About Us

Our Mission

The Canadian Youth Journalism Project (CYJP) is a registered nonprofit which works to promote resources and opportunities for high school students and their teachers. By supporting the student journalism community and connecting students with professional journalists, we aim to foster an appreciation for journalism produced by and for young Canadians. We see student journalism as an opportunity for young people to learn how to critically consume media while also gaining a variety of transferable skills, including effective communication, teamwork, and identifying underrepresented voices.

Our Work

  • Free online workshops for students, led by professional journalists and/or university journalism students. Previous topics have included: investigative journalism; developing more inclusive media; and student journalism during COVID.

  • A student-led video series, On the Record, in which high school students interview Canadian journalists. Previous topics have included: climate reporting, opinion writing, and journalism ethics.

  • Feedback sessions with Canadian journalists who volunteer to meet with individual students to provide feedback on their work.

  • A Partnering Program, where we aim to foster a greater sense of community among student journalists by connecting school publications in Canada and the United States.

  • A Facebook Discussion Group where students can pose questions and share their own work.
  • The Yusra Javed Project: One important branch of the CYJP is the Yusra Javed (YJ) Project. Led by Irum Hasan and Arisa Mohiuddin, the YJ Project aims to provide students who do not already have a school publication with the tools they need to get one started. Through this upcoming program, we plan to offer accessible resources, industry mentorship, and peer support to rising youth journalists across Canada. This program was founded in memory of Yusra Javed, a young journalist whose work inspired others to engage with the newsmaking process. Although we lost her too soon, we hope to continue her legacy of mentorship, leadership and amplifying youth voices.

Our Story

The organization was established in 2018 by then-Masters of Journalism student Laura Howells and high school student Isabel Sternthal. Laura and Isabel were introduced by a teacher who recognized their shared interest in building infrastructure to support student media in Canada. The CYJP team has since expanded, and includes journalist Danni Olusanya, Arisa Mohiuddin, and Irum Hasan. Learn more about our team below.

Meet Our Team

Laura Howells

Co-FOunder

Laura Howells (she/her) became interested in high school journalism while doing research for her Masters of Journalism at Ryerson University. She has since co-organized the 2018 and 2019 Journalism Now: Toronto High School Journalism Conference at Ryerson University. Laura works as a reporter and producer based in Whitehorse and Toronto. 

Isabel Sternthal

Co-Founder

Isabel Sternthal (she/her) is a first year life sciences student at the University of Toronto. Sparked by an interest in building bridges between high school journalists from different schools as well as high school journalists and the professional sphere, she co-founded the Canadian Youth Journalism Project in 2017. Isabel also established On the Record, a video series in which Canadian journalism professionals share advice and expertise with the high school journalism community.

Arisa Mohiuddin

Board Member

Arisa Mohiuddin (she/her) is the co-founder of the Yusra Javed Project and one of Yusra’s closest friends. She is passionate about encouraging student leadership and hopes to continue Yusra’s mission of empowering youth voices through a variety of media outlets. Arisa currently works at the tech non-profit Ample Labs as a corporate fundraising specialist. She looks forward to learning from, and working collaboratively with, CYJP youth journalists while helping to increase access to the field of journalism.

Danni Olusanya

Board Member

Danni Olusanya (she/her) is a fifth-year History major and Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice minor at the University of British Columbia. Over the years her efforts have been dedicated to leadership and community building. Last year she served as the Co-President of the UBC Black Student Union and simultaneously sat on the board of the Society for Canadian Women in Science and Technology. Currently, she is the Culture Editor at The Ubyssey, UBC’s student newspaper and is the first Black woman to sit on the editorial in its 102-year history.

Irum Hasan

Board Member

Irum Hasan (she/her) is the co-founder of the Yusra Javed Project. Growing up, Yusra was Irum’s role model and believed in her artistic dreams. Her loss inspired Irum to continue her close friend’s legacy and support youth journalism. She strives to provide students with multi-media platforms where they can explore their creativity and opinions. She is passionate about art and launched a business selling her paintings, with Yusra’s encouragement in mind. Irum looks forward to collaborating with students leveraging her previous experience as a tutor at her school and at Kumon centres. She is excited to begin her undergraduate degree as a science student in 2021, while empowering other young CYJP creators.

Yusra Javed

Honorary Board Member

When she noticed her high school lacked a platform for students to share their thoughts, Yusra Javed took matters into her own hands, founding her first news outlet at 17 years old. This would be the first step in a great career of media. 

Updating and being an Editor-in-Chief of “New Wave” magazine at the Ryerson School of Journalism, being the host of her own show, “The Youth Perspective” on Rogers TV, and interning at the Queen’s Park Press Galleryall before the age of 22, Yusra was always eager to create platforms those who lacked one. Ambitious, hard working, and successful, Yusra was destined to be one of the world’s next great journalists.

Although we lost her too soon, we hope to continue her legacy of mentorship, leadership and amplifying youth voices through the Yusra Javed Project.

our TeaM

Laura Howells

Co-FOunder

Laura Howells (she/her) became interested in high school journalism while doing research for her Masters of Journalism at Ryerson University. She has since co-organized the 2018 and 2019 Journalism Now: Toronto High School Journalism Conference at Ryerson University. Laura works as a reporter and producer based in Whitehorse and Toronto. 

