The PersistersCAN Podcast

Today’s certified persister is Nicole Dekort.

Nicole grew up in Scarborough, Ontario in a very political family. Her father served as a city councillor from the time she was two years old and her mother served as a returning officer and local campaign manager in multiple elections.

She served as an election volunteer in multiple campaigns before serving as a legislative assistant to an MPP and then Outreach Assistant to Opposition Leader, Dalton McGuinty. Ahead of the 2003 she would serve as Director of Operations for the Ontario Liberal Party and, after helping win a majority government, she became its Executive Director.

In government, Nicole served as a Senior Operations Advisor, Director of Operations, and Executive Director for Strategic Planning in several government ministries as well as senior Manager of Operations in the Premier’s Office.

Nicole joins us today to talk about how she got involved in politics, what it takes to be the Executive Director of a political party, and how we can encourage more women to get involved in civic life.

Production Note: This episode was recorded on August 22, 2022.

Today’s certified persister is Anna Bortolus.

Anna grew up in Burlington, Ontario in a family with progressive values and a strong social justice streak. She first got involved in politics as a child making phone calls for her neighbour as he ran for local office.

She began her career at a major appliance manufacturing corporation which led to her building her own business as she started her family.

Ahead of the 2011 provincial election in Ontario, Anna became the Riding Fundraising Facilitator for the Ontario Liberal Party, supporting the fundraising efforts of local riding associations while also volunteering her time supporting the fundraising efforts of the Ontario Women’s Liberal Commission.

Anna joins us today to talk about how she got involved in politics, what it takes to fundraise at the local level, and how we can encourage more women to get involved in civic life.

Production Note: This episode was recorded on August 18, 2022.

Today’s certified persister is Patricia Favre.

Patricia grew up in Oakville, Ontario with her parents who, while not overly partisan, made it clear that voting was an important civic duty. Patricia first got involved in politics at Queen’s University volunteering on local campaigns before securing a summer internship at Queen’s Park.

In government, she served as a Communications Assistant and then Legislative Assistant to the Minister of Community and Social Services before becoming an Advisor to the Minister Responsible for Francophone Affairs. She then joined the Premier’s Office as a Special Assistant within the tour team.

Patricia has served as the elected VP Communications on the Executive Council of the Ontario Liberal Party, as the Communications Chair for the 2020 leadership convention, and as a Co-Chair for the party’s 2022 election campaign debrief.

Patricia joins us today to talk about how she got involved in politics, what it takes to be on the Premier’s tour team, and how we can encourage more women to get involved in civic life.

Production Note: This episode was recorded on August 17, 2022.

Today’s certified persister is Camille Gooden.

Camille was born and raised in Kingston, Jamaica and later attended the University of the West Indies and its law school. She was a practicing lawyer in Kingston for a decade before moving to Canada where she began practicing law in Ontario.

She became a Health Policy Advisor in the Ministry of Health Promotion and Sport before serving as the Chief of Staff to the Minister of Consumer Services from 2012 to 2014 in the McGuinty Government.

In the Wynne government, Camille served under the Deputy Premier and President of the Treasury Board, as well as the Minister of Housing and Minister Responsible for Poverty Reduction, as the senior policy advisor responsible for the Poverty Reduction Strategy, the Local Poverty Reduction Fund, and the historic Basic Income Pilot.

Camille joins us today to talk about how she got involved in politics, what it takes to tackle poverty through policy work, and how we can encourage more women to get involved in civic life.

Production Note: This episode was recorded on September 27, 2022.

Today’s certified persister is Dawn Skinner.

Dawn was born in Toronto and moved to Barrie, Ontario at the age of ten. She trained as a teacher before getting involved in local politics in the Etobicoke area during the 2008 federal election.

She joined the office of Federal Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff during the constitutional crisis later that year before moving on to work in the Government of Ontario as a Legislative Assistant, Press Secretary, and Policy Advisor in the Ministry of Children and Youth Services.

