Esther is a trauma informed care counsellor, a guest lecturer and a trainer on gender-based violence, diversity, equity, inclusion, human rights and social justice. Her work is grounded in an integrated anti-racist/anti-oppression, and feminist analysis, a holistic approach in which a person's lived experience and realities of life are not fragmented and divided. Esther has been working in the human services field for over 30 years. She is a mentor and mother to many. She has a BA (Hons) in Sociology/Anthropology and Women’s Studies, Trauma Informed Care Counselling Certification, and an MBA.

Esther is honoured to be selected by the CWF in 2025 as a delicate to United Nations Conference in New York. She was also selected in 2019 by the WAGE to represent Canadian Women at the International Conference in Vancouver, B.C.

Esther is the founder of the Women’s Committee of Durham Region (WCDR). She is also one of the founding members of the Redwood Shelter for Assaulted Women and Children, Toronto, the former past Vice President of the Ontario Association of Interval and Transition Houses (OAITH). She co-authored “Creating Inclusive Spaces for Women; a Feminist, Anti-racist/Anti-oppression Training Manual”, for organizations working in the field of gender-based violence. As the VP of OAITH, she and some directors delivered intersectionality of gender-based, anti-racist and anti-oppression training to all OAITH member agencies across Ontario. Esther is a Provincial Resource Group Member for the Western University Violence Against Women Learning Network; Past Seneca College Social Service Workers, Immigrant and Refugee Advisory Committee Member, Advisory Member Black Health Matters, Dalla Lama, School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Co-Chair, City of Barrie Anti-Racism Task Force, Advisory Committee Member, Metroland Media, Member Banker Ladies Council, Collective Diaspora Steering Committee Member, and many others. Esther is a co-author for a book “Help Her Recover”. She is a recipient of several professional and Community services awards.

Please listen, subscribe, rate, and review this podcast and share it with others. If you appreciate this content, if you want to get in on the efforts to build a gender equal Canada, please donate at ⁠canadianwomen.org⁠ and consider becoming a monthly donor.

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Angela Sterritt is an award-winning investigative journalist, TV, radio, and podcast host, and national bestselling author. She is from the Wilps ‘Wii Ḵ’aax of the Gitanmaax community within the Gitxsan Nation on her dad’s side and from Bell Island, Newfoundland, on her maternal side. Sterritt worked as a television, radio, and digital journalist at CBC for more than a decade. She also hosted the award-winning CBC original podcast Land Back.

Her book Unbroken is part memoir and part investigation into the murders and disappearances of Indigenous women and girls. It became an instant national bestseller in May 2023. Unbroken was nominated for the Governor General’s Literary Awards, one of Canada’s oldest and most prestigious literary prizes. It was also nominated for the prestigious Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Award for Best Non-Fiction Book in Canada.

In 2024, Sterritt announced her second book, BREAKABLE, which will investigate how racism and colonialism cultivate harmful behaviors in men and how Indigenous men and communities are breaking cycles of unhealthy notions of masculinity. Greystone Books will publish Breakable in 2026.

In 2021, Sterritt won an Academy Award (Canadian Screen Award) for Best Reporter of the Year in Canada for her coverage of an Indigenous man and his then 12-year-old granddaughter who were arrested while trying to open a bank account at BMO. Sterritt also won a national Radio Television Digital News Association award for the same reporting. In 2020, Sterritt was named in Vancouver Magazine’s Power 50 list of the city’s 50 most influential people.

Please listen, subscribe, rate, and review this podcast and share it with others. If you appreciate this content, if you want to get in on the efforts to build a gender equal Canada, please donate at ⁠canadianwomen.org⁠ and consider becoming a monthly donor.

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Paul Taylor is an anti-poverty activist, teacher at Simon Fraser University and has led four nonprofit organizations, including FoodShare Toronto, where he was the Executive Director from 2017-2023. He ran to be Member of Parliament in the federal riding of Parkdale-High Park in 2019 and again in 2021, when he lost by a mere 1,700 votes.

He has written several op-eds on leadership, the non-profit sector and various social issues. In 2020, Paul was named one of Toronto Life’s 50 Most Influential Torontonians, was awarded the Top 40 under 40 in Canada, and voted Best Activist by the readers of Now Magazine. He is the co-founder and co-managing director of Evenings & Weekends Consulting.

