Joanne is also a long-time activist. Her activist days started early when she marched for the First International Year of the Child in Canada when she was ten!

Youth are very important to you, Joanne. Why?

I believe that young people should be treated with dignity and respect, that they have a right to be nurtured, encouraged and loved by their families and societies. Child abuse is not a new discovery. Children all over the planet are being abused sexually, physically, emotionally and spiritually. Young people need to know that they are not alone, that there are people who care, but we have to step up and show them that we care. Children are born with creativity, imagination, and brilliance. That brilliance, that light, is what we all need to protect.

How do you think we are doing, as a global community in this regard?

Activists, feminists, therapists and others have been trying to get the world to wake up and pay attention to our children. Young people can be made prisoners in their own homes and no one knows about it. Young people are not believed and are threatened with violence if they do speak up. The silence and the secrecy need to stop. It is not o.k. that children are sexually and physically abused in their own homes. It is not o.k. that girls are sold for sex. It is not o.k. that children live in poverty in the richest country. It is not o.k. that children go hungry. It's just not acceptable. (Sharon....I'm on a rant! I will continue though and you can edit!)

We need to provide more services for the young. We need our politicians to speak out, to strengthen our social services, to provide funding and space for youth, to actively care about what happens in the lives of young people. We have to be willing to actively participate in making the world a better place, to provide space for them to be accepted, to use their voices, to make a difference. It's not enough just to tell youth that they are not alone, we have to show them that they are not alone. This Race to Stop the Silence is going to help!

It's clear you are passionate on this subject! You told me recently that you are looking now, at this time in your life, at your career, your skills, your experience, your passions and asking questions of yourself and the world. Where does Youth Out Loud fit into this schema?

I have always wanted to open a company for young people so they could have a place where they could meet to discuss their ideas and express them in any artistic form that they wanted to. Youth Out Loud is a company that I'm just getting off the ground.

I want Youth Out Loud to be there for the young people who have something to say to the world, who want to express themselves through writing, theatre, art or educational materials for their peers; a place where they are supported and not censored, where their opinions matter. Hopefully Youth Out Loud will reach a lot of people, maybe it will even change the world just a tiny bit!

I have some goals in mind. I'd like to publish an anthology of youth stories-stories youth want to tell about their lives and their thoughts. I also hope that one day we will be able to produce a documentary of their lives and stories. There will be no limits on what can emerge, well, except for financial maybe some financial limitations!

I want marginalized youth to know they have a place to be, a space to speak freely. I want Youth Out Loud to be there for the young people who need it most.

I think I've been in about 50 shows in television and film combined. I've also been in about thirty or forty plays since I was a child.

Okay. Love and Human Remains, Maggie's Secret, The Stalking of Laurie Show, Derby, 9B (series), PSI Factor (series). Of course, there's Ultimate Betrayal which is the CBS movie I played one of your daughter's in! Of course, this movie is now very close to my heart given my relationship with you and the Race now.

It's hard to say what my favorite type of role is...I guess a role that has some depth, a character in a story that is filled with all the complexity of life. I really think movies and shows that make people think, feel and connect in emotional ways to what they are watching, are probably what I find most appealing. Intelligent scripts. I guess I would have to say in all honesty though that there are few scripts that have this, but when they do, it's a great feeling, being a part of a crew, a group of people who bring a story to life.

My two films with Denys Arcand were great fun for me, Love and Human Remains and Stardom. I've been in quite a few television movies too, like Maggie's Secret.

Yes. In The Dark, a movie for The Movie Network which hasn't aired yet. "DNA" an Indie short that is going around film festivals right now. It was just in the Toronto film fest, Austin film fest and others.

I've worked with a lot of people since I was a kid, but I think the ones that I remember a lot were Whoopi Goldberg, Brook Shields, Al Waxman, Helen Shaver, Kathleen Robertson, Meg Foster, Wendy Crewson and many others, American and Canadian. I mean the thing is, that in film, we work with many people and it's always changing, so I am always meeting new people, and then saying good-bye. I've probably worked with thousands of different people from crews to actors. The ones that stick in my mind are the ones where friendship was formed or something was learned. I know it sounds a bit corny...but it's true.

I have always kept my identity. It's probably why as I get a bit older, there are fewer roles. I think partially because I am a political person with opinions and idea's. I'm a feminist, which in the film world doesn't always jive! Plus, I really believe that in today's world of television and film, things have become much worse for women. I'm disgusted by shows like Can You Be A Porn Star?, in the reality sphere, or Top Ten (modeling show) or all the dieting that women do to please the men that produce and direct the films they are in. I find it out of control. Also, I am picky because of who I am. I go on fewer auditions then I used to.

I also do other things in the world. I write. I have worked in social services. I have been active in many different ways in my life. I also do animation voices which I love. I could never do just one thing and that includes being an actor. I could never be only an actor. Right now I want to write my book and work with youth in my new company. I want to tell stories and help other people tell their stories.

By accident! Or not by accident! Sharon Simone contacted me through email. I played one of Sharon's daughters in the CBS television movie Ultimate Betrayal. It was a story that I understood in my heart. Sharon found me this past Christmas when she was working on her on website, Headwaters Productions, and we connected about our lives and the Race. It just snowballed from there. We started exchanging ideas and then before you know it, I'm going to Washington.

I'm working with youth who attend Suitland High School for Visual Performing Arts, in Forestville, MD. We are writing back and forth to try and set the stage for when I come to the school two days before the Race to do a performance workshop. We're going to put on a five minute skit just before the Race. At this point we are getting to know each other and exploring ideas. This is an opportunity for youth to contribute to this Campaign and Race to Stop the Silence: Stop Child Sexual Abuse and make a difference in the world.

There are so few places in the world where young people can freely discuss all the issues that matter to them, like drugs, violence, child abuse, politics, gender identity/sexuality, war; all these issues and more, in one place! Participating in theatre myself, as a young person, gave me great opportunities to express myself about things that mattered to me.

I also care deeply about the issue of violence and children because of my own history. There was a lot of violence in my home as a child. There was a lot of violence in my mother's home when she was a child. My father grew up in violence too. Some of my passion and drive comes out of that lived experience and of wanting to stop the cycle.