November 15, 2011 | Metro Toronto Convention Center | Toronto, ON


Luncheon Emcees


ANNE MROCZKOWSKI

Anne Mroczkowski is the co-anchor if the News Hour at 5:30pm with Leslie Roberts. For more than 30 years, award-winning news anchor Anne has brought local television audiences stories that have moved, shaken and stirred their hearts, minds and lives. Anne has been at the forefront reporting on major events – from the fall of the Berlin Wall to the global recession, from SARS to 9/11 plus, heartwarming stories including liver recipient, baby Lindsay Eberhardt as well as her ground-breaking documentary on infertility. Her ability to relate and connect with her viewers has made her a household name across the GTA.

Born in Hamilton to immigrant parents from Poland and Slovakia, Anne was raised in Toronto’s Parkdale district. As a young child, Anne loved to read the newspaper with her mother, so it came as no surprise when she decided to study journalism at Carlton University and Niagara College. Despite opportunities to work abroad, she chose to remain where her roots are deep and her commitment is one of enduring affection.
Acknowledging the importance of giving back, Anne has used her professional profile to raise awareness for several important causes such as adult literacy, breast cancer and palliative care.




Leslie Roberts
The News Hour at 5:30
& News Hour Final at 11
Global Toronto

Leslie is the co-anchor of the News Hour at 5:30pm with Anne Mroczkowski, and the anchor of News Hour Final, the GTA’s only one-hour local newscast at 11pm.

Leslie and the team at Global Toronto have won many awards including; "Canada's Best Newscast" by the Radio & Television News Directors of Canada (RTNDA), and in 2008, 2009 and 2010, they were awarded the Ontario Association of Broadcasters’ (OAB) Community Service award. An honour that recognizes the television station which has made the greatest single or ongoing contributions to their respective communities for a special edition of News from the Neighbourhood on Hospitals in the GTA, for their Black History Month promotion, Have Your Story Told, and for their support of the Toronto Fire Fighters’ Toy Drive respectively. Most recently, Leslie was awarded the 2010 Consumers’ Choice Award for “Man of the Year”. Global Toronto has also received several accolades for investigative journalism and excellence in health reporting.

Growing up in a family of journalists/broadcasters and having a mother who was an assistant to a federal MP, it was not unusual to have both journalists and politicians at Leslie’s dinner table. He was definitely not the only one in his family with the media "bug".

Leslie’s great-grandfather, John Roberts founded a Montreal tabloid newspaper. His grandfather, and namesake Leslie, was a Canadian historian who served as a special advisor to Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson and later was Montreal's CJAD Radio's editorialist. His father, Bill, was CJAD's morning man for 20 years before becoming a radio talk show host and later, news director. Leslie’s uncle Grant worked for the Globe and Mail and the Montreal Star, while his brother Rob is night editor at the National Post.

While still in school, Leslie interned in a radio newsroom after class and at age 18, found himself covering the 1980 Quebec referendum, interviewing the likes of Rene Levesque and Pierre Trudeau. He made the jump to television in 1985, when he was hired as a medical reporter and spent 12 years at CTV Montreal. There, he hosted his own morning show, Montreal AM Live, and served as one of four hosts on the syndicated travel show, “Travel Travel.”

In 1995, Leslie was called down to New York City where he hosted an
info-tainment show called A Current Affair and then moved on to work at a Fox News affiliate, WNYW. Three years later, he returned to CTV Montreal as a full-time anchor. In 2000, he joined Global Quebec as news director and co-anchor of the evening news. Leslie joined the Global Toronto team in 2001.

In 2007-2008, he hosted his own weekday morning radio talk show on Canada's number one talk radio station, Newstalk 1010 CFRB.

Leslie is also very involved in the community, sitting on several charity boards, supporting a number of causes and hosting many charitable events.

When he’s not working or hosting a community event, Leslie is spending time with his daughter, Lauren, seeing movies, visiting art galleries, enjoying the GTA’s diverse cuisine and keeping busy with the latest addition to his family, a Goldendoodle puppy, Max.