Dawn moved into communications planning in the Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs before being promoted to the position of Director of Communications Planning in the Premier’s office.

Dawn joins us today to talk about how she got involved in politics, what it takes to be a communications planner, and how we can encourage more women to get involved in civic life.

Production Note: This episode was recorded on September 26, 2022.

Today’s certified persister is Christine McMillan.

Christine grew up outside of Woodstock, Ontario and got involved in politics after one of her teachers suggested she get involved in a campaign to learn more about the political process.

She would go on to serve as the Executive Assistant to an MPP before becoming the Issues Manager to the Leader of the Official Opposition. After the Ontario Liberals won the 2003 election, Christine joined the Premier’s Office as the Director of Operations and then Director of Strategic Research.

As a volunteer she served on the party’s Executive Council, as the Secretary General of the party’s 2013 and 2020 leadership elections, and finally as the Campaign Director for the 2022 election campaign.

Christine joins us today to talk about how she got involved in politics, what it takes to manage a province-wide election campaign, and how we can encourage more women to get involved in civic life.

Production Note: This episode was recorded on August 26, 2022.

Today’s certified persister is Adrienne Lipsey.

Adrienne was born in Toronto and began her career at Cabinet Office in Ontario before working in the United Nations Development Program and as a policy associate at the Mowat Centre.

She made the transition to politics as a policy advisor in the Office of the Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation before becoming the Chief of Staff to the Minister for the Status of Women.

Adrienne joins us today to talk about how she got involved in politics, what it takes to apply gender-based analysis to policy, and how we can encourage more women to get involved in civic life.

Production Note: This episode was recorded on August 15, 2022.

Today’s certified persister is Karman Wong.

Karman was born in Toronto and grew up in New Jersey. She returned to Canada to study Political Science at the University of Toronto and radio and television at Metropolitan University.

She began her career as a journalist in New York and New Jersey before returning to Canada to serve as an issues manager in the McGuinty Liberal Government. She also served as the premier’s press secretary before becoming the Director of Issues Management and Legislative Affairs in the Premier’s Office.

Karman joins us today to talk about how she got involved in politics, what it takes to be the premier’s press secretary, and how we can encourage more women to get involved in civic life.

Production Note: This episode was recorded on August 10, 2022.

Today’s certified persister is Jess Spindler.

Jess was born and raised in Toronto and got involved in politics during her studies at the University of Guelph.

She served as a constituency assistant for the local Liberal MPP before becoming a legislative assistant and press secretary in the Ontario Liberal Government at Queen’s Park. She went on to earn her law degree and serve as the Director of Legal Affairs and Compliance for the Liberal Party of Canada.

Jess has literally written the book on election law, served as a candidate in the 2018 Ontario election, and now works as a policy advisor to the Minister of Justice in the federal Liberal government.

Jess joins us today to talk about how she got involved in politics, what it takes to successfully navigate political law, and how we can encourage more women to get involved in civic life.

Production Note: This episode was recorded on August 2, 2022. 

Editing Note: We had challenges with audio quality on the day of the recording and have tried to edit the episode to limit audio disruptions as much as possible.

Today’s certified persister is Sonya Bell.

Sonya grew up in Barrie, Ontario and was introduced to politics by her conservative leaning father and her experiences in the education system under Premier Mike Harris. She got involved as a volunteer supporting her local Liberal candidate in Barrie and later as a student at McGill University in Montreal.

She began her career as a journalist becoming the first hire at iPolitics, serving as a writer for This Hour has 22 Minutes, and as a producer and researcher for the CBC. She made the transition to politics as a campaign writer for the Leader of the Ontario Liberal Party before becoming a senior writer in the Premier’s Office.

Sonya joins us today to talk about how she got involved in politics, what it takes to write for the Premier, and how we can encourage more women to get involved in civic life.

Production Note: This episode was recorded on August 3, 2022.

