2009 Joan Donaldson CBC News Scholarship recipients
- Stephanie VanKampen
- Tashauna Reid
- Saphia Khamabalia
- Redmond Shannon
- Krysia Collyer
- Anna Fong
- Chris Glover
Stephanie VanKampen
Stephanie VanKampen graduated with distinction from St. Thomas University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism and Political Science. She has interned for CBC radio and CBC News at Six in Fredericton, New Brunswick, worked for private radio stations as a newsreader and was the arts editor of St. Thomas' weekly paper, the Aquinian.
In the summer of 2007, Stephanie volunteered with an orphan sponsorship program in Zambia, Africa. She returned the following summer to help organize a week-long camp for young girls.
Back at home, Stephanie organized a local chapter of Journalists for Human Rights and volunteered as a girls' club counsellor.
In 2008, she interned with the Arabic news network, Al Arabiya, while attending the Institute for Political Journalism at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. She has received an Atlantic Journalism Award and a honourable mention for her investigative work into the closure of a New Brunswick nuclear parts supplier.
Stephanie hails from Prince Edward Island, and as a youngster, played the role of the red-headed Anne of Green Gables.
Tashauna Reid
Tashauna Reid is a recent graduate of the Journalism program at Ryerson University. During her studies, she was a regular panellist on CBC NEWSWORLD's Youth Political Panel during the 2008 Federal Election.
Last fall, she interned at The National on what is known as the "back-half" of the show. Over this time she helped produce features on a range of topics, from "binge drinking" to being "recession ready". Her biggest project was "Cool to be Kind," a National series that highlighted acts of kindness across Canada.
Last year she was a selected participant on the March of Remembrance and Hope, where she toured Germany and Poland alongside holocaust survivors.
Tashauna previously hosted her own current affairs campus radio show, wrote for campus newspapers and was a member of human rights groups on campus.
As a native of Jamaica, she has had the best of both worlds, often spending many of her summers on the island.
Saphia Khamabalia
Saphia Khamabalia is a graduate of the journalism program at Ryerson University. She most recently worked as an on-air reporter for CTV in Northern Ontario, and has appeared on CTV Newsnet and Good Morning Canada.
This past summer, her international journalism work took her to East Africa. Saphia headed the media leg of a women's organization committed to ending domestic violence. While learning more about her Ugandan and Tanzanian roots, Saphia also produced and shot a feature that profiles the lives of displaced children.
Saphia has held up a post as a writer on the CP24 news desk and as an intern with Global TV-Toronto, CHCH and Rogers Sportsnet. She grew up in the Hamilton-Niagara area and has been recognized by the City of Hamilton for her community involvement. Saphia was also one of the recipients of the 2007 Women of the Year Awards in Niagara. Saphia Khambalia is honoured to be at CBC Newsworld as one of the 2009 Joan Donaldson Scholars.
Krysia Collyer
Krysia Collyer recently completed her Master of Journalism at the University of British Columbia's Graduate School of Journalism. Before entering the Joan Donaldson Program, she interned at Global National. During her last year of study, she completed a documentary on the Canadian health system for Dan Rather Reports.
More recently, Krysia was part of a team of journalists who travelled abroad to investigate electronic waste practices in a documentary for PBS FRONTLINE/WORLD.
Redmond Shannon
Redmond Shannon is a graduate of the Diploma in Journalism at Concordia University. Born and raised in Limerick, Ireland, his undergraduate degree was in Aeronautical Engineering. Having worked in the aerospace industry in Ireland, the UK and the US, he moved to a new job in Montreal in 2004. It was here that he first worked on radio, volunteering as co-host of the city's Irish community show and working on live broadcasts at Montreal Impact soccer games - both on CJAD.
He has travelled to over 30 countries and enjoys playing and watching various sports.
Anna Fong
Anna Fong is a Maritimer who hails from Nova Scotia. She has a B.Sc. in Biology and Psychology from Dalhousie University and decided to switch careers as a lab technician to pursue graduate studies. She completed her Master of Journalism degree from the University of British Columbia and has interned with Global National in Vancouver as well as CTV Atlantic in Halifax.
Anna has a strong interest in science and health related stories. In addition to the Joan Donaldson scholarship, she received the UBC Science Journalism Scholarship and the 2008 CIHR Health Communications Award. For fun, she likes to play Ultimate Frisbee and practices Yoga and Martial Arts.
Chris Glover
Chris Glover is a graduate of the journalism program at Ryerson University. During his studies, he completed a reporting internship at CTV Atlantic and reported for Ryerson's campus newspaper.
Before entering the Donaldson program, Chris worked for Metroland Durham Region Media Group as a general assignment reporter for its nine community newspapers. Along with filing print articles, Chris contributed daily broadcast reports to its website. He also hosted a weekend community news and events show that streamed on the website called "The Daytripper."
Chris has always had a passion for travel and languages. In his most recent trip, Chris backpacked to mainland Europe, where he visited eight countries. He continues to study Spanish in Toronto.