The Briefing Note Podcast

In Ellected Ep. 62 join Sarah in conversation with Orit Sulitzeanu, the exectuvite director of The Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel, about the sexual violence committed on October 7th in Israel.
Hear about what happened on October 7th from a leader committed to combating sexual violence on a daily basis in Israel who now educates the world on what took place that day.
To learn more about The Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel, please click here.
More about Orit Sulitzeanu:
Orit has served as executive director of the ARCCI since 2013. She has more than twenty years of experience in the fields of communications, public relations and managing public campaigns mainly concerning the status of women and the struggle to end violence against women. For over a decade she served as the Spokeswoman and director of the public relations department of Hebrew University, and before that she served as the Spokeswoman for the Israel Women's Network. Orit has a rich record of activities for the advancement of women in a variety of issues: the advancement of women in politics, the struggle against trafficking women, advancing the rights of Agunot and delayed divorce, the struggle to end violence against women, and the advancement of women in academia. Orit has a BA with honors from Hebrew University in East Asian Studies. She has two masters' degrees which she finished with honors in Non-Profit Administration and Communications from Hebrew University. Orit's thesis examined the influence of non-profits on the struggle against the trafficking of women in Israel. She is on the executive board of the non-profit "Kol HaIsha". She volunteered in a women's shelter in Jerusalem as part of the project "Noam", at the hotline for foreign workers, and at the Jerusalem rape crisis center in the education department and the hotline.
More about Sarah Elder-Chamanara:
Sarah Elder-Chamanara is the founder, creative director, designer and owner of Madame Premier, a feminist, political and activist clothing company and community based in Calgary, Alberta. With the underlying principle of seeing more women and diversity in politics, elected and in backrooms, at every level, Sarah and Madame Premier create opportunities for conversations about how politics works, why it needs to change, who it needs to change for and how the time for that is now.

In the first ever episode of Ellected recorded in-front of a live audience, host Sarah Elder-Chamanara sits down with NDP MLA and leadership candidate Rakhi Pancholi for the first in a series of podcasts with all of the candidates running to be the next leader of the Alberta NDP.
Hear from Rakhi about why she's running, her thoughts on "lending" votes to the Alberta NDP in the 2023 provincial election campaign, the return of hope and optimism in Alberta politics, her plans for all day kindergarten, the upcoming launch of her climate policies and so much more.
This episode was recorded in-front of a live audience at Madame Premier in Calgary on Sunday, March 3, 2024.
More about Rakhi Pancholi:
Rakhi Pancholi is a two-term MLA, lawyer and mom who’s committed to building a future full of opportunity for Alberta.

She began her legal career at a prestigious Bay Street firm, leading to almost a decade of experience in senior advisory roles for the Government of Alberta in the ministries of Education and Justice. Before running for office she also worked in private practice as a senior lawyer at a major Alberta law firm, where she specialized in labour and employment law.

Her passion for building a brighter future and better world led her to the University of Alberta, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and a law degree from the University of Toronto.

Rakhi lives in South Edmonton with her husband, Owen, her two school-aged children, and her rescue dog Duke.
To learn more about Rakhi's campaign, visit https://www.voterakhi.ca/
More about Sarah Elder-Chamanara:Sarah Elder-Chamanara is the founder, creative director, designer and owner of Madame Premier, a feminist, political and activist clothing company and community based in Calgary, Alberta. With the underlying principle of seeing more women and diversity in politics, elected and in backrooms, at every level, Sarah and Madame Premier create opportunities for conversations about how politics works, why it needs to change, who it needs to change for and how the time for that is now.

Housing, housing, housing. It’s a hot topic across Canada as we struggle with affordability, inflation and access to housing. This week Calgary City Council will chose between action on housing or the status quo and in episode 59 of Ellected, Calgary city councillor Kourtney Penner joins the podcast to talk about the decision she and her colleagues face in accepting or rejecting an 80 point plan to address the housing crisis. It’s one of the 80 recommended points in the report to update a type of zoning in certain areas to allow for more types of housing and instead of being widely applauded as innovative, some of council are rejecting the change in favour of small tweaks that won’t result in broad change. Councillor Penner walks you through what’s coming this week as well as the why and the what happens next.
More about Kourtney Penner:
Kourtney Penner was elected councillor for Ward 11 in the Calgary General Election on Oct. 18, 2021.

Kourtney Penner has roots and chose to live in Ward 11 with her family. As a community-minded leader she believes it is important to support community-building initiatives. With a strong value in relationship building, she knows projects succeed when we choose a mindset of working together, approaching challenges to find balanced, positive outcomes, and by using data to support decision making.

