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4 Hours to Increasing Your Impact:

Our Writing Compelling Commentary workshop has a proven track record of supporting smart, knowledgeable women in sharing their informed opinions with the broader public through the news media. More than 90 of our "graduates" have published persuasive commentaries in daily newspapers across the country, raising awareness about a variety of critical issues, drawing attention to important research, and advocating for progressive change.

Could you be next? 

We've scheduled several half-day open workshops for women in:

• Toronto (June 11)
• Calgary (June 13) and
• Ottawa (June 18 or 27)

If you'd like to enhance your ability to mount a persuasive argument, raise the profile of your organization, or position yourself as an authority in your field, this 4-hour investment has the capacity to significantly enhance your impact. Contact us for more details about the sessions led by Informed Opinions' Founder, Shari Graydon.

For more information about the workshops, and to register, click here.

WHAT WE DO

Informed Opinions is a non-profit initiative that trains and supports experts in making their ideas and knowledge more accessible to print, broadcast and online information media. 



Our goals are to bridge the gender gap in public commentary and enhance the quality of public discourse by expanding the diversity of perspectives that inform Canada’s policies and priorities in all realms -- from finance, health and education to technology, business and the environment. â€¨â€¨We partner with universities, think tanks, corporate and community organizations, and members of the news media and blogosphere who depend on timely access to reliable sources and informed opinions. 

We deliver provocative and informative keynote presentations, dynamic and practical workshops, ongoing editing support, and strategic advice. In the process, we build women's leadership capacity.

And in order to make it easier for journalists to expand their sources beyond the usual suspects, we're building a growing database of women experts willing to share their insights and analyses on critical issues facing communities and the world at large.

WHO WE ARE

Media Action

…the host of Informed Opinions, promotes gender equity through media analysis and action. Formerly known as MediaWatch, the organization envisions a media environment that respects and reflects people in all their diversity, celebrates their capacity and contribution, and nurtures rather than erodes their opportunities and self-esteem. Media Action aims to: improve women’s capacity to express their perspectives through the media; engage consumers in constructive dialogue with media producers about their desire to see more realistic and inspiring portrayals of women and girls; and build partnerships with diverse women’s organizations, educators and media producers in aid of the above.

Shari Graydon

...is the founder and Catalyst of Informed Opinions, and an award-winning author, educator and activist with more than 20 years of experience on both sides of the microphone. A former newspaper columnist, TV producer and commentator for CBC radio and TV, she also served as press secretary to a provincial premier, and as president of MediaWatch. In this capacity she delivered hundreds of interviews and published or broadcast dozens of guest commentaries. Shari has also taught at Simon Fraser University, delivered communications training to public, private and non-profit sector organizations across the country, and published two best-selling media literacy books for youth. She received the Governor General's Award in Commemoration of the Persons' Case in 2007, and was named one of Canada's Top 100 Most Powerful Women by WXN the same year. Royalties from her newest book, I Feel Great About My Hands - And Other Unexpected Joys of Aging, benefit Informed Opinions.  (Reviews, contributors, excerpts profiled here.)

Claire Bellefeuille

...is the Executive Director of Informed Opinions. She holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Ottawa's Telfer School of Management, and has a career background in non-profit communications and fundraising. She made herself indispensable as a volunteer while on maternity leave, and since joining the project full time, has assumed steadily increasing responsibilities for the management and administration of all aspects of Informed Opinions. 

Lyse Huot 

(Associate) Lyse is a seasoned communications expert with over 25 years of experience in strategic communications, publications and project management in educational, not-for-profit and political environments. Fluent in French and English, she has extensive experience in media relations as former director of communications for the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada and the University of Ottawa, and as press secretary to the leader of a national political party. During her tenure in these positions, she wrote opinion pieces as well as letters to the editor in English and French, which were published in regional as well as national papers under other by-lines.