Meet Our Industry Liaisons

Bio: Meg Matera is a professional portrait and event photographer and Industry Liaison for Humber College’s Creative Photography program. Meg graduated from the Creative Photography program at Humber and has been working as a professional photographer ever since. Not only has Meg had the opportunity to work with many other talented professionals within the industry, but she has also been fortunate enough to build a lovely clientele over the years, working with incredible families and individuals as well as many high-profile corporations. Meg also has a background in graphic design and printing, courtesy of her time in Ryerson University’s Graphic Communications Management program. Meg is thrilled to be back at Humber College to be a mentor for future industry professionals, and aims to bring her industry knowledge, personal experience, and passion for helping others grow to her role.

Bio: Akbar is a multi-hyphenate in the arts, engaged in art direction, graphic design, and photography. He’s worked for critically acclaimed studios abroad in Paris and as well as in Toronto; producing results like an award-winning iPhone app for Molson Coors and successful digital campaigns for Renault France.

He has worked with clients such as Renault, Metrolinx, Nestle, Nescafé, Corus, Tylenol, Gerber, Fiat, CBC, OLG, UNICEF Canada, MasterCard Foundation, Jeep, Second Cup, Molson Coors, Metro, Manulife, Wealthsimple, Cineplex and Hendricks Motorsports to name a select few.

Akbar values this opportunity to work with Humber students to impart some applicable knowledge from the field that he wishes he knew going into it. His word of advice would be a simple one: patience — patience with your personal growth, patience with clients, patience with the industry as a whole.

Bio: Stephanie Henry is a second-generation Jamaican/Antiguan-Canadian who also considers herself an extrovert! Stephanie loves her family, friends, adores music and her favourite bands are Paramore and the Jonas Brothers... yeah. You saw that right! Stephanie is an on-air host, producer, and traffic reporter with Rogers Media, more specifically Breakfast Television Toronto. Stephanie also appears on City News & 680NEWS and her areas of expertise include production, writing, reporting, and editing.

Bio: Steve St. Jean is a Toronto-based Creative Junkie exploring creativity through Art Direction, Design, and Photography since 2008. With over a decade of experience Steve has worked for agencies big and small in a range of disciplines, including advertising, design, branding, content, and all things digital. His main area of expertise would be ideation and big idea thinking.

A notable accomplishment would be winning Gold at last year’s Marketing Awards held by Strategy Magazine.

Anything Steve can do to give back to the community and inspire new art directors and designers to enter the industry is something that he wants to be a part of. A little something, Steve lives by: Keep pushing. Carve your own path. Never comply.

Bio: Kelly Roche is a freelance multimedia journalist and consultant who specializes in digital storytelling and social media.

Her journalism background includes daily news reporting and videography at CTV Windsor and the Ottawa Sun; creating an innovative, award-winning hyperlocal news site, QEW South Post.

She's the first Humber College Journalism instructor to use Instagram in the classroom and empowers students by teaching the latest technology, including artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning.

Kelly is best described by a former newspaper editor as "fearless," and she inspires students to get out of their comfort zones with her loving toughness.

Find her on Twitter and IG: @kellyroche6, where she waxes lyrical about her beloved mentor, David Humiski, and the exchange of knowledge in learning from students.

Bio: A news amnd information professional with more than 30 years of experience, Andrew Flynn has covered sports, entertainment, political news, world events, and financial and economic news. Andrew has worked as a senior reporter and editor for The Canadian Press, The National Post, and BNN. In addition, he is currently working on several television series in development and a podcast, and writes freelance articles. He has been teaching in the Humber Media Communications program for the past three years.

Bio: For over a decade Marilyn Maitland’s work in Advertising has been consistently recognized by the Industries’ top Canadian and International award shows and appearing multiple times on Strategy’s Magazine’s Creative report card. As importantly, Maitland’s work has been featured organically in the media on NBC’s TODAY show, Buzzfeed, tumblr, Pinterest, Gify and ranked #1 trending topics on Reddit, Twitter and Facebook.

Maitland’s work spans the far reaches of the communications ecosystem and stems from the belief in human centred design and big ideas that are rooted in human truths have the power to improve the every day. Helping us live happier, more engaged and entertaining existences as we adjust to our new normal and continue living through a global pandemic.

With experience on over 35 brands, Marilyn Maitland strives to invent original ways to tell a brand’s story, drive data based results, and keep it real with both her clients and students. Maitland also believes talking about herself in the third person is as awkward as the fly that stole the show during the 2020 Vice Presidential debates. LOL.

Bio: Kevin Moran is an Industry Liaison supporting the graphic design and advertising programs.

As a creative professional, Kevin has had the opportunity to work with a number of Toronto's largest studios and agencies in different capacities from Illustration to Art Direction.

Kevin currently manages a small creative team at a tech company called Kira Systems, which strives to push the boundaries of machine learning and AI in the legal and corporate world.

As a design industry representative, Kevin hopes to share everything he knows about the creative world as well as inspiring students to push beyond what they're expected to do to grow as professionals.

