Meet the Ottawa Wave Makers

The wait is over! It’s time to introduce the winners of the Ottawa Wave Makers microgrant program. This first-of-its-kind program is a partnership between WWF-Canada and HUB Ottawa that awards small grants to projects that raise awareness in Ottawa about oceans.
After a successful launch in February of this year, we received a wave of applications from across the city. Folks from all backgrounds shared their ideas to get people in Ottawa thinking and talking about the health of our oceans. The judges had their work cut out for them, but after a tough selection process, the winners were publicly announced here in Ottawa on June 8, World Oceans Day, as part of our Sparks Street celebration.

Ottawa Wave Makers get social in a sea of props at the Oceans Day photo booth. Left to right: Sonia Vani, Meagan Murphy for Ottawa River Keepers, CarolAnne Black (and Oli!), and Hannah Beach for Dandelion Dance Company. © Professional Entertainment Group / VibePhotooth.com
Ottawa Wave Makers get social in a sea of props at the Oceans Day photo booth. Left to right: Sonia Vani, Meagan Murphy for Ottawa River Keepers, CarolAnne Black (and Oli!), and Hannah Beach for Dandelion Dance Company. © Professional Entertainment Group / VibePhotooth.com

Now, without further ado, let’s meet and congratulate the first-ever Ottawa Wave Makers:

  • CarolAnne Black will be writing a children’s book, Oli Visits the Ocean: Adventures of an Ottawa Boy in the Pacific, Arctic, and Atlantic Oceans
  • Catherine Brunelle will be producing a podcast, Home at Sea: Sentimental Stories from an Ocean in Crisis
  • Dandelion Dance Company will be producing a special dance theatre production: Oceans Alive
  • Patrick McCormick will be facilitating visual art and spoken word pieces: House of PainT to Oceans (H2O)
  • Meagan Murphy will be producing an educational event: Oceans to Rivers and Back Again – Why the Ottawa River’s Endangered American Eel Needs Healthy Rivers and a Healthy Atlantic Ocean
  • Tabatha Soltay will be creating a new bilingual board game: Shrimps Matter
  • Sonia Vani, will be making an educational video: Buying Sustainable Seafood in Ottawa – A Video Guide
  • Sharif Virani, will be hosting cooking classes: The Blue Plate Series – Cooking for a Healthier Ocean

Left to Right: Vinod Rajasekaran, Lead Strategist for Hub-Ottawa, and David Miller, President & CEO, WWF-Canada present an Ottawa Wave Makers certificate to Tabatha Soltay and Jean Phillippe Veillieux, in recognition of their winning Shrimps Matter interactive game project. ©WWF-Canada/ Greg Teckles
Left to Right: Vinod Rajasekaran, Lead Strategist for Hub-Ottawa, and David Miller, President & CEO, WWF-Canada present an Ottawa Wave Makers certificate to Tabatha Soltay and Jean Phillippe Veillieux, in recognition of their winning Shrimps Matter interactive game project. © WWF-Canada/ Greg Teckles

We’d like to send a resounding thank you to everyone who applied for a grant, and a special thanks to both our community supporters, who helped to spread the word, and our judges, community experts who volunteered their time to be part of the selection process.
Ottawa Wave Makers is about raising local awareness for Canada’s oceans. As they say, a rising tide floats all boats, so a big part of raising awareness is supporting the growing, vibrant network of ocean champions here in the nation’s capital. In the coming months, WWF and HUB Ottawa will be working hard to connect the Wave Makers and their projects to each other and to the wider community. Our mission is to help sustain the conversation about healthy oceans here in Ottawa, and ultimately to translate increased awareness into action.
Stay tuned to hear more about the Ottawa Wave Makers, as we bring you stories and updates about these projects during their journey from idea to reality.
Look for #OttWaveMakers to join in on the fun and to help us spread the word about healthy oceans.  And for more details on any of the projects listed above, take a look at the HUB Ottawa site here.