Lee d’Anjou Volunteer of the Year Award and President’s Award for Volunteer Service

The Editors Canada President’s Award for Volunteer Service recognizes outstanding service to the organization, at the branch, twig or national level, by member and student affiliate volunteers. Candidates for the award may have served Editors Canada by conscientiously performing volunteer activities over an extended period of time, taking initiative to identify and solve a critical problem or meet a specific need within the organization. Or they may have organized or directed an activity that has a tremendous impact on the association or inspired others to participate more fully within the association.

From among the nominations received for the President’s Award, one volunteer is selected to receive the Lee d’Anjou Volunteer of the Year Award.


Guidelines

Editors Canada is a not-for-profit organization sustained by the volunteer commitment of its volunteers. The Editors Canada President’s Award for Volunteer Service recognizes outstanding service to the organization, at the branch, twig or national level, by member and student affiliate volunteers. Recognizing and honouring volunteers sets a standard for service, encourages sustained commitment and participation in the activities of the organization, and inspires others to make participation an important part of their Editors Canada experience.

Recipients of the award may have served Editors Canada by conscientiously performing volunteer activities over an extended period of time, taking initiative to identify and solve a critical problem or meet a specific need within the organization, organizing or directing an activity that has a tremendous impact on the association, or inspiring others to participate more fully within the association.

The Editors Canada President’s Award for Volunteer Service is one of the ways the organization can thank and honour those people who generously contribute their time and energy and, by their demonstrated commitment and example, inspire others to engage in volunteer service.


Who is eligible?

Any member or student affiliate in good standing of the association can be nominated for the award. Candidates must have performed service on a wholly volunteer basis.


Who can nominate someone?

Anyone nominating an Editors Canada member for the President’s Award must submit a nomination (100 to 300 words) describing the extraordinary volunteer service provided by the candidate. The nomination must be supported by a minimum of three Editors Canada members in good standing who must all be copied on the nomination when it is emailed to the president. The nomination must also include a biographical note for the candidate of no more than 150 words, as well as their address, phone number and email address.

Note that the president may share the nomination submissions with candidates who receive the award. 

Nominations and any supporting documentation must be sent by email.


How are the recipients selected?

All nominations will be evaluated by the Editors Canada president and a committee of at least two other National Executive Council members chosen by the president. The President’s Award committee may select any number of candidates to receive the award.

From among the nominations received, the President’s Award committee will also select one volunteer to receive the Lee d’Anjou Volunteer of the Year Award each year.

About Lee d’Anjou

Lee d’Anjou is a founding member of the Editors’ Association of Canada and a guiding force in the association. She is a champion of professional standards of editing, a pioneer of Editors Canada’s certification program, and one of the association’s most recognized and outstanding volunteers.

What does the award entail?

Recipients of the President’s Award will

  • receive a personalized certificate,
  • be featured on our website,
  • be listed in our annual report, and
  • receive an official letter of congratulations from the president of Editors Canada.

What is the deadline?

The deadline for nominations is Friday, April 5, 2024.

Send your nominations to president@editors.ca (subject line: Nomination: President’s Award for Volunteer Service).


Past Recipients

2023 Recipients

Lee-d’Anjou Award – Volunteer of the Year: Gael Spivak

Headshot of Gael Spivak

The Editors’ Association of Canada (Editors Canada) has announced that Gael Spivak (she/her) of Ottawa, Ontario is the recipient of the 2023 Lee-d’Anjou Award – Volunteer of the Year.

Read the press release.

Editors Canada President’s Award for Volunteer Activities

Sylvie Collin (she/her) (Editors Quebec)

Maureen McGuigan (she/she) (Editors British Columbia)

Emily Stewart (her/she) (Editors Ottawa–Gatineau)

2022 Recipients

Lee d’Anjou Volunteer of the Year Award

Headshot of Patricia MacDonald

Patricia MacDonald (Editors Atlantic)

Patricia MacDonald has been working as a freelance copyeditor and proofreader since 2000. She has developed a niche in sports editing but keeps things interesting by working in other genres as well. Her clients include Human Kinetics, the Canadian Kinesiology Alliance, HarperCollins and Firefly as well as independent authors, many of whom are repeat clients. When not editing she enjoys reading and being involved in the local theatre community as an usher.

When the Editors Canada conference was announced for Halifax in 2013, Patricia signed on as the volunteer coordinator. Two years later, she repeated this role for Editing Goes Global, the first international editing conference. At that time, she was also serving as chair of the volunteer management committee. She joined the national executive council in June 2015 as director of volunteer relations, a position she held for six years. Of her volunteer work, Patricia is most proud of the role she played in planning four Editors Canada conferences, initiating the biennial French-language conference and developing the Editors’ Vine, the translation and editing group, and VolunteerConnect.

President’s Award for Volunteer Service

Victoria Bell (Editors Ottawa–Gatineau)

Victoria Bell is a Certified Professional Editor and member of the Editors Canada certification steering committee (co-chair 2019–2021). She is a manuscript editor with the Canadian Medical Association Journal and freelance editor of fiction. She lives in Ottawa with her partner, writes novels in her spare time and watches too much baseball (go Blue Jays!).

Natalia Iwanek (Editors Toronto)

Natalia Iwanek is a Toronto-based copy editor and student affiliate of Editors Canada.

Fazeela Jiwa (Editors Atlantic)

Fazeela Jiwa is a writer and editor with a special interest in social justice and radical politics. Specifically, she is an acquisitions and development editor with Fernwood Publishing, and she does developmental and copy editing on a freelance basis for publishers, magazines and individual authors. She is certified through Simon Fraser University’s professional editing certification program.

Amber Riaz (Editors British Columbia)

Amber Riaz works at Independent Evaluation Group, World Bank as an editorial assistant, where she supports the publishing team in preparing reports for publication and performing other administrative duties as needed.

In addition, Amber edits academic books, journal articles and dissertations/theses, mostly in the humanities and social sciences, through her own freelance editing business—A4 Editing. Amber has edited scholarly work in multiple fields like literature, history, economics, finance and business for independent scholars and academic publishers. She has also worked on memoirs, fantasy fiction and children’s literature.

Amber has completed courses on editing, copyediting and indexing. She volunteers regularly on Editors Canada committees including the equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) task force. She is passionate about matters of inclusion and diversity as they apply to the publishing industry and works hard to keep up with discussions about conscious language and its use in manuscripts.

Amber earned her doctorate in English from Western University (Ontario) in South Asian Literature. Her BA and MA were in Comparative Literature. As a scholar, she is passionate about feminist literary theory and the representation of Muslim women in literature, film and theatre.

In her spare time, she loves to read fiction, knit, hike and experiment with fusion cooking.

