 Amanda Di Maio has likely read more books than you and everyone you know. She graduated from York University with an Honours Degree in English and Anthropology in 2016. An academic at heart, Amanda immersed herself in her interests, including the cultural perspectives of feminist and gender studies, LGBTQ+ issues and Canadian literature and politics in university, before completing the Professional Writing Certificate program at Centennial College in 2018. She has also worked in higher education administration and bookselling. Amanda has studied abroad in Italy (but do not ask about her Italian) and in England, and enjoyed each experience thoroughly. You can find her bouncing around Toronto and the GTA, usually with a book in hand.
See Amanda’s portfolio here. |
 Alex Knoll is a technical writer and communications specialist. Being pulled in different directions by both sides of her brain is what led her to the world of technical communications. She hopes to help bridge the gap between computers and humans by writing in a concise and informative way, without compromising on personality. Alex holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from McGill University. She has work experience as an instructional designer and training specialist. Throughout her academic and professional career, she has written for various mediums and continues to take on freelance projects in tandem with full-time work.
See Alex’s portfolio here. |
| Ben Kingston is a hockey enthusiast, a music lover, and most importantly enjoys long walks on the beach. Ben graduated from McMaster University in 2017 with a Bachelor of Science. Here he was able to explore various fields of biology, chemistry, and physics, and also managed to drink more coffee than most people would consider possible. He has worked in a variety of areas, from stocking produce to destroying 7-12 year olds in dodgeball as a summer camp counsellor. However, when he realized his rotator cuff only had so many good years left, he decided to give up the dodgeball dream and follow his next closest passion: writing. This led him to earn a post-graduate certificate in Professional Writing from Centennial College, where he learned a variety of writing skills that he looks forward to applying to a professional work environment. |
 Blair Beauchesne (n.) – a technical and professional writer. Blair has lived at various places along Yonge St. and beyond. He now resides at the strange intersection of communication and technology. His mom brags about how he has been writing (unpublishable) books since he was 4. At age 13 he built his first computer and since worked as a freelance IT professional, defeating hordes of hardware and software gremlins. Blair holds a Hons. BA in English with a minor in creative writing, and an MA in English from York University. When he is not writing or hacking the planet, he can be found drinking copious amounts of tea and enjoying Kurt Vonnegut novels.
See Blair’s portfolio here. |
 Dave Kaplan is not your typical professional writer and communications specialist. Before completing a professional writing post-graduate course at Centennial College in 2018, Dave was a sous chef for a popular Toronto steakhouse. He has also been employed since 2014 as a golf columnist for Fairways Magazine and the ClubLink Corporation, for whom he has written over 250 columns and served as a weekly round table panelist. In his youth, Dave hitchhiked across the United States like his hero, Jack Kerouac. These days, he is more into watching Netflix with his dog, Stranger.
See Dave’s portfolio here. |
 Filip “Fil” Tisma is a professional writer. His background is purely academic: he completed a B.A. in Linguistics and an M.A. in Communication and Culture. If you guessed that he has a lot of experience writing essays, you’d be right. Nowadays, he is trying to write other things. He hopes to one day write things that people will read and then get paid for those things. To realize this dream, he studied Professional Writing at Centennial College. Fil’s interests include sports, health, and foodstuffs; television, video games, and cinemastuffs; literature and comicstuffs; and, of course, language and wordstuffs. He once got the best mark on an assignment for Kelly McConvey’s Communication Strategy and Planning class.
See Fil’s portfolio here. |
 Katherine Mascarin is a professional writing student with a love of karaoke, music and the written word. She obtained a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Toronto in English and Women’s and Gender Studies, which started her on her journey to pursue a career in professional writing. She used to be the cute little blonde kid with a big smile who talked fast, but these days she enjoys reading for pleasure and writing on women’s rights and social justice issues. Katherine’s portfolio includes a wide variety of writing pieces that showcase her ability through style guides, press releases, a full-fledged twenty-page zine on consent, speech writing, technical writing and so much more. Her goal is to work as a copywriter or editor in a corporate setting.
See Katherine’s portfolio here. |
 Kriselle Gonsalves is a creative writer, amateur graphic designer and Chipotle enthusiast. She has had an awkward start to finding her true passion in professional writing. To wit, Kriselle graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Banking and Insurance from the University of Mumbai in 2014. She proceeded to study Animation for a year and slowly embraced her love for telling stories. Subsequently, Kriselle worked as a content developer for two years in a digital agency. Initially, she did this just to pay the bills. Turns out, those were some of the best years of Kriselle’s life. Then she moved to Canada. Every day, Kriselle learns more about her ceaseless passion for spinning yarns. When she grows up, Kriselle truly believes she will kick butt and take names. But for now, she’s just a girl, sitting in front of a computer screen, asking it not to freeze for the hundredth time. |
 Megan Edmondson grew up in a small town on the west coast of British Columbia and moved to Vancouver upon graduating high school. She now resides in Toronto. Fascinated by human behaviour at a young age, she pursued an undergrad degree in Psychology with a focus in Applied Behaviour Analysis. During this time she completed a working practicum as a senior level behaviour therapist under the supervision of a clinical psychologist. In her early post-grad years Megan started a lifestyle blog, which she used as a creative outlet. From there she began contributing to online and print publications with a focus on beauty, fashion, and lifestyle. She once worked for a health and beauty ecommerce as the Communications Coordinator and has completed freelance copy writing work for various online fashion brands. She’s passionate about design, the power of the written word, and the creative process behind effective communication. She remains wildly interested in human behaviour and investigating everything possible (a modern day Nancy Drew, if you will). Other interests include taking ballet class and Midnight her rescue cat.
See Megan’s portfolio here. |
 Shannon Kularathna made the switch to technical writing from engineering in 2017 and hasn’t looked back since. He spent a few years as a freelance content writer before working as a copywriter and SEO specialist. Today, he is a technical writer writing release notes from 9 to 5 while shooting aliens in video games and making horrible puns in his spare time. He enjoys good food, bad jokes, and good beer. He also wants to be a police officer some day.
See Shannon’s portfolio here. |
 Shehnaz Jaffar realized early on that writing was possibly the only talent she possesses. This helped her plan a straightforward education. She has a BA in Journalism and an MA in Mass Communications from India. She also has a post-graduate certificate in Professional Writing from Centennial College. Shehnaz has a penchant for non-profit communications, and aims to use her storytelling skills to help non-profits and charities tell their stories. She is a wife, mother and an immigrant; all of which is a huge part of her identity and worldview.
See Shehnaz’s portfolio here. |
 Taryn Lucas graduated from the University of Toronto in 2015, where she earned a B.A. in Cinema Studies. After graduating, she started working in the legal and insurance industry, where she discovered her natural talent for crafting user guides and technical manuals for a domestic and international audience over 10 time zones away. In order to further pursue her dream of getting paid to write professionally, she graduated from Centennial College with a certificate in just that. She currently works in the health care industry, using her passion for clear, open communication to help employees work better, together. She is most often found boring anyone who will listen with her encyclopedic knowledge of 1970s Italian horror films.
See Taryn’s portfolio here. |