2016 Joan Donaldson CBC News Scholarship recipients

Congratulations to the eight outstanding recipients of the 2016 Joan Donaldson Scholarship.

• Daisy Xiong
• Michelle Ghoussoub
• Cameron Perrier
• Amara McLaughlin
• Kira Wakeam
• Priscilla Hwang
• Sarah Peterson
• Simon Nakonechny

Daisy Xiong​ | University of British Columbia, Vancouver

Daisy Xiong grew up in China where she gained her honours degree in broadcast journalism and interned for Central China Television. After moving to Canada Daisy continued her passion for journalism by enrolling in UBC's masters of journalism program and became a producer for UBC's radio show Arts On Air. Daisy interned for CBC's The Current last summer when she participated in daily production. Fluent in mandarin and well-connected to China, Daisy investigates inside stories that are difficult to penetrate.

She pitched and produced an episode on child trafficking in China during the internship. She then worked as a freelancer for The Current and helped produce a story on China's local land corruption by interviewing a Chinese farmer. Both radio episodes were in-depth investigative pieces. Daisy has also interned for Global National and The Globe and Mail, where she published articles on a range of topics. As a fellow of the UBC International Reporting Program she traveled to Chile to produce a virtual reality report with Vice News. Motivated to tell stories about the diversity of the society, Daisy did her final thesis on Chinese business immigration to Canada for which she received a SSHRC graduate scholarship. Connect with her @xiong_daisy.

Michelle Ghoussoub | University of British Columbia, Vancouver

Michelle Ghoussoub is a Vancouver-born multimedia journalist who has reported and produced stories on three continents. She began her journalism career in Beirut, Lebanon, where she worked as a freelance journalist covering breaking news and human rights. In the summer of 2015 she interned at CBC News Now in Vancouver and in the CBC's Parliamentary Bureau.

In Ottawa she covered the lead-up to the federal election, producing segments for Power & Politics and The House, and writing stories for the politics digital desk. As a fellow in UBC's International Reporting Program, she traveled to Chile in February 2016 to produce an immersive investigative documentary for VICE News. Her Master's thesis covered the rise of journalists jailed in the Middle East, with special focus on the case of former Al Jazeera English bureau chief Mohamed Fahmy.

Michelle holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and International Relations and a Master's degree in Journalism from the University of British Columbia. Her writing has been featured in the Daily Star Lebanon, Now Lebanon, Beirut.com, the Ubyssey, the Thunderbird, TV5 Monde International, CBC.ca and in the non-fiction book Positive Lebanon. She can be reached on Twitter at @MichelleGhsoub.

Cameron Perrier | Mount Royal University, Calgary

Cameron has always strived to produce content that leaves an impact and creates a conversation. In his last year of studies at Mount Royal University, he focused on aboriginal affairs and politics, which led him to work in Ottawa for the department of Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada last summer. As a co-lead editor for the Calgary Journal online he also led extensive local coverage of the federal election and produced an investigative multimedia project on the impacts of the Sixties Scoop and aboriginal child welfare in Alberta. Born in Ottawa but raised in Calgary,

Cameron's interest in journalism began as a teenager where he wrote for a youth publication focusing on music and the arts. As a journalism student, Cameron covered a variety of topics as a reporter and editor for the Calgary Journal including mental health, LGBT and aboriginal issues, local and national politics and human interest. During his time interning in Cochrane, Alta., Cameron covered the recovery of Bragg Creek following the 2013 Alberta floods. He also traveled to Southampton, England as part of an international exchange focusing on multimedia story presentation. Cameron holds his bachelor in journalism. Connect with him on Twitter @cp_stylebook.

Amara McLaughlin | Mount Royal University, Calgary

Amara McLaughlin's journalism career has unique roots, shaped by her travels to Jordan during the Arab Spring and Syria at the rise of the Syrian conflict. There, she witnessed the effects of conflict on human rights, having her own encroached upon during a border crossing. This experience sparked her enrollment in journalism school. Crossing borders has become Amara's signature, having visited over 25 countries and reported for various publications across Canada, the U.S. and Israel. Her work in Israel and the West Bank, where she reported on the Israel-Palestine conflict from both sides of the separation barrier in 2013, motivated her enterprising coverage of minority narratives.

Last summer, she worked on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., covering the 2016 Presidential Race as a Washington Center for Politics and Journalism fellow. She also wrote about the influence of Jewish identity on American politics and foreign policy as an intern for Moment Magazine, and has spent time on assignment with the Canadian Armed Forces and the United States Army National Guard. Amara's work has appeared in The Jerusalem Post, CTV, Powder Magazine, J-Source, Travel Alberta, and the Calgary Journal.

