#WOW: ANN MARIE ELPA

Ann Marie Elpa is a third-year student journalist at U of T currently studying Book and Media Studies. During her time at U of T, she has worked as a writer at The Varsity and currently writes for HerCampus and The Strand! When she isn’t busy being a student journalist or a freelancer for Huffington Post, she is a diligent campus brand representative for companies such as Sephora, Michael Kors, and Bumble as well as the president of her sorority, Alpha Omicron Pi. Her most recent project is representing Thornhill in the Miss Galaxy Canada pageant in September 2020!

Her advice to any aspiring journalists is “don’t be afraid to speak up or take risks! I know as females, we tend to shy away from opportunities for fear of rejection or inadequacy. Don’t be afraid to find an editor and send them a pitch.” If you know any #WOWs in your life, send us a DM or post her on your stories with #WOW to get a possible feature on our blog and Instagram! #womensupportingwomen

#WOW: HUDA IDREES

This week's Woman of the Week #WOW is Huda Idrees! Huda is the CEO and founder of Dot Health, a company geared towards giving people easier access to their health data. The company safely stores detailed medical informaton about each patient, and users can share this information with their trusted medical professionals. Having graduated from the University of Toronto almost seven years ago, she has designed with and worked for many well-known companies such as Wattpad, Wave Financial, Wealthsimple. She has also been the recipient of many awards, and was recently named YWCA Toronto Young Woman of Distinction for 2019. Huda hopes for the efficient growth of healthcare systems, and hopes to dissolve boundaries of provincial and national healthcare and research. If you know any #WOWs in your life, send us a DM or post her on your stories with #WOW to get a possible feature on our blog and Instagram! #WomenSupportingWomen

#WOW: KEHKASHAN BASU

This weeks women of the week is Kehkashan Basu! When she was 12, Kehkashan started Green Hope, an organization that runs activities like tree planting and beach and mangrove cleanups. “When I first moved here from the United Arab Emirates, I went to the lakeshore and was taken aback by the amount of litter that had washed ashore. Since then I’ve conducted quite a few clean-ups.” Green Hope started with just five of Kehkashan’s friends in 2012. Since then, the organization has engaged more than a thousand young people across 10 countries—a feat for which she won the 2016 International Children’s Peace Prize.

If you know any other #WOWs in your life, send us a DM or post her on your stories with #WOW to get a possible feature on our blog and Instagram! #womensupportingwomen