Jess Shulman (Editors Toronto)

A Certified Professional Editor, Jess has been a freelance editor since 2016, editing fiction/non-fiction for publishers and indie authors and doing a fair amount of corporate writing and editing. Before launching her business, Jess Shulman Editorial, she spent seventeen years working for three of the world’s biggest companies, General Electric, Aon and Deloitte. She has a degree in electrical engineering from McMaster University and a certificate in magazine journalism from Ryerson University, and she’s been a member of Editors Canada since 2014. She served on the certification steering committee from 2015 to 2021, including two years as chair.

For fun, Jess sings in a (very casual) folk/rock/country cover band and plays guitar and mandolin, and she likes reading, watching TV, hiking, fitness and doing yoga. Since early in the pandemic, she’s also become an avid crossword puzzle solver and constructor—and in March 2022 she proudly published a puzzle in The New York Times. She lives in Toronto with her husband, two teenage kids, a cat and a dog.

2021 Recipients

Lee d’Anjou Volunteer of the Year Award

Nancy Foran (Editors Toronto)

Nancy Foran began her career in publishing in 2003, when she interned at McClelland and Stewart. She then worked at Firefly Books as a production editor. Since 2006 she has been a freelance copy editor, proofreader and comparative editor of French-to-English and English-to-French translations. Her clients include trade book publishers, educational publishers, not-for-profits, communications companies and marketing and advertising agencies. When not editing she enjoys cooking and taking care of her dog and two cats. She also volunteers with Speaking of Dogs Rescue, compiling and editing their monthly newsletter.

She first began volunteering for Editors Canada in 2007, as a seminars host in the Toronto branch. She then served five years on the Toronto branch exec and went on to co-chair the 2014 conference committee. She has also chaired the volunteer management committee and francophone affairs committee and served as interim francophone affairs director on the national executive council. She began the translation and editing group in 2018.

President’s Award for Volunteer Service

Magalie Allard (Editors Québec)

Magalie has been working in software development as well as in product, project and team management since 1999, for clients such as Frima, Coveo, Université Laval, CGI and Cirque du Soleil. She specializes in the design and development of custom web applications. Between 2016 and 2021, she provided both IT and linguistic services as a freelancer, and she then started her own web development company, Code Bards, in 2021. She has been a member of Editors Canada since 2016 and volunteered for the 2020 francophone national conference, and she has also volunteered for the translation and editing group as well as the Editors Canada website task force.

Website: https://codebards.io/index-fr.html
LinkedIn : www.linkedin.com/in/magalieallard/

Agnès André (Editors Québec)

Originally from the Alps, Agnès has a passion for all aspects of language, including the space “in between” languages. She started as a French as a second language teacher, travelling in many different parts of the world (Australia, Germany, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Canada), during which time she developed an interest in editing. Today, as a certified translator (OTTIAQ), she is exploring many aspects of editing while continuing to work on her specialty—copyediting as well as stylistic and substantive editing for academic publishers, corporate clients and communications companies. She hopes to learn more about the technical aspects of editing (software, file formats, etc.) and to move into editing for book publishers. When not editing, she spends much of her time in the mountains.

Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/limageetlemot
LinkedIn : www.linkedin.com/in/agn%C3%A8s-andr%C3%A9-trad-a-0941b473/

Nicola Aquino (Editors Atlantic)

Nicola Aquino has been a member of Editors Canada since 2018 and is active in the Editors Atlantic (formerly Editors Nova Scotia) twig. She runs her own freelance business, Spit & Polish Editing, and co-moderates The Editors’ Vine online meetings.

Nicola primarily works with indie self-publishing authors of fiction (mostly fantasy and science fiction), but she also does PA work for one client and recently started editing boxed text for dScryb, a Canadian start-up.

Website: www.spitandpolishediting.com
Website: www.dscryb.com

Marilyn Boake (Editors Calgary)

Marilyn Boake is the owner of Composed Lotus and does freelance grant writing and editing. Before retiring in 2020, she spent 35 years working in information technology, spending 25 of those years responding to client outsourcing proposal requests. There is a strong alignment between IT outsourcing proposals and grant writing, so for the past several years, Marilyn has also worked with many non-profits, helping them to acquire more than $1.5M in grant funding. Editing was a natural addition to Marilyn’s services. She pursued her Editing Certificate from Simon Fraser University, graduating in early 2021. She particularly enjoys copy editing non-fiction manuscripts. 

Website: www.composedlotus.com

Charlene Deck (Editors Calgary)

Charlene Deck began her editing journey as a legislative assembly editor and proofreader. As a freelancer, she works with non-profits dedicated to maintaining and protecting Canada’s irreplaceable wilderness. When she’s away from her desk, you’ll find Charlene exploring the Rockies on foot or cross-country skis.

Myriam Gagnon (Editors Québec)

Profile to come.

Annette Gingrich (Editors British Columbia)

Annette has a passion for helping writers create their best work. Fiction is her niche, and short stories her favourite genre, although she also enjoys editing autobiographical and non-fiction content. As an Editors Canada volunteer, she chairs the national student relations committee and copy edits West Coast Editor, the Editors British Columbia blog.

Becky Heaman (Editors British Columbia)

Becky Heaman was a software implementation project manager before starting a virtual assistant business in 2013. She started taking the Professional Editing Certificate at Mount Royal University in Calgary in 2019 and has been excited to add editing services into her business offerings. In May 2020, she relocated to Victoria, British Columbia. Becky enjoys proofreading and her dream is to work on editing and publishing cookbooks! She joined the student relations committee after attending the 2019 conference in Halifax. Since October 2020, she has also been a member of the career builder committee.

Lenore Hietkamp (Editors British Columbia)

Lenore Hietkamp is an editor and an artist. She works primarily with academic authors, most often in the fields of art and architectural history (she is the sole copy editor of the journal Architectural Histories). Since 2002, she has worked for the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM), University of Washington Press, UBC Press, Heritage House Publishing, Touchwood Editions and others. Lenore particularly enjoys the challenge of managing and editing complex projects, such as the self-published manual The Embodied Violinist (for which she was shortlisted for the Tom Fairley Award, 2018) and the ROM’s Paul Kane, The Artist. When she is not crafting words into readable text, she is painting portraits of people and their pets.

Website: https://heatherfieldediting.com
Website: https://portraitsbylenore.ca

Natalia Iwanek (Editors Toronto)

Natalia Iwanek is a Toronto-based copy editor and content writer.

Ellen Keeble (Editors Toronto)

Ellen Keeble is a Toronto-based journalist and editor. Currently, she edits content for SEO/SEM and supports authors with their publishing goals. In both cases, she helps her clients navigate industry expectations and language pitfalls. Words matter, so Ellen actively follows the shifts in language, style and culture. She strives to make her clients comfortable with the publishing process and more confident with the words on the page.

