"Orato" comes from Latin, and it means "I speak." This pioneering grassroots citizen journalism website lets people do just that. Orato puts a human face on the news by showcasing vivid first-person stories from individuals involved in current events, or living extraordinary lives. Whether it is politics, sports, entertainment, science, love or war, Orato captures news and stories in their rawest form. The site is a celebration of every person's right to be heard in their own words.

Orato.com features both famous and ordinary people, and uses the power of the Internet to make readers part of every story. They join discussions, share their own stories and take sides on issues through online polls and by commenting at the end of stories.

In 2008, the Webby Awards named Orato as an official honoree in the news category. The site was also named one of PC Magazine's Top 100 Undiscovered Web Sites of 2008.

Our Team
We are journalists, designers and news junkies who want more from the media than headlines and sound bites. We think today's news machine doesn't do justice to the issues or the people involved in them. And we love a good story. That's why we've built a home for true stories from real citizens.

Sam Yehia, Chairman and Founder

Mr. Yehia is the founder of Orato.com and a successful entrepreneur with a track record for inspiring and motivating people to share common goals and establishing pioneering businesses in hospitality and entertainment. Mr. Yehia has significant experience in creating profitable businesses and is focused on the development of Orato.com as a global media enterprise and the creation of shareholder value.

Paul Sullivan, Editor-in-Chief

Mr. Sullivan has over 30 years experience in journalism. Formerly, Mr. Sullivan was Western Editor of The Globe and Mail, Canada's National Newspaper. He was also Managing Editor of The Vancouver Sun, Editor-in-Chief of the Winnipeg Sun, host of CBC Radio's Vancouver morning show and Senior News Editor at The Journal, the highly-rated CBC-TV news program. Most recently, he successfully established Sullivan Media, a communications consultancy with corporate and non-profit clients.

Heather Wallace, Senior Editor

Ms. Wallace is a lifelong writer and studied journalism at Vancouver's Langara College, where she was the recipient of the Penny Wise Scholarship for research and reporting excellence. She is an avid photographer and horoscope writer. She brings a unique and contemporary vision to Orato.com's editorial team and considers herself very much a part of the current revolution in media.

Jessie Johnston, First-Person Story Producer

Jessie comes to Orato from a background in journalism, blogging, social activism, and thinking outside the box. After graduating from Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania, Jessie worked at National Geographic, where she created and edited Traveler magazine's award-winning blog. Before moving back to Vancouver, her hometown, Jessie spent ten months in Ghana training local reporters with Journalists for Human Rights.

Mike Small, Associate Editor

A recent graduate of the Broadcast Journalism program at the British Columbia Institute of Technology, where he was the recipient of the Michael Thurston ‘High Flight’ award for excellence in broadcast journalism. Mike is a voracious reader with an immense interest in pop culture, and looks to find the ‘human side’ in every story. He hopes his youth and enthusiasm will help push Orato.com to the forefront of New Media.

Loc Dao, Technical Director

Loc is the co-founder of Randomlink InterActive Inc. He has been involved with managing and building paltform and systems solutions since 1988. He has worked as a radio Producer and Studio Director at CBC since 1991 and created one of CBC's first web sites in 1994. As a founding member and Executive Producer at CBC Radio 3, Loc oversaw the creation of Newmusiccanada.com, 120seconds.com, justconcerts.com, rootsmusiccanada.com and cbcradio3.com and won 3 Webby Awards, 2 New York Festival Awards, 3 Communication Arts Awards, the Art Director's Club Award, a Bandie award and a Prix Italia. He was the Executive Producer of CBC Radio 3 until April 2006.

Aftaab Gulam, Creative Director

Aftaab Gulam is a leading Vancouver-based web designer whose work includes Orato.com, sites for Simon Fraser University, Canwest, Translink, Rocky Mountaineer Railtours, Douglas & McIntyre Publishing Group and Western Living Magazine just to name a few. Aftaab has a Bachelor's degree in French and Economics from the University of Western Ontario. He moved to Montreal to pursue a career in documentary photography which took him to the far reaches of South East Asia, India and Nepal where he specialized in photographing people in their environment. In 1995 he moved to Vancouver and focused his energies on designing for the web.