Our Team
In addition to our youth participants, Digitally Lit is led by a small-but-mighty team of consultants dedicated to youth empowerment and passionate about arts, education, storytelling and social justice.
Robin Grant
(she/her)
Executive Director
Robin Grant has a passion for the arts, youth and great stories. Executive Director for Digitally Lit, Robin is also a seasoned journalist and education consultant with experience developing products for a host of organizations, including CBC Radio, the Manufactured Right Here program, the National Research Council and the Association for New Canadians.
Founder of For the Love of Learning (2006)—a non-profit dedicated to supporting resilient youth in Newfoundland & Labrador through creative place-based learning—Robin went on to launch the NL branches of Journalists for Human Rights, Uth Ink (Playwrights Guild of Canada) and Homeless Nation. For her efforts Robin was awarded the Literacy Medallion from the Council of the Federation (2010), shortlisted for "Free the Children International's" Me To We Social Justice award (2008), featured in a Chatelaine Magazine cover story "How One Woman Made A Difference" (2008), and more.
Robin also serves as Partnership and Program Director for Bridge to Publishing and formerly served as Sales & Education Rep for Nimbus Publishing as well as a producer for Book Me! Podcast. In her spare time, Robin enjoys exploring local waterfalls and wineries, hanging with friends, and partaking in just about any outdoor activity with her partner Mike.
Laura Coyle
Youth & Public Engagement Mentor
Laura is a passionate reader who loves sharing her love for books with anyone who will lend an ear.
She holds a Bachelor of Public Relations from Mount Saint Vincent University and a Journalism Diploma from Holland College. By day, she's a Sales and Marketing Coordinator in the heavy equipment industry. After hours, Laura kicks back at home with her husband and their two cats, often curled up with a good book from the local library.
At Digitally Lit, she’s excited to bring her love of reading to life and virtually connect with fellow book lovers.
Alumni
Amanda Gallagher
(she/they)
Media & Program Director
Amanda is an avid reader who enjoys quiet moments spent in nature and relishing the simple things in life. By trade she is a project manager and multidisciplinary storyteller with over 15 years experience leading projects in traditional and new media. She is drawn to sharing stories that connect people, challenge norms, and inspire change.
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​​​​Amanda’s most notable work has been in the TV and film industry, where she has accumulated a diverse range of production and performance credits. She has served as Writer/Director for five full-length documentaries, two of which were nominated for Screen NS's 'Best Documentary' award (2018, 2019). Her work has been featured in festivals—such as AIFF and Lunenburg DOC Fest, locally—and broadcast on major networks and streaming platforms worldwide.
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In addition to her work with Digitally Lit, Amanda currently serves as Media and Program Director for Digitally Lit's offshoot, Bridge to Publishing, and as Producer/Editor of Nimbus Publishing's "Book Me Podcast!" She is passionate about empowering youth, believing in their limitless potential, and is thrilled to be co-creating and running programs that help young people celebrate local art and culture while becoming catalysts for positive change through storytelling.​​
Sophia Hong
She/Her
Youth & Public Engagement Mentor
Sophia Hong is fascinated by the art of writing, storytelling and the power of language.
In her previous life, she was an illustrator, art instructor and graphic designer. Yet, after a decade in the creative profession, her trajectory followed her passion for Public Relations. Sophia recently graduated with a Bachelor of Public Relations from Mount Saint Vincent University, alongside her Bachelor of Fine Arts from California State University, Long Beach. Presently, Sophia thrives as a communication professional within the environmental non-profit sector.
Before moving to Nova Scotia, she travelled and experienced life in different corners of the world. Born in Seoul, South Korea, she spent her early childhood years in the United States and did her high school years in Jakarta, Indonesia. Living in Nova Scotia was a conscious choice, and she is grateful that she can call Halifax her home.
In her spare time, you can find her paddle boarding near Shubie Canal, pampering her Siamese cat, 'Miu,' or stepping out for some Chicken Little ice cream with her two sweet-tooth daughters.
Emma Macillan
Public Engagement Mentor
Emma MacMillan loves to read books, sing Taylor Swift, and talk. A lot.
Emma is a Mount Allison University B.Sc. graduate pursuing an M.A. in Communication at Mount Saint Vincent University. She believes that at the heart of communications is storytelling and education. Emma believes that public outreach and education are at the core of creating a better world, which has led her to positions with Veterans Affairs Canada in France, Parks Canada in New Brunswick, and most recently, the Canadian Coast Guard. She also has a passion for science communication and literacy and is involved in Canadian nonprofit Science For Everyone.
Emma loves to travel and has visited seventeen countries but you'll normally find her on a Sunday afternoon wrapped in a blanket, reading a book, and trying not to spill her hot chocolate.
Lily Van Den Heuvel
(Alumni)
American Sign Language (ASL) Mentor
My name is Lily and I'm fourteen years old. I was born and raised in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia my whole life.
