Human rights activist, documentary filmmaker and award-winning author Sally Armstrong was editor-in-chief of Homemaker's magazine from 1988 to 1999. She is presently a contributing editor at Maclean’s magazine.

She has covered stories about women and girls in zones of conflict all over the world. From Bosnia and Somalia to Rwanda and Afghanistan, her eye witness reports have earned her awards including the Gold Award from the National Magazine Awards Foundation and the Author's Award from the Foundation for the Advancement of Canadian Letters. She received the Amnesty International Media Award in 2000 and again in 2002.

Sally is the co-producer and host of several documentaries including They Fell From the Sky that aired on CBC's Rough Cuts in November, 2001; The Daughters of Afghanistan aired on CBC Newsworld, The Passionate Eye on March 2, 2003.

In 1996, Sally was honoured by the YWCA of Toronto with the prestigious Women of Distinction Award in Communications. In 1997 she received the Achievement Award for Human Rights for Women from Jewish Women International; in 1998 Media Watch's Dodi Robb Award and in 2003, the Foundation Award for Outstanding Achievement from the National Magazine Awards Foundation. In 2005, she received the Athena International Award (Chicago), the World of Difference Award from the International Alliance for Women (Florida) and the Red Cross Humanitarian Award - New Brunswick Region. In 2008 she received the Clarkson Laureate for public service at Massey College, University of Toronto. And in May 2008, she received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Canadian Journalism Foundation.

She received an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Royal Roads University in 2000 and an Honorary Doctor of Letters from McGill University at the October, 2002 convocation, and an Honorary Doctor of Letters from St. Thomas University in 2004. In 2007 she was made Doctor of the University at the University of Ottawa and received an Honorary Doctor of Laws from Guelph University. In 1998 she was made a Member of the Order of Canada.

Her book Veiled Threat: The Hidden Power of the Women of Afghanistan was published by Penguin Books on May 23, 2002. The Nine Lives of Charlotte Taylor was published by Random House in March 2007. Her new book Bitter Roots, Tender Shoots: the Uncertain Fate of Afghanistan’s Women will be published in November 2008.

Before joining the The Walrus in 2007, Jared Bland studied twentieth-century poetry and poetic theory at the University of Toronto's graduate department of English. He is also a member of the International Visitors Committee in association with the International Festival of Authors. Jared Bland blogs about books, authors, and Sherlock Holmes at The Shelf.

Marci Ien is the host of Canada AM - Early Edition and News Anchor for the program. She also formerly anchored CTV Newsnet since its inception in 1997.

Ien began her journalism career at CHCH-TV in 1991 where she started writing for the late newscast as well as general assignment reporting. Her news serial Journey to Freedom, a look at the Underground Railroad, earned Ien a Canadian Radio and Television News Directors' Award in 1995. That same year, she began reporting at Queens Park, covering daily political news for CHCH-TV's regional newscast as well as its British Columbia-based evening show, Canada Tonight.

In 1997, Ien made her national debut as part of CTV's news team in Atlantic Canada. During her time there she covered stories in all four provinces including the crash of a Swiss Air jetliner off Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia in 1998.

A mother herself, Ien is involved with several child-based agencies and organizations including The Children's Miracle Network -- a North American network of children's hospitals founded by Marie Osmond and John Schneider -- and hosts various events in Canada and the U.S.

Ien sits on the Board of Healthy Generations -- the foundation of the Canadian Pediatric Society and on the Advisory Board for the Centennial College Journalism Program. Additionally, she works with World Vision for whom she traveled to Sri Lanka to report on the situation following the 2004 Tsunami. Ien also regularly speaks to kids about the importance of staying in school.

Kelley joined the CBC in 1990. From 1992 to 1995, he was the National Assembly correspondent for Newswatch, the Montreal supper-hour program. He joined The National in 1995, where he served as the Montreal correspondent and covered such stories as the Great Ice Storm of 1998.

From 1998-2002, Kelley co-anchored CBC News: Morning. In 2002, he joined the investigative journalism program CBC News: Disclosure, where he served as a co-host until 2004. During Canada's federal election in 2004, he spent five weeks on the road in CBC's election bus crossing the country to cover the stories unfolding behind the campaign.

In 2008, Kelley won a Gemini Award for Best News Magazine Segment for his story about the immigration and integration of Muslims in Europe. He has also won two Gemini Awards for Best Host or Interviewer in a news information program (one for his work covering the September 11th attacks on the morning show and one for his reportage on Disclosure), and was part of a team that won the best news story of the year award from the Canadian Association of Journalists for a story he did on Disclosure about body checking in minor hockey.

Kelley graduated from Concordia University in Montreal, where he studied journalism.

Kevin Newman has been the Anchor and Executive Editor of Global National since its first edition on September 3, 2001. His current position came after seven years as an anchor and correspondent at ABC News in New York. During that time he hosted and reported for Nightline, World News Tonight and Good Morning America.

His 26-year journalism career recently brought him to the volatile country of Pakistan and the front lines of war-torn Afghanistan. Throughout his career, Newman has interviewed Canadian and world leaders, offering Canadians in-depth analysis and perspective to the day's major national and international news.

His reporting won him two Gemini Awards for Best News Anchor (2005 & 2006), adding to his two Emmy Awards and a distinguished Peabody Award he won while in the U.S. Since his return to Canada, his work at Global National has earned him several Best Anchor Awards and nominations from the B.C. Film Institute and Canada's Radio-Television News Directors Association.

Ben Peterson is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of jhr (Journalists for Human Rights), a non-governmental organization that strives to make every person on earth fully aware of their rights through mobilizing the media to spread rights awareness. Since its founding in 2002, Journalists has become Canada’s largest media development organization, sparking dialogue on the role of Human Rights and Social Justice globally.

Internationally, jhr has harnessed the power of the media in 15 different countries and reached over 20 million people a week with stories that enriched communities and inspired change. Across North America, jhr has established a presence in universities and high schools, 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 the Action Canada Fellowship, Canada’s Top 40 under 40 Award, and the Queen's University Alumni Humanitarian Award. Ben also sits on the Canadian Commission for UNESCO's youth advisory committee. A published author, Ben and the work of JHR have been featured in the Toronto Star, the Globe and Mail, and on CBC.