Portfolio+clients
Selected client list
- Education Through Media
- Maquila Solidarity Network
- Gender at Work
- Amelia Rising Sexual Assault Centre of Nipissing
- Voices for Children (communications director) *among other work, produced plain language version of proposed legislation for contract with Ontario’s Provincial Advocate for Children & Youth
- Association for Women’s Rights in Development (staff)
- Canadian Crossroads International
- Clay & Paper Theatre
- Central Neighbourhood House
- Workers’ Action Centre/Ontario Employment Education & Resource Centre
- Blackline Law
- Tenant Vote (a City of Toronto public education project)
- Katrina Onstad, writer
- Xiaolan Health Centre
- Mennonite New Life Centre-Toronto
- International Development & Relief Foundation
- Between the Lines press
- 4info.net
- Canadian Alliance of Dance Artists-Ontario Chapter
- Canadian Geographic
- NOW magazine
- The Globe & Mail
- The Toronto Star
- Our Times
- Canadian Dimension
- …as sub-contractor, projects with each of the Toronto municipal, Ontario provincial and Canada federal governments.
And here are some work samples, badly out of date.
(Please don’t hesitate to contact us to see other samples of plain language, marketing materials, and other writing, including web copy and print materials, and Spanish language popular education materials. Although we do a lot of fund development and grant writing work, in most cases we can’t share samples of grant proposals–so contact us instead to talk it over!)
Below you will find a few examples of our storytelling, plain language and advocacy writing work.
Storytelling
In this magazine-style newsletter that I wrote for Canadian Crossroads International, it is the stories featuring women like Fati Hassane, Emilia Lopez de Cartagena and Fernandez Giron that hold your interest. The reader’s attention is captured through the drama of life challenges overcome and injustices confronted. But in fact, you’re getting a subtle education in micro-enterprise for poverty alleviation, in climate change and in women’s rights–all issues at the heart of this organization’s mission.
The article pictured at left 
purports to be about Mexicans riding bicycles in small-town Ontario–and that incongruous image is what grabs the reader’s attention. In fact, it’s a complex story about labour rights, the impact of the North American Free Trade Agreement, and what it feels like to be a migrant worker. All that, in an easy-to-swallow, compelling and colourful narrative.
An artist who studies slugs? A world traveller who now wanders the forests of coastal Newfoundland? An 11-year old boy who helps protect trumpeter swans in B.C.? The stories in this Canadian Geographic feature article are specific in detail. What emerges is a portrait of the renaissance in amateur science, and the role ordinary people can play in protecting our natural world.
Plain language
Plain language makes ideas accessible to everyone. Take this Plain language version of proposed legislation. It allowed youth to take part in the process of making Ontario’s child advocate independent of the government. With the help of this accessible translation of legalese into plain English, the young people were able to comment at hearings on the proposed legislation and to force real changes. Their informed contribution ensured the eventual legislation actually protects children and youth the way it is supposed to.
We also provide plain language audits of your communications materials, edit newsletters and technical documents with plain language in mind, and provide coaching and workshops on clear and effective writing.
Advocacy writing
Carlyn uses both plain language and storytelling or creative non-fiction techniques to bring life–and attention–to op-eds, both those we write ourselves, and those we ghost-write or edit for you. Other advocacy writing includes developing e-bulletins, an effective way of promoting your organization and advancing understanding of the issues, and creating promotional materials and web copy. We can also review all of your communications with an eye to how your different materials can better advance your advocacy goals through
- a strong, distinctive voice
- consistency across communications tools
- the use of colourful examples and description to bring issues to life
- plain language that ensures accessible and effective messaging
