Linda Solomon Wood is an innovator, entrepreneur, and award-winning journalist. As CEO of Observer Media Group and founder and editor-in-chief of the National Observer, she works to strengthen and support public service journalism that investigates corruption, celebrates innovation, and illuminates and helps to make sense of the complex political and social challenges people face today.
She previously founded Vancouver Observer and has led both publications to win Canada's top awards for public service, investigative journalism and excellence in reporting. She started her career as an investigative reporter at The Tennessean in Nashville, where she won the United Press International awards for Best Public Service Reporting and Best Investigative Reporting. She later freelanced for publications including The Los Angeles Times, Orion, and the International Herald Tribune.
Born and raised in Chattanooga, Tennessee, she's lived and worked in Paris, New York City and now, Vancouver, where she enjoys Canada's west coast with her husband, two sons, ages 18 and 23, and two stepdaughters, ages 13 and 16. She immigrated to Canada shortly after 9/11 and became a proud Canadian citizen in 2012.
Vancouver City Manager Sadhu Johnston was a powerful influence in implementing Vancouver’s global climate action leadership, and made a mark nationally in Canada’s urban climate action awakening.
As of Sunday, around 4 million acres have been scorched by wildfires in California, Washington and Oregon. These fires are a reminder that for all our struggles with COVID-19, climate change remains the number one threat against human civilization. Yet even now, we can't even acknowledge this reality.
Truly, in this season filled with economic distress and border closures, masks and militias, snake oil salesmen and demagoguery, the news from America can seem like an assault.
At a time when the media ranks are shrinking, Canada’s National Observer continues to take deep dives into crucial matters of public policy. Sometimes, we do this through partnerships and collaborations such as the ‘Tainted Water’ series from 2019 and ‘Price of Oil’ investigations from 2018.
Chil-Yong Kang, PhD, professor emeritus, Department of Microbiology and Immunology and his team developed the first and only preventative HIV vaccine and now he's working on a vaccine for COVID-19.
Members of the Wet’suwet’en First Nation have fought for many years to keep three pipelines from running through their land in northern B.C. At stake, the protesters say, is their way of life, their culture and their system of governance which was recognized by the Supreme Court of Canada in the landmark Delgamuukw decision in 1997.
When I caught up with Environment and Climate Change Minister Catherine McKenna after Question Period in mid-May, she'd just given impassioned arguments in the House about the costs of the climate crisis being passed down to youth. In the half hour we spent together, McKenna talked about the biggest challenges she faces as a leader, and how she keeps going at this critical time.