As a Certified Structural Editor she brings a rigorous approach to developmental editing honed from more than 10 years of experience in corporate communications, news and non-fiction. Ellen seeks to ensure her client’s work will not only resonate and connect with their intended audience, but also be something the client can proudly say is theirs

S. Robin Larin (Editors Hamilton-Halton)

Robin Larin is both an editor and a writer, holding a BA in English and Liberal Arts, MAs in English and Creative Writing and most of a PhD in English (ABD). With her background in literature, writing and teaching, she brings the mind of an English professor and the heart of a writer to her clients’ work. She launched Robin Editorial in 2019, focusing on developmental editing and copy editing of literary, fantasy, speculative and children’s fiction. Robin lives in Ontario with four feline editorial assistants and more books than she can count.

Website: www.robineditorial.com

Paul Neuviale (Editors Toronto)

Paul Neuviale is an editor, typesetter and marketing outreach coordinator for Talk+Tell, a self-publishing company. He attended classes in the publishing program at Ryerson University. As a volunteer for Editors Canada, Paul is a copy editor for BoldFace and a member of the translation and editing group. He is a native of France and a resident of Toronto.

Becky Noelle (Editors Calgary)

Becky Noelle has redirected her science degree and five years of teaching experience into a career as an editor and writer of children’s non-fiction books and educational resources, including teacher guides, curriculum-connected program guides and online learning lesson plans. Becky has successfully completed projects for multiple Canadian publishers, including Nelson Education, Greystone Books and Portage & Main Press. She was a volunteer with the 2021 conference committee and has volunteered on the student relations committee since 2019. She will take over as student relations committee chair in July 2021.

Sophie Pallotta (Editors Québec)

Sophie has a Bachelor of Arts degree in translation, but she was editing and translating long before she finished her degree. Her career spans almost 30 years in a variety of fields, both as an employee and as a freelancer.

She has been a member of the Quebec branch of Editors Canada since 2012.

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/sophiepallotta

Adriana Paradiso (Editors Toronto)

Adriana is a professionally trained French-to-English translator and editor of web articles, print books and even the odd comedy sketch. She’s worked across a number of industries, including arts, travel, history and health. She lives in Toronto with her husband, several overflowing bookshelves and her prized board game collection.

Marie-Christine Payette (Editors Québec)

Marie-Christine Payette has a background as an English-to-French translator and ESL and FSL teacher. She started her own business in 2011, offering French editing, proofreading and comparative editing services as well as English-to-French translation. Since joining Editors Canada, she has volunteered as a translator, editor, speaker, session host, mentor, spokesperson and director of francophone affairs on the national executive council. She previously received the President’s Award for Volunteer Service in 2018.

Lina Scarpellini (Editors Québec)

Lina Scarpellini is passionate about education, health and wellness. She is a translator, an editor, the author of four books and a fitness coach—a polymath who is endlessly curious!

Carmen Siu (Editors Toronto)

Carmen Siu was born in Hong Kong and raised in Toronto. After graduating from Western University with an undergraduate degree in comparative literature and film studies, and a minor in Italian studies, she began a career of wearing many hats, including as a project coordinator, editor, designer, typesetter and EPUB producer. Carmen has been a member of Editors Canada since 2011 and is proud to have earned her Certified Proofreader designation in 2015 and her Certified Copy Editor designation in 2020.

Anna Williams (Editors Edmonton)

Anna Williams is a freelance editor, writer and consultant in Edmonton, Alberta. With 17 years of experience in corporate and business communication, she works primarily for provincial and municipal government. She enjoys tackling new and challenging projects. A member of Editors Canada since 2007, Anna has filled several volunteer roles for the association.

2020 Recipients

Lee d’Anjou Volunteer of the Year Award

Headshot of Alexandra Peace

Alexandra Peace (Editors Nova Scotia)

Alex is a freelance editor, proofreader, and indexer who lives in rural Nova Scotia. She served as the recording secretary for the national executive council of Editors Canada and for the annual general meeting of members. She is also the president of the Indexing Society of Canada (2019–2021). She has created indexes for a variety of books, including several of the volumes of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report.

Website: www.AlexandraPeace.com

President’s Award for Volunteer Service

Maxie Bai Martin (Editors Kitchener-Waterloo-Guelph)

Maxie Bai Martin is a freelance copyeditor and writer, with science competency, specializing in nonfiction and academic work. She holds an Honours BA and a BSc of Life Sciences from McMaster University, and a diploma in East Asian Studies from Korea University. Maxie licensed KW Copyeditor in 2017.

As an editor, she works on academic monographs and journal articles, mostly author side. As a writer, her recent work has included websites, corporate copy, and white papers. Additionally, her translations of Yi Sang’s poetry have been published in the literary journal, Monkey Business: New Writing from Japan.

Twitter: @kweditor
Instagram: @kwcopyeditor
Website: kwcopyeditor.ca

Honorary Life Membership Task Force

Letitia Henville (Editors British Columbia)

Letitia Henville works with researchers as they articulate their goals to an audience of their peers. With a PhD in English Literature, experience reviewing arts and culture grants for the Vancouver Foundation, and working in the Faculty of Medicine at UBC, Letitia specializes in editing writing in health sciences, social sciences, and humanities. Her expertise is in proofreading and editing research grant proposals and article manuscripts, drawing on the principles of plain language and design.

Twitter: @lertitia
Website: shortishard.ca

Cathy McPhalen (Editors Edmonton)

Cathy McPhalen edits and writes for public and specialist audiences in health and medical sciences, natural sciences, and engineering. Using her PhD in biochemistry, she helps her clients communicate their research to all their readers: experts, grant reviewers, policy makers, patients, donors, and others.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cathy-mcphalen-4b67b888

Lynne Melcombe (Editors British Columbia)

Lynne Melcombe has been writing and editing for over 30 years. She has written long-form features and short news bits, op/eds and blog posts, celebrity profiles and lifestyle articles. As an editor, she has worked on four-page newsletters and four-colour magazines, book-length manuscripts and business documents, training manuals and academic courseware, theses and dissertations. For the past several years, she has increasingly focused on editing books. She graduated from the University of King’s College’s Master of Fine Arts program in Creative Nonfiction Writing and is working on a book about concussion.

