We, as humans are guaranteed certain things in life: stressors, taxes, bills and death are the first thoughts that pop to mind. It is not uncommon that many people find a hard time dealing with these daily life stressors, and at times will find themselves losing control over their lives. Simone Jennifer Smith’s great passion is using the gifts that have been given to her, to help educate her clients on how to live meaningful lives. The Hear to Help Team consists of powerfully motivated individuals, who like Simone, see that there is a need in this world; a need for real connection. As the founder and Director of Hear 2 Help, Simone leads a team that goes out into the community day to day, servicing families with their educational, legal and mental health needs.Her dedication shows in her Toronto Caribbean newspaper articles, and in her role as a host on the TCN TV Network.
With a last name that means “Faithful and loyal,” it is no wonder that Paul Junor has become a welcomed addition to the Toronto Caribbean Newspaper Team. Since 1992, Paul has dedicated his life to become what you call a great teacher. Throughout the years, he has formed strong relationships with his students and continues to show them that he cares about them as people. Paul is a warm, accessible, enthusiastic and caring individual who not only makes himself available for his students, but for his community as well.
In his new role as a reporter and Journalist, Michael can he be described in two words: brilliant, and relentless. Michael Thomas aka Redman was born in Grenada, and at an early age realized his love for music. He began his musical journey as a reggae performer with the street DJs and selectors. After he moved to Toronto in 1989, he started singing with the calypso tents, and in 2008, and 2009 he won the People’s Choice Award and the coveted title of Calypso Monarch. He has taken this same passion, and has begun to focus his attention on doing working within the community.
Fazaad writes for the finance column at the Toronto Caribbean Newspaper. As a qualified Financial Advisor, he has completed his Masters in Business Administration, earned the designation of a Financial Services Specialist and Life Underwriter Training Council Fellow. Having worked in the Finance Industry for the last 27 years he is passionate about managing clients investment. He writes to bring a level of awareness to our community and to bring financial help to those who need it.
Jay Brijpaul is a 29 year Toronto Real Estate veteran and one of Canada’s top Real Estate Brokers. He has been involved in over 3000 Real Estate sales representing both buyers and sellers. His team, The Brij Team, is consistently among the top RE/MAX residential teams in Canada and around the world. Since 1994, Jay became a member of the Fellows of Real Estate Institute of Canada (FRI), giving him an additional 5 years of Real Estate training beyond what virtually all Real Estate agents have.
His obvious passion for food, and his gift for descriptive writing is what makes Chef Noel Cunningham one of Jamaica’s foremost culinary connoisseurs, and Toronto Caribbean Newspapers infamous culinary expert. Currently residing in Winnipeg Manitoba, Chef Cunningham gifts Toronto with delicious, and easy recipes that have been featured on several radio programs, tv shows and magazines. He has been featured on the Marc and Mandy Show, as well as one of CTV Winnipeg Morning Live Chefs. To add to his list of qualifications, Noel is all the owner of Cuisine by Noel Catering Company.
Selina is a recent Digital Journalism and Communication, Media and Film Graduate from the University of Windsor. While in university, she served as the Arts and Culture Writer for The Lance, as well as a writer, interviewing selected individuals for Street Voices Magazine. Her passions include: creative writing, film, and photography. Over the last four months, Selina has collaborated on a documentary exploring sex trafficking and the horrific elements that harbour the untold truths of human trafficking in Windsor/Detroit. She is a: hard working, responsible and caring individual who continues to seek new challenges.
Dr. W. Gifford-Jones, MD is a graduate of the University of Toronto and the Harvard Medical School. He trained in general surgery at Strong Memorial Hospital, University of Rochester, Montreal General Hospital, McGill University and in Gynecology at Harvard. His storied medical career began as a general practitioner, ship’s surgeon, and hotel doctor. For more than 40 years, he specialized in gynecology, devoting his practice to the formative issues of women’s health. In 1975, he launched his weekly medical column that has been published by national and local Canadian and U.S. newspapers. Today, the readership remains over seven million. His advice contains a solid dose of common sense and he never sits on the fence with controversial issues. He is the author of nine books including, “The Healthy Barmaid”, his autobiography “You’re Going To Do What?”, “What I Learned as a Medical Journalist”, and “90+ How I Got There!” Many years ago, he was successful in a fight to legalize heroin to help ease the pain of terminal cancer patients. His foundation at that time donated $500,000 to establish the Gifford-Jones Professorship in Pain Control and Palliative Care at the University of Toronto Medical School. At 93 years of age he rappelled from the top of Toronto’s City Hall (30 stories) to raise funds for children with a life-threatening disease through the Make-a-Wish Foundation. Diana Gifford-Jones, the daughter of W. Gifford-Jones, MD, Diana has extensive global experience in health and healthcare policy. Diana is Special Advisor with The Aga Khan University, which operates 2 quaternary care hospitals and numerous secondary hospitals, medical centres, pharmacies, and laboratories in South Asia and Africa. She worked for ten years in the Human Development sectors at the World Bank, including health policy and economics, nutrition, and population health. For over a decade at The Conference Board of Canada, she managed four health-related executive networks, including the Roundtable on Socio-Economic Determinants of Health, the Centre for Chronic Disease Prevention and Management, the Canadian Centre for Environmental Health, and the Centre for Health System Design and Management. Her master’s degree in public policy at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government included coursework at Harvard Medical School. She is also a graduate of Wellesley College. She has extensive experience with Canadian universities, including at Carleton University, where she was the Executive Director of the Global Academy. She lived and worked in Japan for four years and speaks Japanese fluently. Diana has the designation as a certified Chartered Director from The Directors College, a joint venture of The Conference Board of Canada and McMaster University. She has recently published a book on the natural health philosophy of W. Gifford-Jones, called No Nonsense Health – Naturally!