Her reporting has been recognized by several organizations, including the Alberta Weekly Newspapers Association, Global Television, Corus Radio and the Canadian Association of Journalists. Amara aspires to be a foreign correspondent. She received her undergraduate degree in journalism, with a minor in religious studies and a Certificate of Achievement in International Communication from Mount Royal University in Calgary, AB, where she grew up.
Connect with her @amaramclaughlin.

Kira Wakeam | Ryerson University, Toronto

Kira Wakeam is a native of Toronto, Ontario. After spending four years in Montreal while pursing her bachelor's degree at McGill University, she made her way to New York City where she worked in various fields including music management and public relations. After completing a master's degree in photography at Pratt Institute in 2011, Kira realized her passion for telling stories went beyond photography.

She was inspired to pursue a master's degree in journalism at Ryerson University and return to her hometown. In the summer of 2015 Kira interned at CBC Toronto where she produced stories for local television news and the radio show Here and Now. After completing her internship Kira went on to work as a radio reporter at CBC Thunder Bay where she covered various local stories.

Since returning from Thunder Bay Kira has worked as an associate producer at CBC News Toronto. Kira's passion for journalism is rooted in her love of people and sharing stories about the human experience, many of which are often overlooked. Since beginning her career in journalism she has covered stories about affordable housing, racism in the Toronto art scene and has just completed a documentary about the challenges of menstruation for homeless women.

Priscilla Hwang | Carleton University, Ottawa

Priscilla has backpacked across the Middle East and North Africa. From Turkey to Tunisia, Iraq to Palestine and Israel, she's brought back stories of people and their lives. Her most recent trip was to the border of Syria and Lebanon where she worked as a teacher at a makeshift refugee camp. She is a self-proclaimed linguaphile, having acquired the Tunisian dialect recently. She's worked as an Arabic translator for the Ottawa Citizen following the Oct. 22 parliament shooting, conducting interviews with native Libyans.

Priscilla has worked with CBC Ottawa, Rogers TV, Toronto's ACF Fashion Magazine, and the Ottawa Citizen, covering elections and issues on North Korea. She's freelanced pieces across the Postmedia chain and Maclean's. Priscilla was awarded the RTDNF's CBC Barbara Frum Award for Interviewing and the Diane King Stuemer Award for international reporting which gave her the opportunity to report from Tunisia, doing a multimedia investigation into the lives of underground Christians living in a Muslim society.

When she's not telling stories, she plays the guitar, paints, and decorates with DIYs. She has a master's in journalism from Carleton and a degree in International Relations and Arabic from the University of Ottawa.

Sarah Peterson | Carleton University, Ottawa 

Born and raised in Ottawa, Sarah spent four years studying vocal performance at York University while writing music and playing shows throughout the GTA. Sarah was attracted to songwriting at a young age for its ability to convey stories. While at York, she worked for the campus newspaper Excalibur.

She quickly fell for the world of journalism and began showcasing her passion for storytelling through a different medium. Sarah went on to earn a master of journalism from Carleton University. While at Carleton, she produced multiple TV and radio documentaries including a documentary on the benefits of music for those living with dementia. In 2015, she received the Andrew McIntosh award in Investigative Enterprise — a testament to her ability and interest in investigative journalism. Sarah is also passionate about local news and hopes it will remain a priority as the media landscape continues to evolve.

Over the past two years, she has contributed to Global National's Parliamentary Bureau, CTV News Channel, Global's "The Morning Show" and CBC Radio's "Ottawa Morning". Connect with her @sarahxpeterson.

Simon Nakonechny | Concordia University, Montreal

Simon Nakonechny was born and raised in Swift Current, Saskatchewan. He's an on-call reporter for CBC Montreal and a regular contributor to CBC's Radio One's IDEAS. He recently graduated from Concordia's Graduate Diploma Program in Journalism. Simon has been listening to CBC for as long as he can remember. When he was nine, he made his first radio show, an "homage" to IDEAS. 

Three years later, he got his first taste of real broadcasting when he was chosen to represent Saskatchewan at Radio-Canada`s "Le Sommet des 10-12." The radio series brought 17 French-speaking kids from across Canada to Montreal. Simon returned to Montreal when he was 18, this time to study jazz performance at McGill. After graduation he toured Western Canada with a soul band and started his own film production company, Arid Sea Films.

He produced five films, which screened at film festivals around the world, including TIFF and Slamdance. Simon's childhood love for broadcasting was re-ignited in 2004, when he pitched a story to IDEAS that was green-lighted. Since then he has made pieces for "C'est La Vie" and  "The Doc Project."