Website: lynnemelcombe.com

Joanna Odrowaz (Editors Toronto)

Joanna Odrowaz has a background in physiology and biochemistry, which she uses to edit scientific and medical editing texts. She also coaches scientists from different countries in writing articles for publication in English language scientific and medical journals. She edits documents in a wide range of subjects, though mostly science related. Topics include epidemics, antimicrobial resistance, and vaccinations; food contaminants and pesticide and antibiotic residues; nursing, health office administration, and first aid training; and climate change and pests.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joanna-odrowaz-285a2220/

Jim Taylor (Editors British Columbia)

Jim Taylor is the author or ghostwriter of 17 books. He was the founding editor of an ecumenical clergy journal, PMC: The Practice of Ministry in Canada. In 1981, he and Ralph Milton founded Wood Lake Books, Canada’s largest independent religious publishing house. He was the Managing Editor of The United Church Observer, at the time Canada’s largest religious periodical. Before that, he had ten years in broadcasting, in both radio and television, with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and with private stations. He developed the Eight Step Editing workshops, which he taught across the country. He became an honorary life member of Editors Canada in 1993.

Website: https://quixotic.ca

2019 Recipients

Lee d’Anjou Volunteer of the Year Award

Headshot of Donna Dawson

Donna Dawson (Editors Toronto)

Donna Dawson was nominated for her work on certification.

For 10 years, Donna provided the certification steering committee with steadfast, reliable and highly skilled support. She did the following:

  • served on the credential maintenance subcommittee in 2010 and 2011,
  • helped create a new professional certification test in 2011,
  • marked tests in 2010, 2011 and 2012,
  • helped develop a new set of Part A test questions in 2013, and served as the test analyst from 2013 to 2019.

Although she passed the test analyst reins to someone else in 2019, she agreed to provide training and advice for her replacement.

The role of the test analyst is key to upholding the integrity of the professional certification program. The analyst helps evaluate the validity and reliability of each exam, helps train all of the test and evaluate exam markers, and ensures marking fairness and consistency. This is a weighty responsibility.

For six years, Donna performed this job with care and sensitivity. Although she never knew who the test candidates were, she saw all of their work and kept what she saw confidential. She spent many, many hours on this task between September and February each year. She paid extremely close attention to detail, insisted on high quality, and was incredibly patient in explaining her rationale and helping other volunteers understand her thought process. Without her work, the association’s world-renowned Professional Certification Program could not continue.

Biographical note

Donna is a certified professional editor (CPE) with an honours degree in theatre. She has been editing since 1995 and freelancing since 1996. In 2010, she earned the prestigious CPE from the Editors’ Association of Canada.

Donna has worked on financial and business material, stock market research reports, medical journals, continuing medical education programs, nutrition and health material (especially cancer care), advertising and marketing materials, self-help books, magazine articles, educational materials, and more. She has even proofread billboards. She has helped more than 20 authors successfully self-publish their books, many in the field of small business, family business, and personal finance. She tells them, “I know how grammar works, but I’m not a pedantic stickler—I believe clarity is more important.” Her training includes more than 25 Editors Canada seminars.

LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/donnaldawson

President’s Award for Volunteer Service

Janine Harker (Editors Ottawa-Gatineau)

Janine was nominated for her work as the leader of the 40th anniversary task force.

The task force planned and implemented initiatives to honour the association’s history, celebrate its achievements and promote its objectives to editors, communicators and publishing in Canada and abroad. At various times since the task force started in May 2018, members have come and gone, doing a little or a lot, to contribute to commemorating this milestone year. The one thing that remained constant was Janine leading the work.

The task force developed the tagline “Celebrating 40 years of editorial excellence,” which was used extensively in anniversary promotions. An anniversary is a perfect fit for #ThrowBackThursdays, so Janine created and posted anniversary-themed social media content each Thursday. These posts not only needed ideas and text, but also images, which Janine found.

Countless hours went into gathering photographs and important dates to include in the interactive timeline, and that was after research and testing was done to find the online tool to create it. The timeline showcases what the association has done in the past four decades, including the launch of the Tom Fairley Award in 1983, the first freelance editorial agreement in 1985, the release of the first Editing Canadian English in 1987, the adoption of Professional Editorial Standards in 1991, the publication of Meeting Editorial Standards in 1996, the launch of certification in 2006, the introduction of twigs in 2011, the first international editing conference in 2015 and so much more. Bits of trivia found along the way were used to promote its launch. This was a massive amount of work by the task force under Janine’s leadership.

Janine also organized the volunteers who interviewed Editors Canada members for anniversary-themed articles in Active Voice and Editors’ Weekly.

Through months of hard work and preparation, Janine organized the 40th anniversary task force to meet Editors Canada’s need to celebrate this milestone year. Under Janine’s leadership, the task force completed everything they set out to do. Her generous gift of time and energy to the association is an example that inspires others to volunteer and promotes the association for all it does.

Biographical note

During regular business hours, Janine works for the federal government. For the past two decades, she’s worked in intelligence, national security, and customs and immigration. Before joining the federal government, Janine worked as a journalist, editor and graphic designer.

Off hours, she works as a freelance writer and editor. Janine’s strength is ensuring reports are clear, concise, logical and well-sourced with the readers’ perspective in mind so they can quickly navigate the information.

She earned an Editing Certificate from Simon Fraser University, a Journalism Certificate from Langara College and a bachelor of arts degree in archeology and English literature from Simon Fraser University.

Originally from Vancouver, she has worked throughout Canada and the United States, but now calls Ottawa her home.

When she’s not editing or managing, you’ll find her canoeing, camping or exploring the world, usually with a coffee or a glass of wine in hand.

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/janine-harker-928994156
Twitter: @jharkereditor

Sophie Pallotta (Editors Québec)

Sophie was nominated for the consistent translation work she has provided to the association, especially her ongoing work on the annual conferences and her help with the Welcome Kit.

Sophie has been volunteering for the conference since 2014. Her nominators noted that they could always count on her for her accurate and timely translations, even when the request was last minute and the text was needed urgently. They also noted that she’s a pleasure to work with.

Sophie always shows great care with her translations. Her translations are not only accurate, they show how committed she is to her craft and the association. This was especially evident with the 2019 conference stream names. Instead of translating the English directly, Sophie took the time to understand the feeling the conference committee was going for, so she was able to come up with idiomatic translations that captured the spirit of the streams and the theme the committee was trying to portray. The conference committee speaker coordinators greatly appreciated her care and effort.

In addition to her sustained volunteering for the conference, Sophie helped the member services committee with the Welcome Kit project for new members in 2018. She did an amazing job translating the kit and adapting it for francophone members, which was a massive job.

Biographical note

Sophie has a bachelor of arts degree in translation, but she was editing and translating even before she finished her degree. Her work experience spans almost thirty years in a variety of fields, as an employee and as a freelancer.

She has been a member of the Quebec branch of Editors Canada since 2012.

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/pub/sophie-pallotta/20/385/29b

Lee Parpart (Editors Toronto)

Lee was nominated for her work on the Toronto programs.