How I spend my days mostly is attending school. I'm a grade 9 student at Eric Graves Memorial Junior high. Outside of school, I mostly stay at home, watch tv and read/surf online. I am on the costume crew of the theatre at the nearby high school. I will start helping out in the New Year if all goes well with Covid.
The reason why I feel like I would fit in digitally as an ASL mentor is because I want to give children of the Deaf community a chance to be read to, and have someone to look up to. I want to motivate kids that's in the deaf community to not be ashamed because they are deaf or because they sign. I also would like to teach the hearing world how to interact with deaf people, especially in the pandemic with masks. I started up a sign language club at my school and many people I've met know how to sign, mostly fingerspelling. I love to teach people my language to be able to communicate with me.
Some interesting facts about me: I wear two hearing aids. I have a dog who is two and her name is Luna. I was in one episode of Mr. D, where they did an episode on students with disability, the scene I was in was funny. I was involved in a documentary that was produced and directed by a Deaf man in Halifax. I was cast as a little deaf girl named Lillan during the Halifax Explosion, attending the Halifax School of the Deaf at that time, The documentary was successful and received an award for best film at the Toronto Deaf Film Arts.
Elphege Bernard-Wesson (Alumni)
Hailing from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Elphege (known better to friends and family as “Ellie”) Bernard-Wesson is committed to raising literacy rates within and raising public awareness of Deaf communities’ literacy needs. Proudly born Deaf herself, Elphege claims her love of books and literacy sprouted young, eventually leading her to acquire a Master of Library & Information Studies (Dalhousie, 2020) with a focus on Deaf communities’ access to information literacy.
A long time and passionate volunteer with the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Youth of Nova Scotia (DYANS), Dal's Information Without Borders and the Halifax Public Libraries, Elphege currently divides her time volunteering with Dal's School of Information Management Associated Alumni Annual (SIMAA) and the Society of Deaf & Hard of Hearing Nova Scotians (SDHHNS), and, for the past five years, working at various libraries within Nova Scotia’s Capital District.
In her spare time Elphege can be found taking photographs, writing poems, taking long walks, hanging out with friends, travelling the world (she’s already been to eight countries!) and (...you guessed it...) reading.
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American Sign Language (ASL) Mentor
Lynne Fox
(Alumni )
Lynne Fox is a documentary storyteller who specializes in photography and film. Originally from the United Kingdom, Lynne has experience developing and facilitating both photography and digital media workshops for youth at the Nacro Services Program in England. A certified soccer coach, Lynne has taught and shared her love of the sport with everyone from preschool children to Special Olympians and fellow soccer peers Canada-wide. A self-professed cynophilist, craft beer enthusiast and Pooh Bear aficionado, Lynne’s also the Sound Engineer of the Book Me! Podcast with Costas Halavrezos. As well as being the Digital Media Manager for Digitally Lit, Lynne continues to work freelance in media production (film and photography) as well as maintaining her business in research and and permissions for various educational publishers in both Canada and the United States.
Lynne still plays soccer on the weekends, and can often be heard over the TV speakers if you happen to be watching the HFX Wanders playing at home (true story).
Digital Media Mentor
Taylor Stocks (Alumni)
Taylor Stocks is a PhD student in Education at Memorial University of Newfoundland studying equity, democracy, and student-led systemic change.
He has extensive experience in public engagement, working with the university, local government, and various non-profit and arts organizations to deepen their ties within St. John’s and the broader community. Taylor has developed and delivered numerous youth-oriented learning opportunities on topics ranging from understanding political systems to the intersections of the arts and identity.
Taylor is currently Chair of the Inclusion Advisory Committee for the City of St. John’s and sits on Memorial’s Equity Employment Committee. He has given more than fifty workshops, presentations, and talks on gender equity and LGBTQ organizing. In his spare time, Taylor writes and plays music and entertains audiences as their drag character, Doctor Androbox.
When he grows up, Taylor would like to be Elton John.
Research Assistant
Sal Sawler (Alumni)
Sal Sawler is the author of Be Prepared: The Frankie MacDonald Guide to Life, the Weather and Everything, which recently took home the Moonbeam Children’s Book Award.
She’s also the author of 100 Things You Don't Know About Atlantic Canada (for kids) and 100 Things You Don’t Know About Nova Scotia.
They review books for Quill & Quire and work as a publicist for Conundrum Press.
They live in Halifax with her partner, two children, one dog, one cat, and one bearded dragon.
Youth Advocate
Alex Choinière
(Alumni )
A young entrepreneur and technical prodigy, Alex has dabbled in online game creation and visual storytelling since the age of eleven. After achieving a diploma in 3D Game Animation from the Centre for Arts and Technology, he went on to successfully co-found game companies with other makers, and win or place in various Canada-wide game jam competitions. An experienced animator, Alex also has experience working on children’s cartoons such as Bob the Builder and Doozers. He recently founded his own solo game company, Shweep Games.