Isabel Sternthal

Co-FOunder

Isabel Sternthal (she/her) is a first year life sciences student at the University of Toronto. Sparked by an interest in building bridges between high school journalists from different schools as well as high school journalists and the professional sphere, she co-founded the Canadian Youth Journalism Project in 2017. Isabel also established On the Record, a video series in which Canadian journalism professionals share advice and expertise with the high school journalism community.

Arisa Mohiuddin

Board Member

Arisa Mohiuddin (she/her) is the co-founder of the Yusra Javed Project and one of Yusra’s closest friends. She is passionate about encouraging student leadership and hopes to continue Yusra’s mission of empowering youth voices through a variety of media outlets. Arisa currently works at the tech non-profit Ample Labs as a corporate fundraising specialist. She looks forward to learning from, and working collaboratively with, CYJP youth journalists while helping to increase access to the field of journalism.

Danni Olusanya

Board Member

Danni Olusanya (she/her) is a fifth-year History major and Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice minor at the University of British Columbia. Over the years her efforts have been dedicated to leadership and community building. Last year she served as the Co-President of the UBC Black Student Union and simultaneously sat on the board of the Society for Canadian Women in Science and Technology. Currently, she is the Culture Editor at The Ubyssey, UBC’s student newspaper and is the first Black woman to sit on the editorial in its 102-year history.

Irum Hasan

Board Member

Irum Hasan (she/her) is the co-founder of the Yusra Javed Project. Growing up, Yusra was Irum’s role model and believed in her artistic dreams. Her loss inspired Irum to continue her close friend’s legacy and support youth journalism. She strives to provide students with multi-media platforms where they can explore their creativity and opinions. She is passionate about art and launched a business selling her paintings, with Yusra’s encouragement in mind. Irum looks forward to collaborating with students leveraging her previous experience as a tutor at her school and at Kumon centres. She is excited to begin her undergraduate degree as a science student in 2021, while empowering other young CYJP creators.

Yusra Javed

Honorary Board Member

When she noticed her high school lacked a platform for students to share their thoughts, Yusra Javed took matters into her own hands, founding her first news outlet at 17 years old. This would be the first step in a great career of media. 

Updating and being an Editor-in-Chief of “New Wave” magazine at the Ryerson School of Journalism, being the host of her own show, “The Youth Perspective” on Rogers TV, and interning at the Queen’s Park Press Galleryall before the age of 22, Yusra was always eager to create platforms those who lacked one. Ambitious, hard working, and successful, Yusra was destined to be one of the world’s next great journalists.

Although we lost her too soon, we hope to continue her legacy of mentorship, leadership and amplifying youth voices through the Yusra Javed Project.

our TeaM

Laura Howells

Co-FOunder

Laura Howells (she/her) became interested in high school journalism while doing research for her Masters of Journalism at Ryerson University. She has since co-organized the 2018 and 2019 Journalism Now: Toronto High School Journalism Conference at Ryerson University. Laura works as a reporter and producer based in Whitehorse and Toronto. 

Isabel Sternthal

Co-FOunder

Laura Howells (she/her) became interested in high school journalism while doing research for her Masters of Journalism at Ryerson University. She has since co-organized the 2018 and 2019 Journalism Now: Toronto High School Journalism Conference at Ryerson University. Laura works as a reporter and producer based in Whitehorse and Toronto. 

Arisa Mohiuddin

Board Member

Arisa Mohiuddin (she/her) is the co-founder of the Yusra Javed Project and one of Yusra’s closest friends. She is passionate about encouraging student leadership and hopes to continue Yusra’s mission of empowering youth voices through a variety of media outlets. Arisa currently works at the tech non-profit Ample Labs as a corporate fundraising specialist. She looks forward to learning from, and working collaboratively with, CYJP youth journalists while helping to increase access to the field of journalism.

Danni Olusanya

Board Member

Danni Olusanya (she/her) is a fifth-year History major and Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice minor at the University of British Columbia. Over the years her efforts have been dedicated to leadership and community building. Last year she served as the Co-President of the UBC Black Student Union and simultaneously sat on the board of the Society for Canadian Women in Science and Technology. Currently, she is the Culture Editor at The Ubyssey, UBC’s student newspaper and is the first Black woman to sit on the editorial in its 102-year history.

Irum Hasan

Board Member

Irum Hasan (she/her) is the co-founder of the Yusra Javed Project. Growing up, Yusra was Irum’s role model and believed in her artistic dreams. Her loss inspired Irum to continue her close friend’s legacy and support youth journalism. She strives to provide students with multi-media platforms where they can explore their creativity and opinions. She is passionate about art and launched a business selling her paintings, with Yusra’s encouragement in mind. Irum looks forward to collaborating with students leveraging her previous experience as a tutor at her school and at Kumon centres. She is excited to begin her undergraduate degree as a science student in 2021, while empowering other young CYJP creators.

Yusra Javed

Honorary Board Member

When she noticed her high school lacked a platform for students to share their thoughts, Yusra Javed took matters into her own hands, founding her first news outlet at 17 years old. This would be the first step in a great career of media. 

Updating and being an Editor-in-Chief of “New Wave” magazine at the Ryerson School of Journalism, being the host of her own show, “The Youth Perspective” on Rogers TV, and interning at the Queen’s Park Press Galleryall before the age of 22, Yusra was always eager to create platforms those who lacked one. Ambitious, hard working, and successful, Yusra was destined to be one of the world’s next great journalists.

Although we lost her too soon, we hope to continue her legacy of mentorship, leadership and amplifying youth voices through the Yusra Javed Project.