TOP is a Toronto based media initiative that serves as a platform for young artists and writers, and the stories that they tell. We aim to serve as the voice of our readers; empowering, educating and influencing change in local and global communities. TOP uses media as a tool for activism, an instrument of change. The magazine is open to any young artists aged 12–21 for submissions in comics, illustration, written work, photography, and more, for our digital and future print projects! <3

TOP Magazine is open to young creatives to use as a platform, to tell their stories through the creative work they submit. We partner with different youth led initiatives, zines and platforms to pursue our mission of giving youth a voice in today's daunting social landscape.  

TOP is made up of a network of passionate youth who do work in art, writing, advocacy, volunteer work and more. 

*Banner Art by Isabella Franqui, Caden Lamar, Taylor Wang. and Ash Farzaei

Saif Khan

Editor in Chief // Founder  

Saif is a 16 year old artist, designer and student based in Ontario. He spearheads the Canadian branch of Student Art Spaces, a youth-led global art initiative. Saif is also a comic illustrator for a non-profit print magazine that's published 4 times a year. He founded TOP Magazine in an attempt to build a platform focused on connecting together different initiatives, organizations and creatives with the same mission. 

Ashleena Bilal

Lead Editor 

Ash is a 16 year old student passionate about advocacy, education, activism and cats. She joined TOP as it's first writer, later moving to take over the editing team of the zine. Ash focuses on ensuring TOP uplifts the voices of distinct marginalized youth each month with the help of the rest of the editing team. 

Aqsa Rehman 

Lead Content Manager 

Aqsa is a 16 year old writer, student and artist from Ontario who is passionate about creative writing, journalism and calligraphy. In her free time she experiments with design,  scrap-booking and lettering, gaining over 3k on her journaling Instagram account. Aqsa oversees the various creative projects of TOP, such as our future print zines, collaborations and more. 

Alex Staron 
​Illustrator 

Alex is a student artist from Ontario who loves painting, inking, and making comics about cats. 

Jolie Nguyen
Illustrator 

Jolie is a teenage artist and illustrator who loves skateboarding and hates anything that's gross and slimy. (yuck)

Cadence Baker
​Writer

​Cadence is a a writer and musician from Burbank, California. She is the founder and editor of Psychotropic Magazine, as well as an independent singer and producer. She lives in a small apartment with an even smaller cat.

Paola Duran
​Assistant Editor 

​Paola is an 18-year-old recent high school graduate. She takes joy in reading paperback books, going to concerts, playing cheesy horror movies, and creating silly doodles. 

Furqan Mohamed
Writer

Furqan Mohamed is a student at the U of T, pursuing a degree in English and Women and Gender studies. When she's not writing poetry or long essays, you can find her on Twitter, eating spicy food, or binging Keanu Reeves' films. She's been published online and in-print in various outlets, with her work focusing on society, politics and pop culture. 

Halima Qaisar
Social Media Analyst 

Halima is a 16 year old girl from Canada. She lives in the small town of Milton, Ontario with a big family of 6. In her free time, she loves to hang out with her friends and play volleyball. 

Caden LaMar
Photographer

​Caden is a 15 year old photographer residing in Seattle, Washington. He started photography as a way to give himself a voice, and is involved with a Seattle organization called Youth and Focus!

Maira Ito
Writer

​Maira Ito is a half-Japanese, half-Romanian 17-year old student living in Toronto looking to pursue a journalism degree at Ryerson after her final year of high school. When she's not scrolling through Tumblr or reading articles online, you can find her watching Brooklyn Nine-Nine and stuffing herself with 1$ mini-pies. She lives for her sock, candle, and stationery collection. 

Ayesha Khan
​Social Media Analyst 

​Ayesha is a 15 year old student from Ontario. She enjoys video editing and having personal jam out sessions in her free time, and she can't stand the smell of pasta. 

Joey Sulieman
Volunteer Coordinator

​Joey is a 15 year old Palestinian-Canadian high school student based in Ontario, who loves volunteering, listening to music,  spending time with his friends and family, and procrastinating. 