David “Rankin” Lindsay is an enthusiastic, self-motivated and determined individual with a passion for learning, teaching and playing an active role within his community. He believes that the sky’s the limit, and that people can accomplish anything they set their minds too. The most rewarding experiences for Dave is when he is able to use his skills and educational background to help others and make a difference. He is a certified Phase 1 Sports and Nutrition Specialist, a African History Teacher, and a certified ESL teacher.
As one of our youngest journalists, Kayla Karim continues to display growth in her reporting and writing. Kayla has worked as a Production Assistant at CBC, and has joined Toronto Caribbean Newspaper with a joy for sports writing. As our Sports writer, Kayla keeps fans in touch with their favorite Caribbean sports and teams. With television providing immediate coverage, in-depth reporting is expected from today’s sportswriters, and Kayla has a knack for not only writing about what happens in the game, but the reasons teams succeed or fail.
Girl boss, Christina Gwira happens to be a technology wiz, and now heads up our Technology Specialist Column. She became her own boss for the first time in 2008. Running her own business provided her with the lessons and experience she needed, and now,she is running three successful businesses, has over 10+ years in business,and 1.5+ million views on Youtube. “My calling is to prevent other millennial entrepreneurs from going through some of the hardships I went through. I am here to equip bloggers, brand builders and business owners with the framework to build a brand, ready to impact this digital age.”
Over the last 16 years, Dr. Vikas Puri has been a successful Chiropractor and clinical director in the City of Brampton. In 2017, Dr. Puri decided to take it to another level, and partnered with Dr. Gina Bajaj. They formed a national brand known as the “Intelligent Health Group; their aim is to provide a synergistic approach to health and wellness. They bring together diverse practitioners into an integrative and revolutionary health model. Each week, Dr. Puri provides intelligent health solutions that address: mind, body and spirit.
Wazari Johnson is a devoted writer/reporter and comes with great experience as a former writer for a major news publication in Jamaica, he has a passion for the entrepreneurial world and is the owner of Advocate Industries and Goods Express in Jamaica. Wazari is also an accomplished ceramist, and is also a member of the Jamaica Design Association.
Mkuu graduated at Birmingham City University in 2007 where he was awarded a Bachelor of Arts in Professional Housing Studies. He worked in local government as a housing professional for over 20 years before moving to the private sector to work as a Quality Assurance Coach in customer services. Throughout his career he has always found time to indulge his passions for writing, photography and sports and can therefore add former (trophy winning) football coach, tennis coach and Poet Laureate to his list of achievements. His journalistic work can be found in a number of publications including the Jamaica Gleaner and Boxing News Monthly. In 2013, in recognition of his community work in Walsall (UK) Mkuu was nominated for the Mayor’s Award. Today he remains committed to making a positive contribution to community development and aims to use his journalism to achieve this.
As a well-known Toronto communicator, Stephen Weir has worked on many important cultural projects including the Scotiabank Toronto Caribbean Carnival (Caribana), McMichael Canadian Art Collection, and the Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction. As one of our most seasoned reporters, Stephen Weir is an active journalist who happens to also be a published author. Alongside publishing work under his own name, he has ghost written two other books. For thirty years he has been researching, watching and writing about the History of Diving in the Movies. To add to his immense resume, Stephen has written for a number of TV shows including the TSN 13-part airplane series Sky High that continues to find audiences around the world, as well as acting in a PR capacity for a number of well-known authors, artists and public figures including Johnnie Cochran, Hurricane Carter, Robert Bateman, Bob Rae, Norval Morrisseau and Tim Cook.
Joseph Cunningham is the CEO of Governor Communications a Public Relations and Communications company. He has had a record of consistently and effectively executing Public Relations (PR) and Marketing strategies by utilizing well-developed managerial skills in the areas of brand promotion and corporate communication. These skills are accompanied by well-developed writing skills used to create: feature articles, press releases, profiles and appropriately constructed letters. He has developed excellent relationships throughout corporate Jamaica and the media landscape, possessing media contacts covering the entire island. His connections in the field extend to countries of the wider Caribbean, the United States of America and in European territories, such as France, Italy and Germany, just to name a few.
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