Ashley Okwuosa

I am a journalist based in Toronto. My stories on immigration, education, politics, and more have been published in The Boston Globe, The Christian Science Monitor, WNYC, Quartz, TVO.org, The Narwhal, and others.

I am a graduate of the Columbia Journalism School where I was a recipient of the African Pulitzer fellowship. And my work has been nominated for a 2022 National Magazine Award and a 2023 Digital Publishing Award.

From 2019 - 2020, I was a grantee at The Brown Institute for Media Innovation where I helped build a database of maternal health interventions implemented in Nigeria over the last 30 years.

I currently work as a staff reporter at The Examination, an investigative newsroom covering global public health. You can reach me at ashley@theexamination.org.




The Globe and Mail •

Running apps are great for motivation, but take note of privacy settings

In a month, Dhushan Puvanachandran runs at least 25 times. Whether he’s running through his neighbourhood in Brampton, Ont., or on a treadmill, it’s almost second nature for Mr. Puvanachandran to track his pace, heart rate and distance and share it with his friends. The ability to share highlights of successful runs via apps such as Nike Run Club is one way to motivate himself to keep going. “Getting those affirmations definitely helps when you share milestones,” said Mr. Puvanachandran. Fitne
Pulitzer Center •

Two Years Later, has the NEMCHIC Initiative Reduced Maternal Deaths in Nigeria?

Dr. Shuaib, the executive director of Nigeria’s healthcare development agency, was serious about the state of maternal health, and wanted everyone to know. So he called a press conference and declared a state of emergency. “Having noted the high rate of maternal, newborn and under-five child mortality, and the insufficiency of our current efforts to reverse the trend, I hereby declare a state of public health concern on maternal, newborn, and child deaths occurring at the primary healthcare com
TVO.org •

‘For us, by us’: How a new Caribbean exhibition is changing the AGO

Kenneth Montague was 10 years old when he first saw pictures from the Harlem Renaissance. A child of Jamaican immigrants in Windsor, he’d visited the Detroit Institute of Arts and been moved by the images of Black people in their Sunday best lounging in Harlem brownstones or sitting in Cadillacs. “It was definitely an eye-opener,” says Montague, who had before that seen mostly images that reflected negative stereotypes about people who looked like him.
TVO.org •

‘A very long journey’: Another challenge for newcomers — finding affordable housing

Tetiana Karbovanets and her family have moved three times in the past five years. Karbovanets, who works as an immigration consultant, moved with her husband and son from Ukraine, in 2016, as part of Canada’s express-entry program for skilled workers. The family arrived in June and rushed to find suitable housing in Toronto. After securing a short-term rental, they moved into an apartment, where they stayed for two and a half years. But when they started looking into buying a house, they realiz
TVO.org •

Anatomy of an outbreak: How COVID-19 overran this Ontario prison

On April 14, 2020, employees at Brampton’s Ontario Correctional Institute received a memo informing them that a co-worker had tested positive for COVID-19. “It is important to note that the individual did not experience symptoms while at work,” wrote Mark Parisotto, director of the central region for the Ministry of the Solicitor General’s Institutional Services Division. “The employee remains in self-isolation and is following protocols recommended by health authorities.” Employees were advise
The Business of Fashion •

African Entrepreneurs Are Banking on ‘A-Beauty’

African beauty doesn’t stop with shea butter, says Linda Gieskes-Mwamba. The beauty entrepreneur who was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo and raised between Brussels and Johannesburg has always been a fan of the fat extracted from the nut of the African shea tree. Growing up in a part of Central Africa where it wasn’t abundant, she was always sure to request some from anyone coming from West Africa.
TVO.org •

Kids in crisis: Inside Ontario’s overloaded mental-health system

About two years ago, Suzanne noticed that her daughter was getting thinner and thinner. The Ottawa resident suspected that her daughter, then 14, had developed bulimia. By December 2019, she was struggling to get out of bed and looked gravely ill. Her parents were worried about her heart: purging — a symptom of bulimia that can involve self-induced vomiting, laxative misuse, and other behaviours — can cause imbalances of the electrolytes that help maintain a regular heart rhythm. In January 202
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