For immediate release

Sue Gardner opens 6 Degrees Toronto Monday
Founder of newly launched investigative news site The Markup to deliver 16th LaFontaine-Baldwin Lecture

TORONTO, September 23, 2018—The Markup, a non-profit news organization based in New York City that investigates the societal impacts of technology, announced its official start today. The Markup is founded by Sue Gardner (Executive Director), former head of the Wikimedia Foundation, and Julia Angwin (Editor-in-Chief) and Jeff Larson (Managing Editor), investigative journalists who formerly wrote for ProPublica.

Gardner will make her first public appearance following this announcement on Monday at Koerner Hall when she delivers the 16th LaFontaine-Baldwin Lecture, the opening event of 6 Degrees Toronto.

• WHO: Sue Gardner, Founder and Executive Director of The Markup
• WHAT: 16th LaFontaine-Baldwin Lecture
• WHEN: Monday, September 24 at 7:30 p.m. (Doors open at 7:00 p.m.)
• WHERE: Koerner Hall, TELUS Centre for Performance & Learning, 273 Bloor Street West

Titled “Dark Times Ahead: Taking Back Truth, Freedom, and Technology,” Monday night’s interactive event will include Gardner in conversation with John Ralston Saul, Co-founder and Co-chair of the Institute for Canadian Citizenship, which presents 6 Degrees.

Media wishing to attend the LaFontaine-Baldwin Lecture or to interview Sue Gardner or John Ralston Saul should contact Adrineh Der-Boghossian at +1 647 217-4284 or [email protected].

The LaFontaine-Baldwin Lectures bring together Canadians to reflect on democracy, citizenship, and the public good. Established by Saul in 2000, the lectures honour the architects of responsible government, Louis-Hippolyte LaFontaine and Robert Baldwin. This year marks the 170th anniversary of responsible government in Canada.

About Sue Gardner
Sue Gardner is a special advisor to the Wikimedia Foundation, the non-profit that operates Wikipedia. From 2007 until 2014, she was its executive director. Previously Gardner was head of CBC.ca. Her career in journalism also included working in multiple media including the Internet, newspapers, magazines, radio, and TV. In 2012, Forbes magazine named Gardner one of the world’s 100 most powerful women. Gardner serves on boards and advisory committees for a half-dozen global non-profit, educational, and grantmaking organizations, primarily related to technology, media, gender, and digital freedoms.

About 6 Degrees
6 Degrees drives a global conversation on citizenship and inclusion. Presented by the Institute for Canadian Citizenship, it includes an immersive annual three-day event in Toronto, as well as a series of one-day pop-ups across Canada and around the world. 6 Degrees is about connection, conversation, artistic representation, and the power that comes from bringing people together. It counters rising nativism and exclusion, and instead, invites everyone to find a place in our circle. This year, 6 Degrees Toronto will take place September 24–26 at the Art Gallery of Ontario, the TELUS Centre for Performance and Learning, and The Great Hall.

About the Institute for Canadian Citizenship
Powered by a passionate and committed national network, the Institute for Canadian Citizenship (ICC) delivers programs and special projects that inspire Canadians to be inclusive, create opportunities to connect, and encourage active citizenship. Partnering with community volunteers and iconic cultural institutions, the ICC celebrates new Canadian citizens at more than 75 community citizenship ceremonies each year. The Cultural Access Pass is unique in the world, offering new citizens free access to more than 1400 cultural attractions during their first year of citizenship. Ideas & Insights is a leading source of research on citizenship and inclusion—social, cultural, political, and economic. 6 Degrees extends the reach of the ICC’s work through a global conversation on inclusion and citizenship in the 21st century. The ICC is a national charity co-founded by the Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson and John Ralston Saul.

Contact

To arrange an interview with Sue Gardner or John Ralston Saul, or for more information about 6 Degrees and the ICC, contact:

Adrineh Der-Boghossian
Communications Officer
Institute for Canadian Citizenship
+1 647 217-4284
[email protected]