Each month, she assembled an impressive lineup of speakers who are experts in their field. From featuring Giller Prize–winning authors (Michael Redhill and Esi Edugyan) and their editors to revisiting Editors Canada’s Professional Editorial Standards, Lee organized branch meetings that attracted members and non-members. The meetings also attracted a range of editors from students to seasoned editors.

As a result, attendance at branch meetings increased considerably. Also, Editors Toronto meetings now include a raffle, and Lee has helped in securing donations for raffle prizes.

Lee is an enthusiastic, reliable, and knowledgeable team player and a formidable problem solver, always prepared to help other branch executive members in their tasks or otherwise provide support where needed. And Lee has also greatly enhanced our branch’s social media presence, forging countless new relationships with editors, writers, authors, and artists. 

Besides organizing monthly programs, Lee strengthened the branch’s relationships with the Professional Writers Association of Canada, Canadian Authors–Toronto and the Creative Writing Program at the School of Continuing Studies, University of Toronto. This resulted in more joint programs and it expanded and strengthened Editors Canada’s network and reach. Her tireless efforts will be felt for years to come.

Biographical note

Lee was born in Boston and travelled a lot as a child, living in Zambia, the United Kingdom and many parts of the United States before immigrating to Canada in 1983. She worked as an arts journalist for 10 years, earned an MFA in film and video at York University, and published numerous film essays in academic books and journals before returning to her two earliest passions, poetry and fiction, in 2015. Her poems and short fiction have appeared in Hegira and Silver Birch Press, and she was named an Emerging Writer for East York in Open Book Ontario’s 2016 “What’s Your Story?” writing contest.

Lee works full time as an editor for Colborne Communications and Iguana Books. She is also programs chair for Editors Toronto and co-president of Canadian Authors–Toronto.

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/lee-parpart-31800545
Twitter: @LeeParpart

Mary Rykov (Editors Toronto)

Mary Rykov was nominated for her work in updating the Ethical Guidelines for Editing Student Texts.

The original guidelines were first developed in 2005. Mary not only updated the existing guidelines for ethical editing of papers at the graduate and doctoral level, she also added a second set of guidelines to cover undergraduate papers. The guidelines offer practical, plain language suggestions for editors who embark on student papers. Along with the updated guidelines, she created a permission form to be co-signed by the editor, the student and the supervisor, stipulating what the editor may do.

To achieve this impressive task, Mary conducted research with university faculty and administrators, writing centre professionals, and members of Editors Canada who have experience in working with student texts. She also reviewed similar guidelines from other editing associations. Finally, she piloted the guidelines with students she works with to ensure they are practical and useful for editors, students, and university supervisors and professors.

And Mary’s work didn’t stop when she delivered the documents to the association. She also helped with discussing the guidelines with the media, and she generously shared her experience and expertise with those working on a French version of the guidelines.

Biographical note

Mary H. Auerbach Rykov is a poet and essayist who is published in numerous print and web venues; her poetry collection, some conditions apply, launches spring 2020. She holds a PhD in Adult Education (UT, 2006), an MA in Music Therapy (NYU, 1995), and a BA in Psychology and Communications (SFU, 1985). She has contributed in various ways since joining Editors Canada (Toronto Branch) in 2010, most recently as project lead to revise the Guidelines for Ethical Editing of Student Texts. Mary is an unabashed education junkie who loves working as a scholarly-academic editor, writing mentor, and proofreader for Pulp Literature Press.

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mary-h-rykov-88462318/
Twitter: @MaryRykov

JJ Wilson (Editors Barrie)
Jacqui Woods-Powell (Editors Barrie)

JJ and Jacqui were nominated for their work in creating the Barrie twig.

Inspirational. Trail blazers. Dedicated. Perfect descriptions of JJ Wilson and Jacqui Woods-Powell.

April 2019 marked the first anniversary of Editors Barrie. Despite Woods-Powell and Wilson working their day jobs, they spent their time, research and energy in making the twig happen in a community that was in need of one.

Opening a twig in Barrie, Ontario was a great way for Woods-Powell and Wilson to encourage people to participate and become familiar with Editors Canada.

The first Editors Barrie meeting consisted of a whopping 25 people attending. A year later, there are still new interests and new guest speakers.

Biographical notes

JJ Wilson is a freelance editor living and working in Barrie. Having volunteered for Editors Canada in the past, JJ recognized the value of this organization and the benefits of volunteering. JJ was an instructor at Georgian College in Barrie and helped to develop a course in Style and Editing through the Professional Writing and Communications program. Along with her colleague Jacqui Woods-Powell and graduate student Julie Mann, they launched the Editors Barrie twig serving Simcoe County and regions to the north.

Jacqui Woods-Powell is the co-ordinator of college-wide communications courses and a graduate certificate in Communications and Professional Writing at Georgian College in Barrie, Ontario. After developing the Communications and Professional Writing program, she created the Editors Barrie twig with JJ Wilson to help new and existing editors gain access to professional networks and develop their craft.

Even though Jacqui is new to the world of editing, her love for reading, writing and theatre has always been in her life. Jacqui is a mother of five and lives with her husband in the beautiful town near Midland, where she can ski in the winter months, and cycle in the summer months.

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jacqui-woods-powell-20087731
Twitter: @jacqui_tweet

2018 Recipients

Lee d’Anjou Volunteer of the Year Award

Headshot of Tamra Ross

Tamra Ross (Editors Calgary)

Tamra Ross was nominated for her work on the association’s webinar program.

Tamra joined Editors Canada in 2006. She began volunteering when she was asked to complete the design and layout for Latest Edition, before moving on to work on Active Voice. More recently, she was a member of the awards committee and she later became chair of the committee. She helped develop the Karen Virag Award during her time on that committee.

In 2016–2017, while still chair of the awards committee, she joined the training and development committee, which had launched a new program of webinars. That year, Tamra made a lot of personal sacrifices to ensure our webinars were hosted, including taking her car out of the shop because she had to rush to make it to a webinar. For a volunteer, this shows true dedication.

In 2017–2018, Tamra committed to chairing the training and development committee. She is indispensable to the smooth and successful operation of one of our largest sources of revenue: webinars.

Tamra has been instrumental in producing the Successful Webinars manual for presenters—a 45-page document that is of great assistance to all presenters. She is an organized, disciplined, and extremely valuable leader of the committee.

When Tamra was profiled as the Volunteer of the Month, she said “Volunteering has blossomed into an ongoing relationship that’s brought many jobs. You never know where your next great client will come.”

Tamra is a partner and owner of Cobweb Text and Design, a life-long student, a researcher, and a programmer. She has published extensively in online magazines and in academia on topics linking technology and human learning. Tamra holds university credentials in English, editing, and IT. Her expertise is in document templating, stylistic and copy-editing, proofreading, magazine and report layouts, board governance, content marketing, and PHP development. She also loves coffee, furry creatures, gaming, scary stories (films, TV, books, comics…) and adding new skills to her list.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tamraross

President’s Award for Volunteer Service

Marsha Fine (Editors Ottawa-Gatineau)

Marsha Fine was nominated for her work on the 2017 conference.

