Zaren Healey White (BA(Hons.)'10, MGS'16) is a highly respected communications and media expert, a writer, artist, activist and strategic communications professional. Her career spans over a decade, ranging from journalism and media, politics, technology and marketing. She has been manager of marketing for Celtx Inc., director of communications for the NL NDP Caucus, reporter and digital editor for VOCM News, various marketing and communications responsibilities at Memorial University and is currently manager of marketing and communications with m5 agency.

As a student at Memorial, she received the Michael Staveley Award, bestowed upon students who make the Dean of Arts List for eight consecutive semesters. She received SSHRC funding and a place in McGill’s highly competitive master of arts in English program, and upon her return to Memorial for a second graduate degree in gender studies, she was funded by an F.A. Aldrich Scholarship and designated a Fellow of the School of Graduate Studies.

For her significant contributions to Memorial, Ms. Healey White was presented with the Chancellor’s Undergraduate Award, the Fry Family Leadership Award and the George Story Convocation Prize, all prestigious honours that recognize both academic excellence and student leadership at Memorial and in the community at large.

Her impressive academic record is even more extraordinary in light of the activities she was (and still is) engaged in. During her undergraduate years, she held a full-time position as co-ordinator of the Student Volunteer Bureau, and worked as a copyeditor and writer for The Muse. When completing her masters, she was a broadcaster at VOCM News and an international student advisor and educational outreach coordinator in Memorial’s Internationalization Office.

She has taken her studies and exploration of gender and feminism from the academy to the real world, tackling long-held orthodoxies head-on in her writing, media commentary, academic guest lectures, educational workshops and community and volunteer projects. She has worked hard to live her truth, to be a capable, strong woman who challenges herself to see and break down barriers for herself and others.

In 2015, she established Feminisms [Re]Framed, a collective community-based feminist art show. Working with a committed team of volunteers, she helped create a showcase for local feminist art, bringing together artists, writers and creators for annual three-day shows for several summers.

She has given her time and energy to a range of community projects, including TEDx St. John’s as a speaker coach and director of programming, a member at large who provides communications support with the Board of Directors of Shakespeare by the Sea and was a 2015 ambassador with the Coalition Against Violence. For the better part of a decade, she also fostered small animals through Hoppy Homes Rescue and volunteered with Beagle Paws. Her activism also expands to animal rescue, rehabilitation, and care, educating parents and children to make sure they understand what is involved in adopting animals, often showcasing her own animals to teach about their care, both in person and online.

At just 35-years-old, Ms. Healey White is a powerhouse, a force to be reckoned with and shows no signs of slowing down.