Our Team

Liz E Philbert

She is Founder and Publisher of Healthy Knowledge (HK), an ethnic health, wellness and lifestyle monthly print magazine, since 2008. Liz Philbert is instrumental in the development and operations on ethnic health survey projects partnering with the Canadian government. 

Liz, as a volunteer to Black Health Alliance (BHA) for over 5 years, was a key team player in the successful $3,000,000 (three million dollars) grant received from Ontario Ministry of Long Term Health to establish the health care centre in Scarborough, namely TABIU.

Liz established and participated in a Health Expo with community partners, funded by The Trillium Gift of Life, at the International Drum Festival. 

She was an active member of the Congress of Black Women of Canada, and also volunteered her time to procure funding and sponsorship for Camp Jumoke—a summer camp for children who have Sickle Cell disease. 

Liz has had several public speaking roles on behalf of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Toronto and was a big sister in their programs for over 9 years. 

Liz was born in Trinidad and grew up amongst the Toronto communities, under the watchful eyes of those who are now the elders in the Black and Caribbean community. 

She held the position of Funding Officer for Wellesley Institute, Exhibits Manager at Canadian Restaurant and Food-Services Association, and worked on the Toronto Stock Exchange trading floor also; she owned and operated Classic Day Spa. Producer and host of Singles Talk on Rogers Cable Television.

Together with her monthly print publication of HK magazine, Liz has on-going speaking engagements focus on: ethnic and women’s health and she is currently writing a book on ‘her experience as a woman, the impact, in the dawn, of new social norms and intolerance (2013 - 2018} is reflecting in society. ‘

She is sport enthusiasm, has a great love for music especially jazz and hip-hop, avid traveler and gardener, and has a devoured interest in art history. She advocates for organ donates. 

Liz enjoys working in front of the camera and conducted a series of videos:

Interviews - ‘red carpet host’ at the Toronto Caribbean Carniva (Caribana) Galas. 

One on One - sit down interviews with Honorable Dr. Jean Augustine, Honorable Lincoln Alexandra, Mayor Candidate, George Smitherman and Toronto Film Festival, Cameron Bailey; 

Faces of Toronto – 6 taped talks with Toronto diverse communities. 

In 2011,

She was the Canadian representative at the World Peace Conference in Costa Rica held by the Federation of Women for World Peace International and was the chair-person for the International Women’s Day 100th Years in Toronto sponsored by the Federation of Women for World Peace Canada.

Recognitions

In 2009 Liz was given Certification of Recognition from the National Ethnic Media & Press Council. 

In 2009 Liz received the Health Promotion award from the African Canadian Women Achievement Awards.

In 2010 Liz accepts an award from the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, for Editor/Publisher for 'Excellent Concept and Visual Presentation" of Healthy Knowledge magazine. 

Dr. Joseph Mensah is truly making a difference on both sides of the Atlantic. Born and raised in Ghana, he immigrated to Canada in 1987, received his Master’s degree in human geography, and later his PhD in human geography from the University of Alberta in Edmonton. He has taught at several universities and colleges in British Columbia. Currently Dr. Joseph Mensah joined York University in 2002 as an Assistant Professor and was promoted to Associate Professor of Geography, with tenure, in 2005. 

He is currently the Coordinator of International Development Studies at York, with a cross-appointment to the Department of Geography.

He was the Deputy Director of the Harriet Tubman Institute for Research on the Global Migrations of African Peoples at York University (2010 to 2013); Professor Mensah is a founding member of the University of Ghana Pan African Doctoral Academy (PADA). Sponsored by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, PADA runs short-term courses on selected topics for Ph.D. students across Africa. 

Joe has lent his expertise to the Global Development Network’s Fifth Global Research Project on Health, for which he received a highly prized sponsorship from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to evaluate Ghana’s National Health Insurance Scheme. 

Dr. Mensah has authored several journal articles and books, including 

Black Canadians: History, Experience, Social Conditions (2002/2010); Co-Editor, Globalization and the Human Factor, Critical Insights; Understanding Economic Reforms in Africa (2006); Neoliberalism and Globalization in Africa (2008).

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GIL KEZWER - writer, photograher and scupltor

Born in Toronto, Gil has been a journalist for over twenty years. He published over 2,000 articles in more than 50 different Canadian, American, British, and Israeli daily, weekly, and monthly newspapers and magazines,

His expertise and interests are multi-faceted giving him the advance to produce and always manage to craft his stories into elegant, clean and comprehensible copy. 

He now shares his time between Israel and Canada.

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The late Harold Hoyte 1941-2016

Journalist was his life.

In 1973 Harold was one of the co-founders of The Nation News that grew to become Barbados’ largest circulation newspaper. 

He retirement in 2006,. He was Chair of One Caribbean Media Limited, a company formed in 2006 from the merger of  two of the region’s most distinguished and long-standing media enterprises—the Caribbean Communications Network (CCN) Group (Trinidad and Tobago) and the Nation Corporation Group (Barbados). 

Harold was a former President of the Caribbean Publishing and Broadcasting Association; and was active in media organizations including the Commonwealth Press Union and the Inter-American Press Association. Also, a former Commonwealth Press Union Fellow and Eisenhower Fellow, he was recognized by Columbia University in the United States for his contribution to Caribbean journalism with the Maria Moors Cabot Citation in 1984. 

He was also awarded the Gold Crown of Merit (GCM) by Barbados in 2003. 

Harold received Distinguished Honorary Fellow of the University of the West Indies, and was awarded the honorary Doctor of Letters Degree by the University of the West Indies in October 2005. 

He lived in Toronto, Canada, for five years while practicing his craft as a journalist and moved back to his birth place, Barbados in 1973.

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The late Dr. Miriam Rossi 

1937 -2018 

 "Medicine Was Her Life"

Dr. Miriam Rossi joined The Hospital for Sick Children and U of T in 1981 after being educated in the United States and Italy. 

For three decades, she was a pediatrician at the Hospital for Sick Children and a professor of pediatric medicine at U of T, and she served for 13 years as associate dean of student affairs and admissions in the Faculty of Medicine.

She co-foundered the Black Doctors’ Association in Ontario and was a major player for the Black Student Medical Summer 

She spent eight years on the board of Trillium, which handles organ and tissue donations in Ontario. 

Dr. Rossi was also instrumental in improving access to care and quality of care for minority communities in Toronto. 

She was a major champion in establishing the TAIBU Community Health Centre, which provides care to Black communities in the Greater Toronto Area.

Dr. ROSSI is recognized as one of 100 accomplished Black Canadian Women and in 2017, 

The Miriam Rossi Award for Health Equity in Undergraduate Medical Education was established to recognize faculty members in U of T’s MD program for their commitment to diversity and health equity.