Leadership Awards

2018 ORION Leadership Award Winners – Bios and Photos

Click to download the full picture of our 2018 Leadership Award winners, John Ferri for Innovation and Carolyn McGregor for Higher Education.

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Category: Innovation

John FerriJohn Ferri is an innovative, analytical and highly knowledgeable media professional with two decades of executive experience in large news and digital publishing environments. John’s 22 years as a professional journalist has included 16 years as an editor at the Toronto Star, including for two years as the Star’s digital editor, overseeing the production and team for thestar.com. His previous role was managing editor of the digital startup Openfile.ca, where he led the newsgathering efforts of editors and reporters in six major Canadian cities. He previously worked as a correspondent for the international news website Global Post.

As the vice president of current affairs and documentaries at TVO, John has played a pivotal role in strengthening media coverage of local affairs in regional communities across Ontario. He championed Ontario Hubs, a philanthropically funded initiative to expand TVO’s current affairs model by hiring four full-time journalists in Thunder Bay, Sudbury, London and Kingston. By having these journalists based at post-secondary schools – Confederation College, Laurentian University, Western University and Queen’s University – the hubs were able to use ORION’s network to deliver weekly video reports for The Agenda with Steve Paikin and for TVO.org.

Click to download: ORION Leadership Award winner John Ferri with presenter Kathryn Anthonisen.

Category: Kindergarten to Grade 12

Joanne Borges is the current acting principal of École Sir John A. MacDonald Public School in Kingston, and an educator who emphasizes integrating technology into instructional methods to enhance how students learn. Under Joanne’s leadership, the school’s traditional library was transformed into a shared learning commons and maker space focused on STEAM-based experiential learning that features network- and hardware-based learning tools and instruction in computer coding. Joanne helps to build teacher capacity at her school, and throughout the Limestone District School Board, in how to use apps, tools and programs to enhance student learning.

Joanne’s work has included being an assistive technology facilitator who led workshops for educators across her school board as well as at the Learning Disabilities Association of Kingston and Queen’s University. She also presents at Queen’s about integrating educational technologies into classroom activities. Joanne is a Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert who has presented across Canada on using technology to enhance teaching tactics and student outcomes.

Category: Higher Education

Carolyn McGregor is the two-term Canada Research Chair in Health Informatics at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology. She has conducted pioneering research in big data analytics, real-time stream processing, temporal data mining, patient journey modelling and the reliability of cloud computing. She now uses this research to drive progress in critical care medicine, mental health, astronaut health as well as military and civilian tactical training.

Carolyn has been awarded more than $11 million in research, consultancy and infrastructure funding, and has engaged in extensive research collaborations in Canada, the U.S., Russia, Australia and India. Notably, she joined IBM to develop Artemis, a cloud-based system for storing patient data and clinical information. Artemis’ predictive analytics will accelerate smarter healthcare decisions.

Running at Southlake Regional Health Centre and recently introduced at McMaster Children’s Hospital, this game-changing platform will help neonatal intensive care units significantly improve healthcare delivery and patient care. Carolyn also partnered with FedDev Ontario to improve patient outcomes and reduce healthcare costs through its Health Ecosphere, a pipeline driving technology innovation in the global healthcare market.

Click to download: ORION Leadership Award winner Carolyn McGregor with presenter John Hoicka.