Today’s certified persister is Michelle Johnston.

Michelle grew up in Kitchener, Ontario and got involved in politics while studying at the University of Toronto by joining the Toronto Centre Young Liberals.

She went on to serve on the Ontario Young Liberals executive before becoming the youth wing’s President ahead of the 2014 Ontario Election. In government, Michelle served as a legislative assistant and issues manager, an MPP Liaison, and a policy advisor. More recently, she has served as a Director of Communications in the federal Liberal government.

Michelle joins us today to talk about how she got involved in politics, what it takes to support the youth wing of the party, and how we can encourage more women to get involved in civic life.

Production Note: This episode was recorded on July 18, 2022.

Today’s certified persister is Kate Graham.

Kate grew up in Southwestern, Ontario, beginning in Exeter before moving to London as a teenager. Kate and her siblings were inspired to pursue careers that gave back to their communities after watching their parents serve their community as educators.

She first got involved in government service as a summer intern with the City of London and went on to serve the city for ten years before making the leap into politics.

Kate ran twice as a candidate for the Ontario Liberals in London North Centre, once as a leadership candidate for the party, and most recently as a Platform Co-Chair for the 2022 Ontario Liberal election campaign.

Kate joins us today to talk about how she got involved in politics, what it takes to build an election platform, and how we can encourage more women to get involved in civic life.

Production Note: This episode was recorded on June 29, 2022.

Today’s certified persister is Tracey Sobers.

Tracey was born in the UK before moving to Saint John, New Brunswick as a child and Ottawa, Ontario as a teenager. She was raised in a family where politics was talked about around the dining room table and everyone was expected to have an opinion.

As she began her career in communications, she remained interested in the events of the day and became more involved in political action, including attending anti-apartheid marches.

Tracey joined the office of Ontario Liberal Leader Dalton McGuinty after his 1999 election loss and was by his side during all three of his election victories in 2003, 2007, and 2011.

Tracey joins us today to talk about how she got involved in politics, what it takes to be an executive assistant to the Premier, and how we can encourage more women to get involved in civic life.

Production Note: This episode was recorded on June 30, 2022.

Today’s certified persister is Andrea Ledwell.

Andrea was born on Prince Edward Island and came to politics after building up decades of graphic design experience in the private sector.

She put her talents to political use for the first time during Kathleen Wynne's successful party leadership campaign and was tapped to serve as the Creative Director for the Ontario Liberal Caucus in the Legislative Assembly.

She played a critical role designing campaign literature for the party as a volunteer during the 2014, 2018, and 2022 elections.

Andrea joins us today to talk about how she got involved in politics, what it takes to be a partisan graphic designer, and how we can encourage more women to get involved in civic life.

Production Note: This episode was recorded on June 24, 2022.

Today’s certified persister is Brooke Crewson.

Brooke credits her upbringing as the daughter of mayor in a small town in rural Ontario for sparking her interest in politics.

She’s been a grassroots volunteer, a party office staffer, a constituency, legislative, and executive assistant, an MPP liaison, an operations advisor, and a regional advisor to the Premier of Ontario.

Brooke joins us today to talk about how she got involved in politics, what it takes to be a political organizer, and how we can encourage more women to get involved in civic life.

Production Note: This episode was recorded on June 8, 2022.

Welcome to the PersistersCAN Podcast. 

PersistersCAN host Theresa Lubowitz brings listeners behind the scenes of Canada’s civic life by interviewing the women who have stepped up to solve our country’s toughest problems.

Listen in each week to hear their stories as they inspire the next generation of women to get involved in Canada’s civic life. Each episode, communications experts, policy advisors, organizational strategists, and more share their stories about how they first got involved, what it takes to do their jobs, and their advice for other women looking to make a positive impact on their country.

If your streaming profile includes a category for ‘Strong Female Leads’, this is the podcast for you. Join us wherever you get your podcasts.