Say hello to Afternoon Drive's new host Allison Devereaux!
Allison Devereaux is definite when she says hosting Afternoon Drive is her dream job.
She first sat behind the microphone as the show's guest host in 2019, returning to southwestern Ontario after years working as a journalist across Canada. She's been a regular contributor on Afternoon Drive ever since.
She's also guest hosted programs across the country, from Information Morning with CBC Halifax to CBC's national call-in show, Cross Country Checkup.
"While learning in other newsrooms, it was always my goal to bring those storytelling skills home to southwestern Ontario," Devereaux said.
Growing up on a farm in Huron County, she says the region has shaped her as a person, and helped sparked her curiosity as a journalist.
"I could list off so many things I love about this region: Great Lakes, changing cities, international borders and rich agriculture. You can swim in a lake, pick the perfect peach and catch a show over in Detroit, all in a single day," she said.
Devereaux's love of the area and appreciation of its diverse communities are ever present in the stories she brings to the airwaves and online. Working behind the scenes as a producer in London, she's introduced new voices, ideas and issues to audiences.
Her work to understand the rise of rural homelessness in southwestern Ontario earned her a nomination for a 2022 Regional Radio Television Digital News Association award.
But it's the power of radio and where it can lead listeners that excites Devereaux.
"In a day, we'll talk to a migrant worker in Leamington, a border guard at Ambassador Bridge, a farmer in Essex and an academic at Western who is advancing medicine. Southwestern Ontario is broad and can be tricky to stitch together, but radio takes us there," she explains.
4 facts about Allison Devereaux
She was a substitute junior high teacher in Behchoko, NT
Her podcast about the Great Lakes, called Unsalted, hit number one in Canada in the science & nature category
She's an avid stand-up paddleboarder
Join Allison Devereaux and the Afternoon Drive team weekdays from 4 - 6 p.m. Have a story idea, traffic tip or just want to say hello? Text them at 226-377-2651.