Bio: Nithya has been at Humber for over 16 years primarily teaching Web Development courses. She has also been working throughout the industry as a software and web developer for the past 20 years and runs her own consulting firm. Her years of real-world experiences bring practical insights to the classroom and she has led several research projects working collaboratively with students and clients. Nithya is keenly passionate about teaching and continuous learning, with a desire to share that passion with others.

Bio: Sara Taylor is a proud #HumberPR grad who loved working in the industry for more than 20 years before returning to the college as a part-time professor. You can check out all of her career details on LinkedIn! In addition to teaching, Sara enjoys working as an Industry Liaison to support students on their internship journey. Sara typically advises "grow your knowledge, grow your network" and to be open to any possible placement as all experience will be valuable. A highlight of Sara’s over the past 10 years is being part of the team who received a Humber College Innovations of the Year Award in recognition of the Humber PR Postgraduate Certificate Career Excellence initiative. Sara’s most favourite moments though, are each and every time a student is successful in landing an internship!

Bio: Erin is an instructor and industry liaison, a leader and motivator who helps to empower individuals and mobilize teams to achieve their best successes. She is an experienced and multi-faceted Media Communications professional with a unique background mix in Marketing, PR/Communication and Event Planning. Erin has a sharp eye and understanding of design and the importance of being user focused after many years of experience working closely with designers and UXD. She was nominated for a Law Marketing Association's "Rising Star" award and has received accolades from her student's as being considered one of their 'favourite' instructors. This is in part because of her undeniable passion for helping them become their professional best, for building up their self-confidence and for always tailoring the content to give them a 'leg up' on the competition. Words of advice: "If you can't figure out your purpose, then figure out your passion. For your passion will lead you right into your purpose - and that will lead you to success." Bishop T.D. Jakes.

Bio: Christia is a multidisciplinary freelance designer, who has worked in both advertising agencies and corporations.

Throughout the years, she has worked on diverse projects including branding, in-store experiences, print, digital, and motion for Red Bull, Smirnoff, Nike, Disney, Fairmont Hotels and Resorts, The Honest Co. and more. Her work has been honored by the Adobe Design Achievement Awards (finalist), A' Design Awards, Muse Design Awards and received an honorable mention from Awwwards.

As an Industry Liaison she uses her past experiences to guide students and lead them to a successful career by giving them tips of the trade. With her knowledge she hopes to be able to help students find a path that suits them.

Bio: Jason Pearson is a Music Industry Professional with a background in Digital Media. His current role is that of a Marketing Manager at an independent music label based in Toronto (Six Shooter Records). Jason’s entry into the music industry started with a music blog that he ran with some friends from 2009 until about 2014. Completing the Digital Media course helped Jason land jobs at Corus, McCann, Holt Renfrew, and Public Inc respectively, but he always stayed involved in music throughout. Jason knew his transferable skills could get him a Full-Time job in the music industry eventually and they did.

Advice to Students: Whatever you are passionate about, there's a way to support yourself doing it. Some paths are easier than others but realizing your transferable skills as early as possible, can help you navigate the job field and leverage certain jobs to get to your desired occupation.

Bio: JUNO-nominated artist, Tara Kannangara is a second-generation, Sri Lankan-Canadian force of nature, giving you music that is deeply personal, genre-bending and culture blending. All this, encompassed by wild trumpet melodies, searing guitar lines, lush synths, and piercing lyricism will make you turn your head and listen. Growing up in Chilliwack BC, Tara studied classical piano and voice from an early age but over the years secretly fostered an interest in Alternative, Pop, Jazz and improvised music. Even still, she decided to study classical trumpet and voice at the University of Victoria, but her love for making her own art led her to Toronto to pursue jazz and improvised music at the University of Toronto. After years of studying institutionalized art, Tara was compelled to break the veneer built around her experience of music-making. By writing about the realities or absurdities of white excellence, and the triumph of being an outsider, Tara will compel you to listen.

Tara has been featured on CBC's The Signal, The Sunday Edition and NPR Tiny Desk with Lido Pimienta. She also performed on Lido's Grammy nominated record, "Miss Colombia." Her work has been presented at major festivals across North America including The Montreal Jazz Festival, The Washington DC Jazz Festival and The Smithsonian. She currently teaches at the University of Toronto and acts as a student mentor/Industry Liaison at Humber College. She is also a founding member of #thisisartschool, a coalition of artists championing equity in arts education.

Bio: A veteran of the Canadian music industry with 22+ years of experience, Grant has experienced the love of music as both an award-winning artist and agent. His journey into a life of music began on stage as the frontman & DJ of the electrifying Moses Mayes. After a decade of touring, he transitioned behind the scenes as a music agent and he's never looked back. Following 12 years at the esteemed Paquin Artists Agency where he developed his own unique roster of live and electronic acts, he left in 2020 to co-found Midnight Agency. Today under the Midnight banner he represents an award-winning roster of clients in Canada, the USA, Australia, and New Zealand.