Join our team:

Gillian is an accomplished photographic artist, writer, editor and most recently, producer of the  'Life Outside the Box' podcast.  She is the owner of A Modern Portrait Media  and holds Bachelor of Arts degrees in both English and Psychology, with additional education in photography and fine art.  

​Outside of Canada, Gillian has lived and worked in the United States, England and Estonia, and her camera has traveled with her around the world.  She has published two books and currently lives in Northumberland County, Ontario with her family. When she's not working, she has a passion for literature, music, philosophy, tennis, and her dogs Hairy Potter and Hudson.

​

As a survivor of suicide loss, she is also a tireless advocate for mental health literacy and suicide prevention. 

Asante Haughton has emerged as a leader in mental health. A veteran of the speaker circuit, Asante has presented across the globe, including a pair of TEDx talks telling stories detailing how family trauma impact mental health. Through his work, Asante was also named as a CAMH 150 Difference Maker, being awarded the distinction of being one of the top 150 difference makers in Canadian mental health. 

​

Having firmly entrenched himself in the mental health space at large, Asante is now devoting his time, energy and focus to the intersections of race and mental health, seeking to amplify the myriad experiences of Blackness across the diaspora in order to shed light on the ways in which being Black in a world that seeks to diminish Blackness impacts the mental health of Black people. Asante believes in confronting current and historical truths about our world and the human condition, however uncomfortable those truths may be, in order to move toward healing.

​

When not trying to save the world, Asante can be found laughing at his own jokes, Netflix'ing, checking his fantasy football stats, watching cartoons, and being frustrated with Toronto sports teams (except the Toronto Raptors!). Though Asante can be pretty laid back, he is loud about his advocacy and drive for change as he aims to deliver a message of social awareness, justice, community betterment, and above all, hope.

Abbigale Kernya is fourth year undergraduate University student majoring in English with a specialization in creative writing. She has a passion for music, art, reading. She currently serves as co-Editor-in-Chief at Arthur Newspaper, the independent student press at Trent University where she has a reoccurring column about her locally famous cat, Gator.

​

She constantly struggles with the question "what is your favourite book" but right now, she would have to say Bluets by Maggie Nelson.

Hailey Hechtman is a creative, intentional and purpose-driven social impact leader with a passion for co-creative team development, strength-based program implementation and collective impact. She has 10 years of experience working in the social services sector with an aim for promoting thoughtful leadership and aligned decision-making for mental wellness, disability, and youth organizations. She is a strong communicator with a background in direct service provision that recognizes both the importance of a big-picture perspective and a practical, hands-on philosophy towards creating sustainable change.Some of her career highlights include founding the Yukon Distress & Support Line, establishing the Yukon Inter-Agency Network on Disability, creating standardized narrative reporting processes for the Yukon Government and spearheading the Learning Essential Support Skills Online (LESSON) program. She moved back to Ottawa in August 2020 to take on the role of Executive Director for Causeway Work Centre. In 2023 Hailey became the Executive Director of Unsinkable.

Writer, creator, and student, Helena Nikitopoulos is a graduate of  Western University, with a degree in English Literature and Film Studies. 

Her love for writing has led her to publish a variety of poems and articles in magazines such as The University of Toronto's UN Magazine, Bloom, The Oakville Beaver, and Western University's Student newspaper, The Western Gazette. Many of her pieces focus on mental health and wellness as she believes them to be crucial to one's overall happiness and well-being. She also has a fitness account (@helenanfitness) where she shields light on the importance of one's mental and physical health as well as using the space to further advocate for body positivity and self-love. Alongside her fitness account, you can find Helena's published works as well as her deepest thoughts and words of advice on her personal writing account (@helenaawrites). 

When she is not writing or brainstorming for a new written piece, she spends her time exercising or spending time in nature (preferably in the shade where she can read a book). As someone who is always eager to create new things, Helena constantly finds herself brainstorming for a new piece to publish and share with the world. She hopes that her words not only touch her readers but empower them to live every day with a positive and hopeful mindset. 

Mikaela Brewer is a multi-disciplinary published poet, writer, speaker, and researcher. She has played basketball for Team Canada & Stanford University where she studied human biology (brain, behaviour, and mental health), creative writing, and science communication. Mikaela writes & speaks about her experiences as both a multi-suicide-attempt & multi-suicide-loss survivor. She is currently working on several projects that braid suicide prevention with poetry, language, storytelling, fiction, voice, and music.​

Emma is a graduate of the Master of Arts: Music and Culture program from Carleton University in Ottawa. She currently lives in Toronto, ON and is working as a law clerk specializing in US Business Immigration. A dedicated life-long musician, Emma releases original music under the artist name Maira. 

​

Passionate about mental health advocacy, environmentalism, and animal rights, Emma is proud to be working with the KBI Inspire team to promote positivity for youth. During her free time she enjoys reading, playing instruments, binging Netflix, and hanging out with her cat, Pearl. 

Kritika Sharda is a current Health Sciences student at McMaster University with a keen focus on supporting youth through education and mental health advocacy. As a proud Program Facilitator with Unsinkable Youth, Kritika champions mental health awareness, leveraging her role to empower and educate.