Marsha and her co-chair Suzanne were helpful from the beginning, particularly when we needed to change our venue search from Ottawa to Gatineau. Due to the popularity of the city during the Canada 150 celebrations, we were unable to locate a suitable and affordable venue within Ottawa. Both chairs helped with the task of looking for a venue in Gatineau and were able to switch gears when it came to marketing the conference city.

It was also clear when planning the conference that both co-chairs cared a great deal about making the conference as inclusive as possible. This included a focus on finding presenters for French/bilingual sessions, as well as making sure there was content dedicated to indigenous matters.

They ran a great team and tried to think outside the box when planning conference activities. They created a fun theme for the conference, Guardians of the Lexicons, and tied it back into their social media content, including running an Editors Origin Story contest on Twitter and Facebook. They also tried online session and conference evaluation forms for the first time, which is better for the environment, saves on printing costs, and makes it easier to access the data following the conference.

Overall, the 2017 conference was greatly successful. It came in on budget, while surpassing its attendance and profit targets, and featured great sessions with exciting content. This was in no small part due to the work and leadership of Marsha as conference co-chair.

Marsha has worked in publishing, both in-house and freelance, for most of her professional life. She is a writer and editor at the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, where her editing includes tweets, annual reports and everything in between. A member of Editors Ottawa-Gatineau, Marsha enjoys being part of the organization because it allows members to connect with one another, raises editors’ professional level and enhances the dignity of the work we do.

Andrea Hatley (Editors Manitoba)

Andrea Hatley was nominated for her excellent work on the multiple-format e-book of Editing Canadian English, third edition.

Making Editing Canadian English available as an e-book was Andrea’s idea. She proposed this project to the national executive, created the e-book in multiple formats, worked with a dozen different volunteers in two rounds of beta testing, and created an excellent final product that many Editors Canada members and other language professionals use every day.

Those nominating Andrea for the award said this, “Andrea was a delight to work with as we beta tested the different e-book formats. She communicated clearly, seemed to embrace and enjoy the challenge of coding and formatting for multiple platforms, was always cheerful in the face of seemingly inexplicable glitches, and expressed her gratitude for our help sincerely and often.”

Before deciding to earn a living indoors with words, Andrea spent a lot of time outdoors. She studied botany, ecology, sociology and aviation, worked as a professional trapper, operated a remote lodge/hunting/fishing camp, worked as a commercial helicopter pilot, and led a climate change action plan development and implementation. Andrea received the 2014 Claudette Upton Scholarship while she was in the Ryerson Publishing Program. She is the founder and CEO of Word Tapestries Inc., which offers a full suite of manuscript services to clients in a broad range of fields.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreahatley/

Diana Newton (Editors Newfoundland and Labrador)

Diane Newton was nominated in recognition of her dedicated work and time on the branch and twig toolkits. She was the French translator for the French version of the branch toolkit.

The toolkits contain important information about branch and twig procedures; these are important resources for our members, especially for branch executive committees and twig leaders. Diane’s work helps ensure high standard of governance for our association, and contributes to improving internal communication.

The French toolkits, in particular, allow francophone members to stay engaged and connected. This would not have become possible without the French translation and editing. Diane’s work, therefore, supports Editors Canada’s core strategic priority of becoming a bilingual organization, fostering a diverse community. Her work will serve the association well for the many years to come, and her initiative will be exemplary for other volunteers.

Diana is a fully bilingual freelance editor with twenty years of experience with the book publishing industries in Canada, the USA, and overseas. Her clients include Canadian book publishers, Canadian and multilateral aid agencies, foreign ministries of education, fiction and creative non-fiction writers, human rights NGOs, doctoral candidates, scientists, and historians. Diana recently became the executive director of a bilingual literary festival, the Frye Festival, in Moncton, N.B. She is also the executive secretary of Canadian Creative Writers and Writing Programs (CCWWP).

Twitter: @D_NewtonSmith

Jonathan Paterson (Editors Quebec)

Jonathan Paterson was nominated in recognition of his dedicated work and time on the branch and twig toolkits. He was the French translator for the French version of the twig toolkit.

The toolkits contain important information about branch and twig procedures; these are important resources for our members, especially for branch executive committees and twig leaders. Jonathan’s work helps ensure high standard of governance for our association, and contributes to improving internal communication.

The French toolkits, in particular, allow francophone members to stay engaged and connected. This would not have become possible without the French translation and editing. Jonathan’s work, therefore, supports Editors Canada’s core strategic priority of becoming a bilingual organization, fostering a diverse community. His work will serve the association well for the many years to come, and her initiative will be exemplary for other volunteers.

Jonathan has been a member of Editors Canada since 1988 and has been involved in various ways since then. He has served as a branch chair and national executive, contributed his design and layout skills to the first two editions of was Meeting Editorial Standards and assisted with English-French and French-English translation. He also contributed to the English Professional Editorial Standards and played a key role in creating the French professional standards (les Principes directeurs en révision professionnelle).

Marie-Christine Payette (Editors Quebec)

Marie-Christine Payette was nominated for her dedication to promoting French-language editing and helping French-language editors.

Marie-Christine has been an active volunteer ever since she joined the association in 2012.

She was the director of francophone affairs for four years, and in that time she worked tirelessly, ensuring francophone members had a voice within the association and promoting the editing profession in Quebec and beyond.

Since stepping down as francophone affairs director in 2017, Marie-Christine has been an invaluable support to the interim francophone affairs director, generously offering advice and sharing her well-informed and sensible perspective. She has also provided English-to-French translations for a variety of committees and has been making great efforts to promote the 2018 conference to francophone editors.

While the amount of volunteer work Marie-Christine has done is impressive, what is perhaps even more impressive is her attitude and work ethic. Always willing to help, she’s been a key resource person for any member looking for information or insights about French-language editing. She never leaves an email unanswered and never fails to return a phone call. She also deeply cares about the welfare of francophone members and their standing in the association and the industry.

Marie-Christine has a background as an English-to-French translator and ESL and FSL teacher. She started her own business in 2011 and is offering French editing, proofreading, comparative editing and English-to-French translation. Since joining Editors Canada, she has volunteered as a translator, editor, speaker, session host, and director of Francophone Affairs on the national executive council. She regularly develops new areas of expertise, adding to her background as a language professional.

