Naomi Parness

Naomi Parness is an award-winning storyteller, content creator, communications specialist and former journalist.

A reporter with over 20 years experience, she spent almost a decade at CTV News Toronto. A tenacious reporter, Naomi established a solid reputation as the pitbull with a small frame but a large presence. Whether she was breaking exclusives and decoding the corridors at Toronto City Hall, or standing tall on the front lines at the chaotic G-20 riots, Naomi is regarded for fearless storytelling and a passion for people.

Naomi held many roles at CTV Toronto, establishing her own beat as an Education Reporter, breaking new ground for the network in the process. She engineered an impressive list of investigative reports and broke numerous stories. Naomi has covered elections for CTV News at the federal, provincial and municipal levels, reporting live from a mix of breaking news events.

Prior to CTV, Naomi was an anchor and reporter at CHEX TV in Peterborough and a reporter at CTV in Barrie (then called A-Channel News). While at CTV Barrie -- she traveled to Poland to cover the March of The Living. She wrote, reported and helped produce a 5-part series about the Nazi death camps. The series earned the prestigious Edward R. Murrow Award for Best Documentary, along with the National and Regional RTNDA (now RTDNA) Dave Rogers Award for Best News Feature.

Naomi also spent two summers across the border in New York City first at CBS News then NY1 where she worked on a nightly show about 9/11 in the months following the tragic attack. In 2016 Naomi left the traditional newsroom, but her essence as a storyteller found a new canvas. She spearheaded the Digital Content and Storytelling department at the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto. In 2019, Naomi ventured into the entrepreneurial world, founding a communications company with two other partners. She was forced to be innovative with her storytelling during the worldwide pandemic - and found herself producing and hosting numerous virtual shows.

In 2023 - she went out on her own and started The Narrative Agency. She has been heavily involved in helping with media, crisis communications, and storytelling for UJA Federation and many other charities during the Israel-Hamas war.

Naomi is an active volunteer in her community. She sat on the Holocaust Education Week committee for over two decades. She is the Chair of the Board of the Benji Impact and on the Advisory Committee for Unity Through Sport. She can often be found in hockey arenas, cheering on her sons alongside so many other “hockey moms.”

Fun fact - she’s never had a cup of coffee in her life.

Sarah Tratt

Sarah Tratt is a media relations and crisis communications specialist with nearly 20 years hands-on experience in the media industry and corporate communications. She possesses the rare combination of news smarts, strategic communications wisdom, and what one colleague described as ‘ninja-like comms skills.’

Sarah began her career at CP24 Toronto’s Breaking News where she worked for nearly a decade as the senior assignment editor, mastering the art of being the power behind the throne. She played a key role in planning and managing the logistics and coverage of breaking news and major events such as federal and provincial elections, several Royal visits, the NBA All-Star weekend and the Pan Am Games. She led the assignment team to winning the prestigious BRAVO Award in 2014 for coverage of the Rob Ford story. As the senior assignment editor, Sarah ensured smooth execution and synergy among hundreds of moving parts, pivotal in defining success in the frenetic world of breaking news in one of North America’s largest television markets.

Sarah left the newsroom in 2018 to establish the media relations team at Rothmans, Benson & Hedges Inc. at a challenging time when the company was going in a bold, new direction. There, she harnessed all her strategic thinking, media relations, issues management and crisis communications skills that have led her to become the expert she is today. Her role consisted of media outreach and relationship building, stakeholder engagement, generating public awareness of RBH’s smoke-free future, and supporting the communications and government relations teams on several external campaigns. Most notably, Sarah played an integral role in launching Unsmoke in Canada having overseen many activities for Unsmoke Week in 2019 and 2020.

Over the past four years, Sarah has gained further industry experience by working at Toronto-based PR agencies where she developed and executed integrated stakeholder relations and communications plans for several corporate and not-for-profit clients. Known for her tenacity and creativity, Sarah proves that behind every successful media story or media blitz, is an expert — in her case, wielding a Starbucks in one hand and a strategic communications plan in the other.

Sarah’s ability to think on her feet, pay attention to the small details, while strategically thinking big picture comes from her experience in a busy Toronto newsroom, working for a global company forging a new direction, and having a variety of clients at any given time. From organizing the chaos within a breaking news juggernaut, to orchestrating a symphony of corporate media strategies, Sarah is the expert behind the scenes whose decision-making prowess turns media mayhem into harmonious headlines.

Sarah holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English and Professional Writing from Brock University and a diploma in Broadcast Journalism from Seneca College.

Fun fact: Sarah knows all too well the lengths Taylor Swift fans will go to see her in concert having flown to Sydney, Australia for the Eras Tour.

Heather Milne

Heather Milne is a media relations and communications expert with over 20 years of experience working in journalism and media. Heather first found her love of news in 2003 at OMNI television, working as a student in Toronto. After graduating from the University of King's College journalism school in 2007 Heather went on to work as a writer and producer at CTV Atlantic. During her tenure at CTV Atlantic she was responsible for producing the six o’clock news, booking interviews with the biggest newsmakers of the day. It was here, independently managing breaking news and current events, where Heather honed her strategic and critical thinking skills.

In 2008 Heather returned to Toronto to work as a writer at CityTV. While working on City News International Heather further developed her ability to share meaningful stories with a wide audience. In 2009, Heather joined CP24 as a producer for flagship shows including CP24 Breakfast, CP24 LIVE at Noon and CP24 LIVE at 5 and 5:30. She also worked as part of an award winning team for special events and breaking news coverage. Most notably, including Mayor Rob Ford’s time in office, international disasters and Canadian and U.S. elections at all levels.

In 2016 Heather had the opportunity to join the Your Morning team for its inaugural season. She was instrumental in the development and growth of CTV’s national morning show. As the coordinating producer in the control room Heather managed the live, 3 hour, show each morning and was able to quickly adapt to crisis situations. As with all her prior experience, she continued to share community and global stories of significance, including going to New York for the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election which saw Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton face-off, Quebec City for the 2017 Mosque Shooting and Humboldt for the 2018 bus crash.

In 2021 Heather left the newsroom and went on to work in entrepreneurship and communications while building on her industry knowledge. With over two decades of experience in journalism and media Heather knows what the media wants. She has the skills essential to help clients exceed their media goals. Heather can manage any challenging situation with straightforward and strategic advice. She has earned a reputation for effectively managing multiple tasks at once while staying calm and being able to clearly communicate through it all.

Heather has earned a Bachelor of Arts degree with a Major in English and Minor in Law and Society from Dalhousie University, as well as a Bachelor of Journalism from the University of King’s College.

Fun fact: an 8-pound Yorkie named Ernest is the true boss in her house.