Anna Maria Tremonti has been on the frontlines of history in the making for decades as one of Canada’s most trusted journalists and interviewers. For 17 years, she was the acclaimed host of CBC Radio’s, The Current, the current affairs show she helped to create. Prior to that, she earned her reputation as a fearless, hard-hitting journalist as co-host of CBC’s The Fifth Estate, senior reporter for The National, a political reporter in Ottawa, and in her roles as a foreign correspondent and war correspondent covering some of the world’s most dangerous conflict zones. In 2022, Anna Maria revealed a 40-year secret – an abusive marriage she was in at age 23 – and explored her personal experience with intimate partner violence in her podcast Welcome To Paradise.

An award-winning journalist and author of two best-selling books, Elizabeth Renzetti is a passionate advocate for gender equity who has written about feminist issues since 1993. She’s worked as a columnist, reporter and section editor at The Globe and Mail; editor of a national magazine Elm Street and as a correspondent in Los Angeles, London and Berlin. Elizabeth has written extensively about femicide and intimate partner violence. Through her reporting, she has examined a wide range of prevention and safety recommendations with violence-prevention advocates and activists. Elizabeth was the 2020 winner of the Landsberg Award which recognized her for her work raising awareness about women’s equality issues in Canada. 

Gemini award-winning broadcaster and business journalist Linda Sims became a highly recognizable presence from the 80s onward as a reporter and host on TV shows like CBC’s Venture, CTV’s Canada AM Newsnet, and Business News Network’s, The Street. During this time, Linda deepened her relationship with us moving from monthly donor to tireless advocate writing letters, hosting events, and speaking on behalf of Interval House. In March 2000, Linda hosted Interval’s House’s first documentary-style television campaign “Journey to Freedom” and in 2003, she offered her support to our capital campaign as Campaign Ambassador.

Margo Goodhand is the former editor-in-chief of the Edmonton Journal and the Winnipeg Free Press. She has been published in newspapers and magazines across Canada, including the Globe and Mail and The Walrus, as a syndicated columnist, news reporter, travel writer, editorial writer and arts and book reviewer. Margo’s award-winning 2018 book “Runaway Wives and Rogue Feminists” chronicled the history of the women’s shelter movement in Canada and brought national recognition to the women who founded the shelters and this formerly untold chapter of Canadian feminist history. As a result, the shelters’ founders were recognized in the House of Commons in May 2019, given a standing ovation from the assembled legislators, and later thanked by the Prime Minister for their work and their legacy.

One of the most respected voices in Canadian feminism, activist and award-winning journalist Michele Landsberg began her career with The Globe and Mail in the 1960s and moved to Chatelaine in the 1970s before shifting to the Toronto Star where she wrote her highly influential column on feminist issues for 25 years. A long-time ally of Interval House, Michele penned one of the first articles about battered women in the 1970s, helping to bring widespread awareness about a problem many denied was happening.

Lynn wasn’t planning on making history or launching a 47-year career devoted to preventing violence against women in 1972. After working as a women’s page reporter for the Peterborough Examiner and trying law school for a year, Lynn was volunteering at a women’s centre in Toronto when she started receiving calls from women trying to escape abusive marriages. There was no safe place for them to go, so Lynn rallied a group of women to create one and opened the doors to Interval House, Canada’s first shelter for women and children fleeing abuse in 1973.

She continued her work at Interval House for 12 years before moving on to become the executive director of the YWCA in Peterborough, a role she recently retired from after 35 years. Lynn was honoured for her contributions to protecting victims of violence and for her advocacy of women’s rights with a Queen Elizabeth II’s Golden Jubilee Medal in 2002 and in 2019, she was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada.