Tag: helen siwak

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ELL COMMS PRESS RELEASE: Cybersecurity Leader, Entrepreneur and Author Antonio Brandao of BCNET Headlines Portfolio.YVR Issue #14

VANCOUVER, BC, CANADA, July 26, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Portfolio.YVR Business & Entrepreneurs Magazine has released its Summer 2026 edition, Volume 4, Issue 14, anchored by a ten-page cover feature on Antonio Brandao, Director of Cybersecurity Services at BCNET, the not-for-profit shared services consortium serving forty-four post-secondary institutions across British Columbia. A former Brazilian Army Lieutenant Colonel and cybersecurity architect, Brandao brings a rare combination of military discipline, advanced SANS and GIAC certifications, and international sport security experience, including roles at the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games and the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, to his work defending Canadian research and education networks. In July 2026, he received the ISACA Community Leadership Award and launched his book, Unlock the Secrets of the Dark Web, at BSides Vancouver.

“Antonio and his team at BCNET are doing something rare in Canadian higher education: building shared cybersecurity infrastructure that defends forty-four institutions at once, work that keeps classrooms open and research running across British Columbia,” said Helen Siwak, Editor-in-Chief and Publisher of Portfolio.YVR. “His story shows readers what entrepreneurship looks like inside an institutional mandate, where every threat stopped protects a community that could not defend itself alone.”

The Summer issue continues with Rebecca Bligh of Vote Vancouver, a two-term Vancouver City Councillor and former President of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, whose candidacy for Mayor marks a first-of-profession milestone for the magazine. Andrea Jauck of Premier Group Real Estate Marketing details two decades building a boutique luxury real estate practice. Maggi Ho of Forward & Up Counselling and Meo Ho of Level Headed Salon & Wellness bring complementary stories of mental health and community-driven wellness in Vancouver. Wanting Qu of Wanting Music, the Chinese Canadian singer-songwriter behind the multi-platinum album Everything in the World, shares a personal account of resilience and reinvention. Jan van Vianen of van V Media continues the feature lineup with a story of queer-owned content creation built on more than a decade of editorial production. Kean Tan of NEXUSV Inc. closes out the issue with two decades of SMS marketing innovation through the MODISclub platform.

“We champion British Columbia founders internationally because as a founder, you should never limit where your next investor, partner, or opportunity should come from,” Siwak added. “Every story we publish becomes part of a permanent, searchable, shareable record, discoverable by search engines, surfaced by AI tools, and read by audiences we may never meet ourselves.”

The issue also includes two QuickTake updates: Vancouver author Jess Singh, first featured in December 2025, returns with news of her first Canadian book festival appearance at Toronto’s Word on the Street, and Drew Munro shares the launch of Demi, a food technology platform built to help prepared food operators manage costs and scale sustainably.

ABOUT PORTFOLIO.YVR BUSINESS & ENTREPRENEURS MAGAZINE

Portfolio.YVR remains advertising free, built on a three-part Personal Bio, Business Bio, and interview format that allows each subject to tell a story in their own voice rather than through a traditional business profile. That editorial model is paired with a full-service, post-publishing distribution strategy, including curated newsletters, social media amplification, replica site placements, digital repurposing, and paid international press releases, extending every feature well beyond the digital newsstand. That combination is why founders and entrepreneurs across British Columbia continue to choose Portfolio.YVR for full-service marketing support alongside their business profile.

ABOUT ECOLUXLUV COMMUNICATIONS & MARKETING INC.

EcoLuxLuv Communications & Marketing Inc. is a Vancouver-based independent media and publishing company founded by Helen Siwak. The firm specializes in editorial development, brand storytelling, media brokering, digital distribution strategy, and hybrid digital magazine production. Through its flagship titles, Folio.YVR Luxury Lifestyle Magazine and Portfolio.YVR Business & Entrepreneurs Magazine, ELL Comms delivers narrative-driven content to engaged audiences across Canada and international markets, surpassing five million combined reads in 2025.

ELL Comms operates a media brokering division connecting brands and publishers with strategic placement opportunities across print and digital platforms, including a national content partnership with Retail-Insider.com. Both flagship titles licence content to news agencies in Korea and Asia, extending their reach across international markets while maintaining a refined West Coast editorial voice.

The company is committed to elevating independent publishers and entrepreneurs, building long-term media partnerships, and democratizing access to professional publishing infrastructure across Canada and beyond.

Portfolio.YVR Vol. 4, Issue 14 is available now on portfolioyvr.com, with the Flip by Issue feature offering full digital access to every profile.

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ELL COMMS PRESS RELEASE: Vancouver Author Jess Singh Heads to Toronto as Guest Author at Word on the Street Festival

JULY 21, 2026 / VANCOUVER, BC — Jess Singh, Vancouver-based author and digital culture contributor, has been invited as a guest author from the West Coast to Toronto’s Word on the Street Festival this September, marking her first time at a national literary festival. Singh will host a book signing for her novel, There Is No You and I, on September 26 at 11 a.m.

Singh’s path to the national stage began in Vancouver, where the city’s diverse neighbourhoods and communities have shaped both her characters and her voice as a writer. Her rise reflects a broader trajectory for BC-based authors finding an audience well beyond the province, and her appearance in Toronto brings that voice to one of the country’s largest literary gatherings.

There Is No You and I is Singh’s third novel, following her debut, All That She Wanted, published in April 2022, and I Never Loved You, released by Notion Press in September 2023. The novel follows Kavya, a spirited young woman whose life shifts after an unexpected encounter, set against the contrasting backdrops of Mumbai and New York City. Singh has proven herself a prolific storyteller, releasing three books within a four-year window, and she is now well into writing her fourth novel.

Singh’s launches with Notion Press have reached audiences across India, beginning with the first launch at Gulshan Books in Kashmir, followed by an appearance at Traya Utsav in Bangalore in November 2025. In January 2026, additional launches took place in Kashmir, Delhi, and Ahmedabad, and in June 2026 the novel was featured at the Shimla Book Fair. These appearances have helped Singh build a strong following, with her Instagram community now approaching 50,000 followers and dozens of video reviews circulating on social media.

“Creating characters who take readers on a journey that is joyous, humorous, and, many times, deeply dramatic is what excites me most about writing in the South Asian rom-com space, with a modern twist,” said Jess Singh. “It matters to me to share pieces of my own lived experience, and the experiences of the people I have met along the way who inspire these characters. Voices like mine remain underrepresented in Canadian romance fiction, and their stories deserve to be told with humour, honesty, and heart.”

Helen Siwak of EcoLuxLuv Communications & Marketing has worked with Singh since the launch of the novel and spoke to the importance of supporting BC-based creatives.

“Working with BC-based creatives and giving them the tools they need to grow locally, across Canada, and to reach an appreciative audience around the world is key to Jess’s success,” said Siwak. “Her voice deserves a national and international platform, and this appearance at Word on the Street is an important step in that ongoing growth.”

Singh’s appearance in Toronto marks a significant milestone in bringing her storytelling to new audiences across the country and building a Canadian audience that includes over three million members of the South Asian diaspora. Details on the festival lineup and schedule are available at https://toronto.thewordonthestreet.ca/.

A photo of Jess Singh is attached for editorial use.

For more information on Jess Singh and her work, visit https://portfolioyvr.com/2025/12/jess-singh-novelist-author-there-is-no-you-and-i-urbanasian/.

Media Contact:
Helen Siwak, ELL Comms