Paul’s experience includes Executive Director roles at Second Base Youth Shelter, Gordon Neighbourhood House and the Downtown Eastside Neighbourhood House. He has also chaired the British Columbia Poverty Reduction Coalition, served on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, the Metro Vancouver Alliance and as Vice-Chair of Food Secure Canada.

When not at work, Paul is almost always found in the kitchen, on his bike, in a good book or at a local protest.

Please listen, subscribe, rate, and review this podcast and share it with others. If you appreciate this content, if you want to get in on the efforts to build a gender equal Canada, please donate at ⁠canadianwomen.org⁠ and consider becoming a monthly donor.

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Today, we’re joined by Mesi, a leader whose national and global advocacy is transforming how we understand and respond to economic abuse in Canada.

Mesi shares how her lived experience, decades of work in global health, finance, digital innovation, and gender equality, and her leadership at the Canadian Centre for Women Empowerment led her to help build the national infrastructure needed to prevent economic abuse, one of the most hidden and often overlooked forms of gender based violence in Canada.

We’ll explore why financial safety is fundamental to survivor safety and how coordinated action across banking, government, housing, justice, and community services can move us toward meaningful change.

And finally, Mesi leaves us with practical ways every sector, from finance to technology to community organizations, can help build a future where economic justice is recognized as one of the core pillars of gender equality.

Please listen, subscribe, rate, and review this podcast and share it with others. If you appreciate this content, if you want to get in on the efforts to build a gender equal Canada, please donate at ⁠canadianwomen.org⁠ and consider becoming a monthly donor.

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Today we are joined by host Alyssa Carpenter from the Canadian Women’s Foundation. In this episode, Alyssa sits down with Jolene McDonald, an Indigenous wellness practitioner and the founder of a healing business that weaves together yoga, Reiki, life coaching, and community facilitation in the North. Together, they explore the power of grassroots care and small, practical ways to begin reconnecting with your own self and your community.

Please listen, subscribe, rate, and review this podcast and share it with others. If you appreciate this content, if you want to get in on the efforts to build a gender equal Canada, please donate at ⁠canadianwomen.org⁠ and consider becoming a monthly donor.

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Michelle Osbourne is an Empowerment Speaker, Self-Image Activist, and founder of Michelle Osbourne & Co. Known for helping women reclaim their confidence and take up space boldly at every stage of life, Michelle brings an unapologetic, intersectional feminist lens to everything she does. A CBC Black Changemaker and shortlisted for the Canadian Women’s Foundation’s Feminist Creator Prize, she’s partnered with top brands like Amazon Prime Video, Dove, and Interac. Her work has been featured on TV, radio, podcasts, and in publications like Today’s Parent, and HELLO!. Whether she’s delivering a keynote or inspiring thousands online with her no-nonsense energy, Michelle’s mission is simple; help women show up loudly, proudly, and without apology.

Please listen, subscribe, rate, and review this podcast and share it with others. If you appreciate this content, if you want to get in on the efforts to build a gender equal Canada, please donate at ⁠canadianwomen.org⁠ and consider becoming a monthly donor.

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Today, we’re joined by award-winning journalist Jana Pruden, whose reporting shines a light on gender-based violence and how these cases move through our justice system.

Jana shares how her work in court reporting led her to focus on intimate partner violence, and why telling these stories accurately and ethically matters so much.

We’ll explore the responsibility journalists carry in an age of misinformation, and the power of storytelling to help us understand what is really at stake.

And finally, Jana leaves us with practical ways we can all support facts-based journalism and stay engaged in building change.

Please listen, subscribe, rate, and review this podcast and share it with others. If you appreciate this content, if you want to get in on the efforts to build a gender equal Canada, please donate at ⁠canadianwomen.org⁠ and consider becoming a monthly donor.

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Welcome to the first episode of Alright, Now What? Season 8: Shifting the Story.

Today, we’re kicking things off with someone who embodies that spirit of change: BleSsed Brooks, founder of the first official Yoni Spa in Canada. BleSsed will take us through her journey as an entrepreneur: what inspired her and the challenges feminist entrepreneurs face. We’ll also dig into some of the creative solutions she’s found along the way. And finally, she’ll leave us with a few powerful words on what it means to take action and stay rooted in purpose.

Please listen, subscribe, rate, and review this podcast and share it with others. If you appreciate this content, if you want to get in on the efforts to build a gender equal Canada, please donate at ⁠canadianwomen.org⁠ and consider becoming a monthly donor.

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