Healthy Knowledge Magazine

Liz E Philbert

She is the Founder and Publisher of Healthy Knowledge (HK), a wellness magazine focused on ethnic health, wellness, and lifestyle, since 2008. Liz Philbert has played a vital role in developing and managing ethnic health survey projects in partnership with the Canadian government.

As a volunteer with the Black Health Alliance (BHA) for over five years, Liz was instrumental as a key team player in securing a successful $3,000,000 grant from the Ontario Ministry of Long Term Health to establish a health care centre in Scarborough, known as TABIU.

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

An engaged member of the Congress of Black Women of Canada, Liz also dedicated her time to secure funding and sponsorship for Camp Jumoke—a summer camp designed for children living with Sickle Cell disease.

With extensive experience, Liz has taken on several public speaking roles on behalf of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Toronto, where she was a big sister for over nine years.

Originally from Trinidad, Liz grew up in the Toronto communities, guided by the wisdom of the elders in the Black and Caribbean community.

Her professional background includes serving as a Funding Officer for the Wellesley Institute, Exhibits Manager at the Canadian Restaurant and Food-Services Association, and working on the Toronto Stock Exchange trading floor. Additionally, she owned and operated Classic Day Spa and was the producer and host of Singles Talk on Rogers Cable Television.

In conjunction with her monthly print publication of HK magazine, Liz continues to engage in speaking events focused on ethnic health and women’s health. She is currently writing a book reflecting on her experiences as a woman during the emergence of new social norms and intolerance from 2013 to 2018.

Liz is passionate about sports, has a deep love for music—particularly jazz and hip-hop—enjoys traveling, gardening, and has a keen interest in art history. She is a strong advocate for organ donation.

Liz has also worked in front of the camera, conducting a series of videos including:

- Interviews as a 'red carpet host' at the Toronto Caribbean Carnival (Caribana) Galas.

- One-on-one sit-down interviews with notable figures such as Honorable Dr. Jean Augustine, Honorable Lincoln Alexander, mayoral candidate George Smitherman, and Cameron Bailey from the Toronto Film Festival.

- Faces of Toronto – 6 taped discussions with diverse communities in Toronto.

In 2011, Liz represented Canada at the World Peace Conference in Costa Rica organized by the Federation of Women for World Peace International and chaired the International Women’s Day 100th Anniversary in Toronto, sponsored by the Federation of Women for World Peace Canada.

Recognitions

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

In 2009, she also received the Health Promotion award from the African Canadian Women Achievement Awards.

In 2010, Liz accepted an award from the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario 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. His work often focuses on ethnic health and wellness, highlighting the importance of health lifestyle choices within diverse communities.

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). His contributions to wellness and health in various communities have been recognized in both academia and wellness magazines.

GIL KEZWER - writer, photographer and sculptor.

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 advantage to produce and always manage to craft his stories into elegant, clean, and comprehensible copy. He now shares his time between Israel and Canada.

The late Harold Hoyte 1941-2016.

Journalist was his life. In 1973, Harold was one of the co-founders of The Nation News, which grew to become Barbados’ largest circulation newspaper. He retired 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 birthplace, Barbados, in 1973.

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-founded the Black Doctors’ Association in Ontario and was a major player for the Black Student Medical Summer program. 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, focusing on ethnic health and wellness initiatives.

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.