ALANNA JORDE
WRITING, EDITING, RESEARCH & PHOTOGRAPHY
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Alanna Jorde is an accomplished and versatile communications specialist with more than two decades of experience editing, writing, researching and capturing photographs in Canada, Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and Oceania.
A seasoned wordsmith with a mastery of substantive, stylistic and copy editing, Alanna is a respected editor, writer, researcher and newsroom leader with a proven track record delivering quality communication products on tight deadlines in challenging environments. Her clients have included newspapers, magazines, research institutes, national think tanks, nongovernmental organizations, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and United Nations agencies. After graduating from the University of British Columbia in 1991 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science, Alanna spent a summer working as a reporter/photographer for a tiny community newspaper in the BC interior. A couple of years later she landed a job in beautiful Victoria, where she assumed increasingly responsible positions from reporter/photographer of one of the smallest newspapers in the chain to the editor of Black Press Vancouver Island’s third largest print and online newspaper. During her 10-year stint with the company, Alanna’s work was recognized with national and provincial awards as well as dozens of in-house company awards. She oversaw the transition of the newspaper from tabloid to broadsheet format, the launch of an online edition of the print publication and several upgrades in desktop publishing software. Besides editing, writing and photographing for the Black Press chain, Alanna was responsible for laying out the print publication and updating the content of its online edition. Driven by a passion to address social, political and economic injustices beyond her borders, Alanna returned to university in 2004 to pursue a Master of Arts degree in Human Security and Peacebuilding from Royal Roads University. Her quest first took her to Uganda, where she spent a year volunteering for a community-based organization that assists vulnerable people infected with and affected by the catastrophic AIDS epidemic and writing a column about human security issues for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s website, CBC.ca. She also co-developed and carried out with Ugandan peers from Makerere University an action field research project funded by the Canadian International Development Agency entitled, “An Assessment of Civic Literacy in Uganda’s Local Government.” In 2006, Alanna moved to Cambodia, where she was the founding Managing Editor of a national English-language weekly newspaper. She later became Managing Editor of the country’s leading economics magazine and edited English language research reports for the Economic Institute of Cambodia. During her three-year stint in Cambodia, Alanna assisted the country’s top children’s right nongovernmental organization plan its communications strategy and establish its brand through the production of several publications. She carried out field research, wrote and edited “Somroh Somruel & Violence Against Women” a report for an international nongovernmental organization to improve understanding of local reconciliation practices in cases of violence against women in Cambodia. Alanna travelled to Jakarta, Indonesia and Yangon, Myanmar in 2010 as Chief Editor of a series of six books for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on its response to Cyclone Nargis. She completed a series of publications for Catholic Relief Services in 2011 highlighting the impact of the international nongovernmental organization’s job creation, poverty reduction, HIV-prevention and Parish Social Ministry programs in Moldova. Alanna is currently contracted by the the United Nations Children's Fund Pacific prior to a stint as a Public Information Officer for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Afghanistan. She has also worked as a Reporting Officer and Head of Programme Management Office for the United Nations Office for Project Services in Afghanistan and Cambodia. She volunteered as a Communications Officer for the United Nations Development Programme in Pakistan. Alanna has been recognized with numerous awards for writing, editing, photography and community service and in 2000 she was a finalist for a Greater Victoria Women of Distinction award in the Public Relations and Communications category. |
Professional Accolades
•Gold Award for Best Special Section, 2002 Ma Murray Community Newspaper Awards •Second place for Environmental Writing, 2001 Better Newspapers Competition •Bronze Award for Community Service, 1999 Ma Murray Community Newspaper Awards •Gold Award for Editorial Writing, 1998 Ma Murray Community Newspaper Awards •Gold Award for BC Automobile Association category, 1998 Ma Murray Community Newspaper Awards•Finalist, 2000 Greater Victoria Women of Distinction Award - Public Relations and Communications category •Entrance Award, 2004 Master of Arts Human Security and Peacebuilding prgram, Royal Roads University |