Twitter: @mahika24
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marie-christine-payette-5603a937/

Marie-Christine cumule de l’expérience en traduction anglais-français ainsi qu’en enseignement de l’anglais langue seconde et du français langue seconde. Elle a lancé son entreprise en 2011 et offre des services de révision linguistique en français, de révision comparative, de relecture et de traduction anglais-français. Depuis son adhésion à Réviseurs Canada, elle a beaucoup appris grâce à son engagement bénévole au sein de l’association (p. ex., traductrice, réviseure, conférencière, animatrice d’atelier et directrice des affaires francophones). Elle continue d’ajouter régulièrement des cordes à son arc et de développer son savoir-faire en tant que langagière.

Suzanne Purkis (Editors Ottawa-Gatineau)

Suzanne Purkis was nominated for her work on the 2017 conference.

Suzanne and her co-chair Marsha were helpful from the beginning, particularly when we needed to change our venue search from Ottawa to Gatineau. Due to the popularity of the city during the Canada 150 celebrations, we were unable to locate a suitable and affordable venue within Ottawa. Both chairs helped with the task of looking for a venue in Gatineau and were able to switch gears when it came to marketing the conference city.

It was also clear when planning the conference that both co-chairs cared a great deal about making the conference as inclusive as possible. This included a focus on finding presenters for French/bilingual sessions, as well as making sure there was content dedicated to indigenous matters.

They ran a great team and tried to think outside the box when planning conference activities. They created a fun theme for the conference, Guardians of the Lexicons, and tied it back into their social media content, including running an Editors Origin Story contest on Twitter and Facebook. They also tried online session and conference evaluation forms for the first time, which is better for the environment, saves on printing costs, and makes it easier to access the data following the conference.

Overall, the 2017 conference was greatly successful. It came in on budget, while surpassing its attendance and profit targets, and featured great sessions with exciting content. This was in no small part due to the work and leadership of Suzanne as conference co-chair.

Suzanne is an academic and medical editor, writer, and project manager who specializes in social science, medicine, and STEM communications. She has been a member of Editors Ottawa-Gatineau since 2011 and is the current Editors Canada mediator. Suzanne is also the founder of the Ottawa Freelancers networking group, and she has given presentations on networking at several editing conferences.

Twitter: @Lucid_Editing
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/suzannepurkis/

Stéphanie Robitaille (Editors Ottawa-Gatineau)

Stéphanie Robitaille was nominated in recognition of her dedicated work and time on the branch and twig toolkits. She was the French copy editor for the French versions of the branch and twig toolkits.

The toolkits contain important information about branch and twig procedures; these are important resources for our members, especially for branch executive committees and twig leaders. Stéphanie’s work helps ensure high standard of governance for our association, and contributes to improving internal communication.

The French toolkits, in particular, allow francophone members to stay engaged and connected. This would not have become possible without the French translation and editing. Stéphanie’s work, therefore, supports Editors Canada’s core strategic priority of becoming a bilingual organization, fostering a diverse community. Her work will serve the association well for the many years to come, and her initiative will be exemplary for other volunteers.

Stéphanie joined Editors Ottawa-Gatineau in January 2015 and became a member of the francophone affairs committee. In this role, she worked on the marketing materials, brainstormed new ways to increase the visibility of francophone editors, and recruited francophone members for Editors Canada. She also translated the 2015 and 2016 President’s Award profiles and revised the 2015 Annual Report.

Karina Sinclair (Editors Hamilton-Halton)

Karina Sinclair was nominated because of her enthusiasm for volunteering, her transferable video skills that she shared, and her impact on Editors Canada communications and publications work in only a short time of being part of our editing tribe

In 2017, Karina Sinclair attended an Editors Toronto event one evening, where she was encouraged to join the association, and soon afterward became a member of the Hamilton-Halton twig.

From day one of showing interest in the association, Karina brought her enthusiasm for learning more about editing and editors and for lending a hand. She soon became a volunteer on the communications and marketing team and participated in several teleconferences to discuss ideas for new creative products aimed at attracting and retaining members.

Karina has a strong background in video production, having previously worked in that field for many years. She offered to help Editors Canada build an online video presence. Previously, the association had released a few national videos and conference segments, as well as branch and twig videos, but there was no video expertise or coordination behind this work.

Karina volunteered to create a series of Editors Canada videos. In her work, she not only met but exceeded all expectations. She delved into the professional editorial standards and created short, snappy videos about editing, such as copy editing and proofreading, which exemplified the association’s brand in tone, image and production.

Karina is co-coordinator of Editors Hamilton-Halton and also produces the monthly twig newsletter. Karina was also a proofreader for Active Voice and is now a member of the national publications committee. After devoting more than 20 years to a career in television (she was the lead script-writer and producer for an extreme weather documentary series that aired on National Geographic and other networks), Karina founded Line By Line Studio and began her freelance career as a writer, editor, photographer and video producer.

Instagram: instagram.com/linebylinestudio/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karinasinclair/

Kaarina Stiff (Editors Ottawa-Gatineau)

Kaarina Stiff was nominated for her work on the Agreement Template for Editing Services.

Beginning in late 2016, Kaarina oversaw the revision of the Standard Freelance Editorial Agreement, which was sorely in need of an update both to reflect modern editing contexts (the existing wording still mentioned fax machines!) and to make it more user friendly. A plain-language edit was also called for.

Several other attempts to complete this surprisingly complex project in recent years had fizzled at various stages. Along with former member Dawn Oosterhoff, Kaarina brought it to completion in early 2018.

Kaarina and Dawn paid careful attention to terminology, informed by the language in the Professional Editorial Standards (PES) and by input solicited from experienced freelancers, the national executive, and members at large.

In many cases, they found that the best approach was to simplify; the length of the template has been greatly reduced. At the same time, they added hidden text that provides explanations and alternatives to users who want them. The result is an interactive, flexible, user-friendly tool for customizing an agreement that is as simple or complex as the user needs.

For definitions of the stages of editing, the agreement refers the user to the PES and the Editors Canada definitions, emphasizing the most important point: that the editor and client must share the same understanding of the work to be done, regardless of the terminology they use.

The final product, now called Agreement Template for Editing Services, is a fresh and useful tool for editors and clients. Kaarina’s input and motivation were key to this project’s success.

Kaarina earned a Master of Environmental Studies degree from the University of Waterloo and has expertise in environmental assessment, environmental planning, and sustainability. She spent 16 years in the federal public service, including five years as an executive. She is a member of the Professional Writers Association of Canada, Editors Canada, and the Canadian Authors Association. She is the current chair of the Ottawa-Gatineau branch.