Joyce Zhang
Team Newsletter Editor 

Joyce is a 16 year old student from Ontario who's passionate about writing, singing, and spending time with friends and family. She loves sharing recipes, music and show recs through the team newsletter she edits, which is sent out to our volunteers every month.   

Habiba Munniwala
​Secretary 

Habiba is a 16 year old student from Ontario. She enjoys volunteering, reading, and hanging out with her friends. 

Noor Gouda
Writer

Yes - "Gouda," like the cheese. Noor is 19 years young, Egyptian-Canadian, and her name Noor is the Arabic word for "light." She loves chocolate and expressing herself through the written word.

Muna Ahmed
Writer

Muna is a 17 year old student and writer who loves writing poetry truly about everything and anything. She enjoys taking random adventures and just enjoying life as it is!

Saad Nasim
Writer

Saad is a 6'8 aspiring police officer, and a BIG sports fan who watches almost any sport. He writes as a hobby and is very passionate about it: hoping to one day publish his book. He's also originally from Pakistan!

Rey Duff
Writer

Rey is a 17 year old writer based in Toronto and Ottawa who loves art museums, experimental theatre and folk tales. 

Hayden Batchelder
Photographer

Hayden is a young photographer who loves doing portrait and film photography! In his free time he enjoys skatingboarding and film making. Hayden has been doing photography for around 3 years and he loves doing editorials and portraits.

Lili Sidor
Photographer

Lili is a 13 year old photographer and student who loves indie and alternative rock music, going to concerts and hanging out with friends. She also likes to write poems and music, and is working on her guitar and ukulele skills.

Vivian Fung
Photographer

Vivian is an 18 year old photographer and artist from Toronto. She enjoys taking inspiration from her photos to create art pieces and loves animated films, dessert, and her cats.

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Chika Ojukwu 
Editor

Chika is a Nigerian-American 17 year old creative who is curious about the world. You can often find her with her head in the clouds, her nose in a book and her eyes on the unknown. 

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Isabel Rodriguez 
Writer

Isabel is a Latina woman based in California. She is a student, writer, and activist. 

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Alexander Janowski
Illustrator

Alex is a young artist from Ontario. He likes to draw, hang out his friends, play video games, watch movies and skateboard!

Michael Gallardo 
​Editor

In the blue corner, coming in with no idea what he's doing, it's Michael as an editor​. 

Michael is a 16 year old musician and student based in Ontario. 

Teresa Valenton
Writer

​Teresa Valenton is a Canadian-born Filipino student living in Ontario who is passionate about the arts. She enjoys listening to music in her spare time, learning dances and creating pieces of art across different mediums.

Our Partners! 

Student Art Spaces 

Student Art Spaces is an art collective that provides accessible space for young creatives. There is an overwhelming need for a more diverse youth presence in the arts. We want to break down financial barriers, along with racial and gender barriers for minority artists. To increase awareness of youth art equity, we created this space by youth, for youth. Check us out at www.studentartspaces.org 

Our Happy Notes 

​Our Happy Notes is based on the idea that small actions to improve mental health matter; even if you only make a difference to one person, that is amazing; it’s ok if that one person is you. It started with posting pictures of notes left in public for people to find with positive messages on them, and now Our Happy Notes is stemming into mental health advocacy as well - so that people are aware, systems are improved, and there’s a little bit more light in the world.

From the STEM Up

From the STEM Up is a digital space, community, and podcast that aims to spark youth connections in the STEM field! Check us out at www.fromthestemup.media

@bloggingwithbinks

​I am an independent fashion blog sharing my appreciation for sustainable and ethical style choices. I love to share my thrifted finds fashion and more as well as supporting small businesses too! Once I realized the devastating effect the fashion industry has on our planet I felt heartbroken that my pashun4fashun was contributing to this crisis and knew I needed to make the change to slow fashion and educate myself in the process.