As a mom with school aged children and parents and grandparents in the city, Kourtney knows neighbourhoods need to balance the needs of residents across the stages of their lives. As a leader in the technology sector, she knows a thriving economy is vital to the city and creating a sustainable future is important to our global position.
As part of Kourtney’s practice with all the organizations she has served – she has brought this mindset to the table and continually asks these questions:

How can we positively affect (or least harm) the most amount of people?
What opportunities exist for different groups to come together to create the most desirable outcome which may involve compromise?

More about Sarah Elder-Chamanara:

Sarah Elder-Chamanara is the founder, creative director, designer and owner of Madame Premier, a feminist, political and activist clothing company and community based in Calgary, Alberta. With the underlying principle of seeing more women and diversity in politics, elected and in backrooms, at every level, Sarah and Madame Premier create opportunities for conversations about how politics works, why it needs to change, who it needs to change for and how the time for that is now.

In episode 57 of Ellected, learn about Campaign University, a new initiative for anyone discontent with the current state of politics and interested in running or getting involved. Created and run by three political veterans, former Vancouver city councillor George Affleck and veteran campaigners Mike Wilson and Emile Scheffel, they are disrupting the status quo of politics by telling you exactly how things work.
More about George Affleck:
George Affleck won his first election by doing his own marketing and was able to secure his seat despite a poor performance by his party. In his 20 years in public office, media, and marketing, he learned what it takes to handle pressure. He's focused on helping you win, having walked through the challenges of being a candidate and public servant firsthand, and come out on the other side with a passion to help others do the same.

George was elected into public office in 2011 and served two terms as a city councillor in Vancouver and is the president and CEO of Curve Communications.

More about Mike Wilson:
Mike is the CEO of In Language Advertising, a full service campaign and public policy advertising agency. He is an expert at building and driving large-scale campaigns and narratives that move public opinion. Mike is also the Principal at Dampier Consulting - A strategic communications consultancy. Mike brings high level strategic thinking to his work.
Recently, Mike has been involved in working to get good people in to politics and restoring needed public policy victories for clients throughout North America. Mike worked on Christy Clark’s leadership campaign in 2011 and then moved in to the BC government where he managed polling and advertising leading up to the 2013 election. During the 2013 election Mike helped manage the multicultural advertising for the campaign. From 2013-2107, in addition to his corporate work, Mike managed polling and advertising within the BC Government bringing systems, financial controls and campaign measurement in to the bureaucracy.
More about Sarah Elder-Chamanara:
Sarah Elder-Chamanara is the founder, creative director, designer and owner of Madame Premier, a feminist, political and activist clothing company and community based in Calgary, Alberta. With the underlying principle of seeing more women and diversity in politics, elected and in backrooms, at every level, Sarah and Madame Premier create opportunities for conversations about how politics works, why it needs to change, who it needs to change for and how the time for that is now.

Episode 40 of Ellected features Lisa Naylor, Manitoba NDP MLA for the downtown Winnipeg riding of Wolseley.
More about Lisa Naylor:
Lisa has represented the people of Wolseley as the Winnipeg School Division (WSD) Ward 4 Trustee since 2014, serving as vice-chair and chair of the Finance and Personnel Committee and on the Executive of the Manitoba School Boards Association.

Lisa is known for being accessible and accountable to her community and as a tireless defender of comprehensive public school funding.

Lisa is a feminist activist who has worked in front-line social services and community health organizations for thirty years. She started her career as a street outreach worker in Toronto and worked as a counsellor with sexually exploited youth before moving to Winnipeg to work as a counsellor and health educator at Women’s Health Clinic. Lisa has also been an active volunteer in the community and has served as a director on the board of the University of Winnipeg Student Association Day Care and Klinic Community Health Centre.

Lisa is a passionate advocate who has made countless contributions to policy and public awareness on issues that impact youth mental health and well-being. Lisa has long been an activist for reproductive health, LGBTQ2S* rights, and other social justice issues. As a trustee, Lisa introduced WSD's groundbreaking policy for the protection and inclusion of trans, queer, Two-Spirit, and non-binary students and staff.

Lisa is committed to a just and equitable society where everyone is treated with compassion and has access to opportunities. Her advocacy efforts and political service are a natural extension of her mental health work. She knows that addressing poverty, colonialism, racism, and other inequities is the path to a healthy, thriving community. Well-being for all includes addressing the climate crisis with the urgency it demands to find sustainable solutions that develop green technologies and green jobs.

Lisa has lived with her family in Wolseley for twenty years.
More about Sarah Elder-Chamanara:

Sarah Elder-Chamanara is the founder, creative director, designer and owner of Madame Premier, a feminist, political and activist clothing company and community based in Calgary, Alberta. With the underlying principle of seeing more women and diversity in politics, elected and in backrooms, at every level, Sarah and Madame Premier create opportunities for conversations about how politics works, why it needs to change, who it needs to change for and how the time for that is now.