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Valerie Ward - Jiffy Photo

Valerie Ward

In her 15-year-career as a freelance writer, Valerie has delved into everything from home renovation and health care to food trends and business travel. She has reviewed adult non-fiction and profiled local celebrities, kids battling life-threatening illness and women caring for aging parents. Her articles have appeared in daily newspapers, trade journals, lifestyle magazines and other publications including The Ottawa Citizen, The Montreal Gazette, Food in Canada, M&IT, Antiques & Collectibles Showcase, and Fifty-five Plus, among others.

Valerie also works as an independent consultant, providing private and public sector clients with corporate and marketing communication services such as strategic counsel and planning, project management, and writing and editing. Before going freelance, she worked as public affairs manager with a major Canadian company and won seven local and national awards for corporate business writing.

Right now, she is pursuing an interest in what and how we eat and is part way through a certificate program on sustainable local food from St. Lawrence College in Kingston, Ontario – one of the first such programs in North America. She has contributed research to a discussion paper entitled "Menu 2020: Ten Good Food Ideas for Ontario", prepared by Sustain Ontario for the Metcalf Foundation, and has volunteered with Sustain Ontario and The People's Food Policy Project.

Valerie lives outside Ottawa, Ontario with her road warrior husband and their teenage daughter. When she's not working or studying, she loves to read, brew pots of tea, talk politics, and play piano for the two cats.