Jane Tallim
Co-Executive Director

Cathy Wing
Co-Executive Director

Skye Cameron
Office Administrator

Lynn Huxtable
Director, Corporate Affairs

Matthew Johnson
Director of Education

Thierry Plante
Media Education Specialist

Julia Ladouceur
Project Manager

Diane van Rens
Web Manager

Maya Shoucair
Communications Officer

MediaSmarts Bloggers [2]

Staff Biographies

Jane Tallim
Co-Executive Director

A former English Language Arts teacher, Jane first joined MediaSmarts in 1995. As Director of Education, Jane developed many of its award-winning media education resources and programs and has promoted media education extensively through national and international speaking engagements. In 2005, Jane left MediaSmarts to work for Ontario's Provincial Centre of Excellence for Child and Youth Mental Health at CHEO. She returned to MediaSmarts with a wealth of knowledge of the child and youth health and mental health sectors, expertise in youth engagement and experience working in a knowledge exchange environment.

Cathy Wing
Co-Executive Director

Cathy has worked with the MediaSmarts since its inception in 1995. As a senior staff member she has been responsible for overseeing the ongoing national research project Young Canadians in a Wired World. As an expert in the area of children's use of the Internet, Cathy has presented extensively at international conferences, facilitated Internet literacy workshops across Canada, and participated in task forces on issues related to the Internet. With a background in film studies, Cathy's previous career was in the film and television industry as a news and current affairs producer. She was also the founder and co-director of Ottawa's first children’s film festival.

Skye Cameron
Office Administrator

As Office Administrator, Skye provides support to Staff and the Board of Directors as well as ensuring the smooth flow of operations for the organization. She brings to MediaSmarts over fifteen years of diverse administrative experience including in the film and television production industry. Skye previously worked as a Program Assistant for a non-profit international development organization.

Lynn Huxtable
Director, Corporate Affairs

Lynn provides consultation on strategic policy, planning and marketing within the areas of operations, sponsorship, membership and finance. In addition, she directs and manages licensing of MediaSmarts’ educational resources. Lynn brings a diverse range of skills, including marketing, communications, finance and administration, developed while working in the not-for-profit, film and television, and international development sectors.

Matthew Johnson
Director of Education

As Director of Education, Matthew creates resources for educators, parents and community groups. Matthew also writes the Talk Media blog, one of the most popular sections of the MediaSmarts website. He has given presentations and interviews to parents, school, community and industry groups across Canada on a wide range of media topics. Matthew is an educator with nearly ten years' experience teaching media education, film-making, English and special education among other subjects. His experience also includes award-winning work as a writer of prose, plays and radio and television scripts and he recently released his first novel, Fall From Earth [3], with publisher Bundoran Press.

Thierry Plante
Media Education Specialist

As a French Education Specialist, Thierry is responsible for creating resources for educators, parents and community groups and for conducting outreach activities with French language schools, school boards, education ministries, and faculties of education and community organizations across Canada. Thierry is a former editor, translator and French language teacher and holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Communications from the University of Ottawa.

Julia Ladouceur
Project Manager

As Project Manager, Julia manages and coordinates the development of media education and awareness projects, initiatives and resources for MediaSmarts. Her responsibilities include assisting with project proposals, preparing and executing work plans, planning and maintaining budgets, and compiling reports. Julia previously worked for the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Law, as administrator of On the Identity Trail, a large multi-disciplinary research project. She holds an Honours B.A. in History.

Diane van Rens
Web Manager

As Web Manager, Diane is responsible for the administration, development and maintenance of MediaSmarts' websites. Prior to MediaSmarts, Diane worked as Web Manager for CARE, an international aid and development organization, and as a Web Designer on numerous website projects within both the non-profit and for-profit sectors. She brings with her over ten years of experience in website management, design, development and maintenance with training in design, multimedia and social media.

Maya Shoucair
Communications Officer

As Communications Officer, Maya is responsible for developing and managing communications products and the organization’s media relations activities. Before starting with MediaSmarts, Maya worked in the non-profit and public sectors focusing on web content creation, social media marketing and community management. She graduated with an Honours B. Sc. Soc. in International Development and Globalization with a Minor in Communications from the University of Ottawa.