ten television reports. In recent years, he was part of international cooperation projects in South Africa, Cuba, Senegal, Mali and Mauritania. He is also an actor, an author and a movie director. He is part of "Les néos" a theater group. Alexandra Sicotte-Levesque
Chair & Co-founder of jhr
She 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 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 is currently directing and producing a documentary film on Canadian gold mining interests and human rights in Ghana. She is also currently a radio producer with the BBC World Service (French Africa) in London, UK.
Fola Adekeye
Gordon N. Fisher Fellow, Nigerian Print Journalist of the Year, 2001
Ruby Amable
Dean of Ghana's Parliamentary Press Corps and Senior News Editor at Radio Ghana
Dr. Marshall Conley
Former Professor at Acadia University and President of Conley International Education Consultants
Richard Gwyn
Author and columnist at The Toronto Star
Noah Novogrodsky
Director of the International Human Rights Program at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law
Steve Paikin
TVO host of 'The Agenda with Steve Paikin'
Charles Pascal
Executive Director of the Atkinson Foundation
Ann Rauhala
Professor of Journalism at Ryerson University, and former columnist and Editor of Foreign Affairs at the Globe and Mail
Ken Wiwa
Freelance journalist and human rights advocate
G. Pascal Zachary
Contributes a column on innovation to the New York Times, teaches journalism at Stanford University and writes often about African affairs.
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