2014 Recipients of the Lee d'Anjou Volunteer of the Year Award and President's Award for Volunteer Service

Michelle Boulton (Saskatoon, SK)

There is no better candidate to receive this award than the person who helped to establish it. In 2001, the Editors' Association of Canada (EAC) had the privilege of having Michelle Boulton join as a volunteer and immediately became involved in the organization.

Michelle has "done it all" with the EAC. She has held executive positions from 2001 to 2008 and was one of the creators of many early documents in the Saskatchewan branch. In 2006, she became the Co-Editor of Active Voice for several years. In 2008, she became the branch representative on the National Executive Council (NEC) before returning to the branch as Co-Chair seven years later. Michelle has also served as Vice-President, President, and Past President to the NEC. In addition to her executive roles and responsibilities, she lead many committees, such as awards, conference, governance task force, newsletter, nominating, and strategic planning task force.

Michelle has brought an imaginative vision to all her roles and has worked tirelessly to bring the organization to higher, more professional levels in governance, structure, and the branding of the organization. The importance of volunteering is something that Michelle believes so strongly in that she established the President's Award for Volunteer Service during her tenure as EAC President. She has left us a lasting legacy.

Anne Brennan (Richmond, BC)

Anne's tremendous contributions to EAC's certification program have been long overdue for recognition. She first served as an Invigilator in Vancouver for the 2010 certification tests before joining the Certification Steering Committee (CSC) in 2011; then she became the Co-Chair later in the year. Anne lead the first computer-testing task force, overseeing a pilot that helped selection multiple-choice and short-answer questions for certification tests in 2012 and 2013. She had assessed the feasibility of computer-testing for certification and helped organize a secure, online repository for related documents. As she continues to focus on developing the computer-testing program, she also chairs the Credential Maintenance Sub-committee and recruits test setters, test markers, invigilators, and new CSC members. Anne's focus and dedication to the EAC's Certification Program has led to her successful nomination of this Award.

Janice Dyer (Mississauga, ON)

Janice is another fitting Award recipient for her countless hours of work as CSC Co-Chair and long-serving EAC volunteer. After serving as a Test Setter in 2010, then joining the CSC and becoming the Co-Chair in August, Janice has led the development of the Structural Editing Study Guide and project-managed the Stylistic Editing Style Guide. In 2012 and 2013, she helped select questions for the certification tests and proofread the Proofreading Certification Test in 2013. Janice has chaired all of the monthly teleconference meetings, fostering teamwork and guiding the team to stay on course to meet deadlines. Her intensive effort to go out of her way to clearly and diplomatically address concerns, misunderstandings, and opposition to test candidates and members was one of the reasons Janice is worthy of this Award. She turned a challenge into an opportunity to increase awareness and understanding of the program by developing presentation decks to educate members and non-members about the certification program. She's also given these presentations at branch meetings in Toronto, Kingston, as well as at the national conferences in 2012 and 2013. She is our superb advocate in the program!

Alison Kooistra (Toronto, ON)

Alison freelances as an editor, writer and consultant, working in trade publishing and the social services sector. With a background in social science and literature, she has written and co-authored a number of commissioned books, including two local histories and two grammar exercise books for grade school students. Over the past five years, Alison has served on the EAC Toronto branch executive as Secretary, Program Chair, Vice-Chair, Chair, and Past Chair. In all of her roles, Alison has been a strong advocate of being an EAC member and has often spoken about the benefits of her volunteer experience with us, encouraging others to simply get involved. Recently, she suggested adding a by-line on blog articles for copy editors, so that they can be recognized for their work and build a portfolio based on the publication. Another one of her legacy includes the My rEwArds Card; working with other executive members, she drafted a detailed proposal for the rest of the executive outlining how the Card would work and why the EAC should start such a program. This Card has grown into a successful initiative for the Toronto branch as a way to reward and encourage volunteering.

Anne Louise Mahoney (Ottawa, ON)

With an English major from the University of Toronto, Anne Louise has edited hundreds of books along with other forms of written materials, including marketing copy, government and corporate reports, school histories and curriculums, and NGO documents. After working in-house for 20 years, she jumped into freelancing in 2008. The following year, she became one of the first four people to earn the designation of Certified Professional Editors from the EAC. Later, she also joined the Publications Committee as Co-Chair and was heavily involved in the revision of the Meeting Professional Editorial Standards. In the past two years, she has dedicated countless hours to revising the Committee's next challenging, major project, Editing Canadian English. Her cheerful and positive demeanour has earned her, along with this award, the title of "master encourager"!

Naomi Pauls (Vancouver, BC)

As an editor, writer and occasional indexer, Naomi has worked with a wide range of clients, including regional and national book publishers, self-publishing authors, academic journals, corporations, and industry experts. With a degree in Master of Publishing from the Simon Fraser University, she established a successful freelance business called Paper Trail Publishing and has edited several award-winning books. Sometimes, Naomi can be found giving EAC workshops at the BC branch as she continues to teach in Vancouver's professional writing programs. Since 1999, she has joined the EAC and has volunteered steadily at the branch and national levels ever since. For Naomi, no project seems too large or too small to warrant her time. She has co-chaired the 2011 conference, revised the Professional Editorial Standards, and staffed EAC booths at various events. Her long volunteer track record of fifteen years and tireless cheerleading spirit has merited this prestigious award to Naomi this year. Well done!

Karen Virag (Edmonton, AB)

Karen Virag, a long-time member of the Prairie Provinces branch and an active member with the EAC, was a phenomenal professional in the editing business. She co-chaired the national conference held in Edmonton in 2008, oversaw the development and production of Stylistic Editing: Meeting Professional Standards, and contributed helpful and witty articles on grammar to the Active Voice and The Editors' Weekly. The Publications Committee was motivated and inspired by the leadership of Karen, who was the Director of Publications and Editor-In-Chief of Editing Canadian English 3. Though Karen left us on January 11, 2014, her many years of dedication and volunteer service will never be forgotten by all members and non-members in the industry.

Stephanie Watt (Montreal, QC)

Stephanie was nominated as volunteer of the year for her remarkable effort in managing Quebec/Atlantic Canada's social media accounts. She has displayed creativity and ingenuity in meeting the challenges of posting content in both official languages. There's no doubt that it is time-consuming to find and evaluate information from Websites and social media sources, and then to post in way that readers and followers will want to continue reading it. But the reward comes when the content is shared with members and followers. Not only has Stephanie taken the initiative to meet specific needs of the QAC, she did it professionally, consistently and diligently. Her valuable contribution is appreciated with the President's Award.

Claire Wilkshire (St. John's, NL)

Without her tireless dedication to the small but energetic twig, the Newfoundland and Labrador Twig of the EAC would not have existed. Claire's enthusiasm for the EAC has compelled some members to join; and with the minimum number met to establish a Twig, she sprang into action with conversations, paperwork and persuasion. Claire has been the driving force behind regular workshops, presentations and discussion. She does the lion's share of work with no committees, negotiating topics, lining up speakers, booking space and equipment, printing and posting signs, and promoting and introducing events. She's even opened up her own home to host quarterly meetings for Twig members! With this award, Claire is recognized for her unfailing professionalism, for diligently nurturing this small but growing Twig, and for the many giving hours every month.