2012 Recipients of the Lee d'Anjou Volunteer of the Year Award and President's Award for Volunteer Service

In June 2010, Barbara volunteered to become the Professional Development Chair for the Quebec-Atlantic Branch. Since then, she has set up a series of workshops that have attracted many participants. In June 2011, Barbara took over as Branch Chair, on top of renewing her commitment to provide English-language professional development seminars. Throughout these two years, her tireless initiative and proactive attitude have made her stand out.

This past October, Barbara brought back the branch's monthly meetings, which are proving to be successful among members and non-members alike. Planning these meetings means searching for a different speaker to feature each month, finding a suitable venue for these events and advertising them. This takes time and energy. Barbara has also been active in searching for volunteers to fill different Executive positions and she successfully recruited three new ones. This is an exceptional feat considering how difficult it can be to find volunteers. We now have one member who takes care of public relations, another member who dedicates a considerable amount of time to our newsletter (Barbara convinced this person to create a monthly e-newsletter as well) and a third person who is responsible for social media (another one of Barbara's good ideas to promote the Branch's activities in both languages).

Barbara is also a team player. She likes to get members of the Executive involved, always encouraging feedback and willing to accept other people's opinions. Sometimes, her efforts do not yield the expected result. If, for some reason, an event has to be cancelled, she never allows herself to give up; she moves forward, keeping her eye on the longer term.

Always aiming to provide members with opportunities to learn, network, share, be informed and get involved, Barbara has dedicated countless hours to the branch and its members. She has injected new life into the branch; there is no doubt that all members have benefitted from her initiatives. Moreover, some of us in the Executive, swept up by her energy and enthusiasm, have been inspired to do more and to do better for EAC. This is why we believe that Barbara Dylla greatly deserves recognition for a job well done.

John Green
John has been actively involved with EAC for many years, volunteering his time in a variety of roles. John served as professional development chair for the Toronto branch and was chair of the conference committee in 2009 for EAC's 30th Anniversary Conference. Before the twig's official recognition, John worked tirelessly for 8 years to promote and connect the editing community in the Kitchener-Waterloo-Guelph region. As coordinator for the KWG twig, John planned frequent meetings, events and seminars for his peers. John is a dedicated and detail-oriented EAC member who is always ready to offer valuable advice and encouragement to others.

Christine LeBlanc
Christine LeBlanc was an EAC member for 11 years. She was NCR's program chair for two years, branch chair for two years, and national representative for one. She started Dossier Communications in 2005 after a decade in publishing. Christine started working on the conference since 2010, when she shadowed the Vancouver team. She really enjoyed running around town with stuffed animals (the conference mascots).

Eva Radford
Eva originally came to Canada from Santa Fe, New Mexico. A part-time job at the University of Alberta's Law Library led her to study library science at the U of A. With her love of reading (she's a charter member of a 22-year-old book club), Eva's progression from librarian to editor was a natural move.

Her career has included many fascinating opportunities, including her association with Mel Hurtig at Hurtig Publishers, as well as working at NeWest Press, Legacy Magazine, Green Learning, Alberta Learning, Lone Pine Press, Oz New Media, the University of Alberta Press, and Athabasca University Press. She recently retired from Grant MacEwan University, where she edited online courses in the Instructional Media and Design department and was a member of the MacEwan Book of the Year committee. In addition, she has worked as a freelance editor, which she continues to do in retirement. She offers this significant and wide-ranging editing experience to the board of the Editors' Association of Canada - Prairie Provinces Branch (EAC-PPB), where she held the positions of vice chair, chair, and past chair before moving to her current involvement with our program committee.

Gael Spivak
Gael Spivak is a writer and editor for the Government of Canada. She was the co-chair of the EAC Conference 2012, and also sits on the National Executive Council as director of volunteer relations. Before that, she was on the executive of the NCR branch for two years. She also volunteers with Not Just Tourists – Ottawa, a non-profit group that helps travellers deliver medicine to countries in need.

Rachel Stuckey
In her short time with the Toronto branch, Rachel has brought a level of enthusiasm and commitment that is truly outstanding. She became secretary of the branch mere months after joining, ran for vice-chair the following year, and had a very successful and productive tenure as chair and branch representative at national the year after that. She is now our branch past chair in addition to being the regional director of branches and twigs (east).

When a volunteer or another executive member is unable to fulfill a commitment, Rachel is always the first to volunteer to take that person's place. This has meant hosting countless seminars over the years, conducting Q & A sessions or greeting at branch meetings, and going the extra mile to help other executive members with their portfolios.

When Rachel was chair she set a tone that has reverberated through the branch. This year's exec has been the most productive, professional, and cordial exec we've ever served on, and that is in no small part down to Rachel. She brings a straight-shooting, clear-sighted perspective that keeps the executive on track during meetings. Rachel's mentorship and wise advice have helped guide the success of the Toronto branch over the last four years.

Gilles Vilasco
Gilles' service to the Editors' Association goes back a long time, but it has been his commitment to the national newsletter, Active Voice, that has inspired this nomination. At a time when it was nearly impossible to motivate volunteers to contribute French content, Gilles stepped forward, first as a contributor, then as the associate editor in charge of French content, and finally as the Francophone co-editor. Thanks to his dedication and support, our Francophone members now enjoy regular content that is both interesting and valuable.

Gilles has never been anything but dedicated and persistent. His commitment has helped to build a stronger community of editors and has cultivated a sense of value and being valued among our francophone members.