Lorraine Zander is a Canadian business woman, entrepreneur, philanthropist and a highly regarded expert in youth culture and marketing.

A mix of Indian, Chinese and European heritage, Lorraine came to Canada at the age of one from her native Trinidad & Tobago. She grew up in the English/French town of Brockville, Ontario, before moving with her family to Toronto as a teenager. Originally considering a career in science and medicine, she graduated from the University of Toronto with a Psychology Degree (B.Sc.) in the Exceptionality in Human Learning program.

After a few years in real estate law and selling residential and commercial real estate, adventures in the far reaches of the world, a dream wedding in the Bahamas, love took her to a new life in Connecticut. Between a job with legendary music publisher Freddy Bienstock in New York City and part-time projects in real estate in Greenwich, in her mid-twenties, Lorraine started to discover what she was truly passionate about:

Seeing young people empowered, happy and reaching their full potential! 

There would be a magazine!

She embarked full-time on fully researching and understanding the youth demographic, the magazine industry and made plans to launch her exciting, positive publication in the U.S. but, as fate would have it, a return home to Toronto, cemented the vision that this would be a proudly Canadian magazine.

Early in 2000, appropriately starting off a new millennium, Faze Magazine, hit newsstands nationally. Hailed by the press as the Maclean’s or Time magazine for students, within a year its circulation hit 500,000 copies, making it the third-largest print run in the country, behind Reader’s Digest and Chatelaine.

While busy in her managing role as Faze’s Founder and Editor-in-Chief, as an expert in youth and marketing, Lorraine was a regular guest and commentator on all the major TV networks, radio shows and was often featured and quoted in newspapers and magazines.

She is also regularly engaged to speak at panels and conferences, either directly to youth audiences, or to adults or marketers, trying to understand them. She has also appeared in teen-focused reality shows as a mentor or guest judge.

Lorraine has fully embraced her role as a mentor to young women, having personally coached over a two hundred interns and team members. She has also created and personally conducts the Faze Success Series: What You Need to Know To Get What You Want, mentoring young women 18-24 as they transition from school life into pursuing their dreams. She regularly produces and hosts live empowering events attended by thousands of young women, in addition to her Mother-Daughter series of events.

A huge supporter of many youth charities she been heavily involved with Hero Holiday and Live Different. Lorraine has been a key board member of Live Different since 2006 and was honoured at a gala by Flare Magazine where she was presented with a 2008 Volunteer Award and received a full page profile in the magazine celebrating her work with Hero Holiday bringing Canadian students to the Dominican Republic to build houses, schools, clinics for homeless Haitian refugees.

In addition to her youth projects, Lorraine has been the key inspiration behind two cupcake/cake design companies, and continues to design wonderfully sweet creations. Her personal work includes birthday and wedding cakes for Oscar winners, 20 cakes and 80 cupcakes to decorate the set of ABC police series Against The Wall, cupcakes for TIFF and other celebrity events and of course regularly at Faze events, photoshoots and meetings.