An energetic presenter, Shari brings a keen sense of humour and knowledge of how media work and why women need to speak up about what they know. The workshop gave me confidence to write an op-ed, the publication of which generated a substantive radio interview on CBC.
Elizabeth Marshall, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Faculty of Education, Simon Fraser University
Photo Credit: Simon Fraser University
The Informed Opinions workshop gave me an opportunity to meet the editorial page editor of our local newspaper and our university's manager of media relations -- valuable experience giving me more confidence to write a newspaper commentary, subsequently published in the Victoria Times Colonist.
Elisabeth Gugl
Department of Economics, University of Victoria
In What Can She Know? Lorraine Code asks, "out of whose subjectivity did the ideal of objectivity emerge?" How great a question is that! Thanks to Informed Opinions for reminding me just how exciting women's ideas can be!
Özlem Sensoy
Faculty of Education, Simon Fraser University
Photo Credit: Simon Fraser University
The workshop was informative and empowering -- one of the best I've attended. It took the mystery out of writing an op-ed and the editorial and pitching support outside of the workshop is second to none.
Penelope Simons
Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa
Photo Credit: University of Ottawa
The Informed Opinions workshop offers impressive editorial support for any organization seeking to extend its reach. I received invaluable insight into how to effectively communicate Equal Voice's message in op ed form.
Nancy Peckford
Executive Director, Equal Voice
Whenever I read an op ed by a woman and informed by feminist knowledge and experience, I am deeply gratified that Informed Opinions is reminding women that our voices matter.
Liz Sheehy
Professor, Faculty of Common Law, University of Ottawa
Photo Credit: University of Ottawa
Informed Opinions brings together groups of brilliant and articulate women and is expertly facilitated to develop and enhance participants’ skills in writing and contributing to public discourse.
Kim Pate
Executive Director, Coalition of Elizabeth Fry Societies
It was an inspirational session, filled with brilliant insights and superb
strategies. Fascinating. Focused. Funny. This offers just about everything women could possibly need to know about how to
get our important ideas out into the public realm.
Constance Backhouse
Canada Research Chair and Professor of Law, University of Ottawa
The Informed Opinions Project works
exceedingly well on two levels:
it convincingly tells us why women should contribute to public commentary and how to effectively go about it.
Nicole LaViolette
Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa
Shari's session was part motivation but mostly hands-on instruction and feedback. By the time it was over, I had a general outline, and within a few weeks, I'd published my first op-ed in the Ottawa Citizen.
Hilary Young
Sessional Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa
I received a beautiful phone call in response to my op ed from someone who was personally implicated in the issue I wrote about.
He called to say that my comments had empowered him to speak up for himself.
Rebecca Johnson
Professor of Law, University of Victoria
My published op ed generated 7 interview requests, including two local TV tapings and national print exposure. I would not have
responded to these (let alone written the op-ed) without the motivation, guidance and support provided by Informed Opinions.
Maneesha Deckha
Professor of Law, University of Victoria
The Informed Opinions workshop gave me the push I needed to get my thoughts on university science out into the wider world, as well as practical tips for how to accomplish the task.
Claire Cupples
Dean, Faculty of Science, Simon Fraser University
Shari is personable and shares her expertise generously. I left feeling more prepared and confident to share my perspective.
Robin Cox
Professor, Disaster & Emergency Management, Royal Roads University
Although I've been comfortable doing media interviews for a while, the Informed Opinions workshop I took at Queen's inspired me to expand my reach to newspaper commentary, which gave me more scope to say what I wanted.
Jill Scott
Associate Professor, Department of Languages, Literatures & Cultures, Queen's University
Informed Opinions provided concise and useful information about how to draft an op-ed and get it published, making the workshop one of the best investments I have ever made. The whole experience was morale boosting and confidence building.
Catherine Morris
Director, Peacemakers Trust, and Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Victoria
Inspired by my participation in the Informed Opinions workshop, I subsequently began accepting print and broadcast interview requests, and have since published commentary in several newspapers and online sites. The opportunity to provide context and analysis that's often absent has been extremely rewarding.
Dr. Janni Aragon
Chair, Academic Women's Caucus, University of Victoria
Inspiring and fun, the Informed Opinions workshop demystifies the process of writing and submitting an op-ed, delivering hands-on tools and mobilizing participants to engage in one of public discourse's most influential sources of information.
Kathleen Cross
School of Communication, Simon Fraser University; Co-Director, Newswatch Canada
I left the Informed Opinions workshop with the framework for an op ed, and then received detailed, helpful editing advice from Shari on my completed draft. The Globe and Mail published my piece the following week. I'm excited to continue engaging with the media as a way to disseminate my research.
Stephanie Ben-Ishai
Associate Professor, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University
Informed Opinions opens a fascinating window onto how the opinion pages of a newspaper really work. The workshop has not only led directly to several op-eds but even better it has created a campus network intent on supporting women's engagement with the media.
Lisa Philipps
Associate Vice-President of Research, York University
Informed Opinions delivers tremendous stimulation, insight and support; since participating, my commentaries have been published on the Globe and Mail's online hub and in the Hill Times.
Giovanna Mingarelli
Principal and Co-Founder, M&C Consulting
The Informed Opinions workshop was great motivation, and a wonderful opportunity to meet other women scholars from across my university. I was also pleasantly surprised by the supportive responses I received from people who read my published commentary.
Steffanie Scott
Associate Professor, Department of Geography and Environmental Management, University of Waterloo
Shari Graydon