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/kaarinastiff/

2017 Recipients

Lee d’Anjou Volunteer of the Year Award

Headshot of Jeanne McKane

Jeanne McKane (Editors Toronto)

McKane is a fierce advocate for professional certification for editors. And she does more than simply talk about certification; she stands behind it, having earned her certification from the Board of Editors in the Life Sciences and her Certified Professional Editor (CPE) credential from Editors Canada. She doubled down on her commitment to professional recognition for editors when she joined the Editors Canada certification steering committee in 2013. She has co-chaired the committee since 2015.

During McKane’s tenure, she has worked tirelessly to raise the profile of professional certification both in Canada and abroad, has advocated for a culture of certification in the editing community, and has contributed significantly to the development and launch of computerized testing. 2017 marks the first time the Editors Canada professional certification tests will be administered on computers.

For McKane, offering professional certification means editors now have a significant goal to aspire to in their careers. But it’s even more than that.

It’s not what I expected at all—it’s been the improvement of my standing with other professionals. As a healthcare editor, I spend a lot of time working closely with doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other healthcare professionals, for whom certification is a long-established practice, and a significant part of their own self-image. There is no doubt that when I make them aware of my CPE, it shifts their perceptions of me a little—it allows them to view me more as a collaborator with a different specialty, rather than as support staff, and that, in turn, gives me a greater chance to contribute my own knowledge and skills to a project.

Before joining the certification steering committee, McKane spent five years volunteering for the Editors Toronto professional development committee. The members who nominated her said she “embodies the best qualities of an Editors Canada volunteer, working enthusiastically, fielding criticisms expertly, answering questions patiently, and handling her responsibilities reliably and passionately. We look forward to seeing her commitment to the association rewarded with [this award].”

President’s Award

Patricia Furdek (Editors Ottawa–Gatineau)

In January 2016, Patricia Furdek accepted the position of chair of the training and development committee. Patricia supports ongoing professional development opportunities for members outside urban centres and has helped Editors Canada establish a long-term vision for training. Her dedication helped to pave the way for the Editors Canada webinar program, which launched in 2016. Webinars have breathed new life into the association’s national training programs, allowing editors at every stage of their careers to get Editors Canada’s high-quality training online.

In overseeing the launch of the program, Patricia coached presenters and attended webinars to offer opening remarks, solve technical issues, and ensure the webinars were recorded. Most webinars are available for sale on the association website. Patricia shared the valuable skills and insights she gained with her successor to foster program sustainability.

Patricia is proud to have received her Certified Proofreader designation in 2015 and remains an active member of Editors Ottawa–Gatineau.

Amy Haagsma (Editors British Columbia)

LinkedIn

A member of Editors Canada since 2013, Amy Haagsma served as co-chair of the 2016 national conference in Vancouver alongside Lynn Slobogian. Amy and Lynn demonstrated outstanding commitment and exceptional leadership, ensuring that committee members felt heard and respected and encouraging them to play to their strengths. The result was a very successful conference. Throughout it all, Amy and Lynn remained cheerful and enthusiastic.

Drawing on her background in marketing, Amy was happy to contribute her graphic design skills to the conference.

Amy works as a self-employed writer, editor and graphic designer, with a focus on non-fiction and scientific/technical materials. She is editorial assistant at Talk Science to Me Inc. and serves as publication chair and managing editor of West Coast Editor for Editors British Columbia.

Christine Mains (Editors Calgary)

LinkedIn

Christine (Chrissie) Mains has been a member of Editors Calgary since it launched in 2015, and served for a time as acting twig co-ordinator. Her leadership helped to ensure that Editors Calgary maintained its early momentum, as it welcomed more than 20 new members at the inaugural summer social.

Chrissie is passionate about engaging members in vital discussions. Seeking feedback on what new editors sought from the organization, she planned a series of socials and coffee meetings. She is committed to succession planning for twig sustainability and has recruited local volunteers through social media. She also organized seminars featuring local editors. Colleagues are quick to praise her unwavering commitment and support.

In October 2016, Chrissie accepted the position of production editor at Oxford University Press. Ever the dedicated volunteer, she has expressed interest in helping plan the next Editors Canada conference, even as she enjoys her new life in England.

Dawn Oosterhoff (Editors Ottawa–Gatineau)

Website

Dawn Oosterhoff proved herself to be an integral member of the standards task force in 2017. Passionate about information, she loves to organize, analyze, and share new and exciting data.

Dawn impressed her colleagues with her research skills. She piloted new systems for data management and sought innovative solutions to save time and money. She gained a reputation as a consummate professional and inspired all with her can-do attitude. When the usual approach to holding a member survey was not possible, Dawn found an effective way to collect member input.

Dawn is a freelance technical writer and editor, working in nursing, law and ethics. She loves her work because it allows her to consider global issues from many perspectives. Dawn is interested in advancing the editor’s role as an advocate for readers and champions the dissemination of quality and useful information.

Lynn Slobogian (Editors British Columbia)

LinkedIn

A member of Editors Canada since 2013, Lynn Slobogian served as co-chair of the 2016 national conference in Vancouver alongside Amy Haagsma. Lynn and Amy demonstrated outstanding commitment and exceptional leadership, ensuring that committee members felt heard and respected and encouraging them to play to their strengths. The result was a very successful conference. Throughout it all, Lynn and Amy remained cheerful and enthusiastic.

Lynn has spent 15 years in international development, and often drew on her experience in volunteer and project management for her role as conference co-chair.

She took the plunge into full-time freelance editing in 2014, working on everything from fiction and web copy to technical reports and training manuals. She is also the professional development co-chair of Editors British Columbia.

Mentoring Task Force

In 2017, Editors Canada launched the John Eerkes-Medrano Mentorship Program. This new national program makes it possible for Editors Canada members and student affiliates across the country to participate in one-on-one mentor-mentee relationships. The program was created by a dynamic 11-member task force led by Carolyn Brown:

Carolyn Brown (Editors Ottawa–Gatineau)

Website

LinkedIn

Twitter

Catherine Baudin (Editors Quebec/Atlantic Canada

Kevin Burns (Editors Ottawa–Gatineau)

Carolyn Camilleri (Editors Toronto)

Dave Ealey (Editors Edmonton)

Anita Jenkins (Editors Edmonton)

Juliann Krushen (Editors British Columbia)

Janet MacMillan (Editors Toronto)

Virginia McGowan (Editors Nova Scotia)

Joanna Odrowaz (Editors Toronto)

Isobel Stevenson (Editors Toronto)

The task force researched international mentorship programs for editors and other communications professionals before discussing what an ideal program would look like in Canada. Together, they established the program’s philosophy and policies, and sought input from Editors Canada members and approval from the national executive council. The John Eerkes-Medrano Mentorship Program officially launched in spring 2017. It is now under the direction of the new mentorship committee.

2016 Recipients

Lee d’Anjou Volunteer of the Year Award

Headshot of Sandra Gravel

Sandra Gravel (Québec City, Quebec)

Sandra Gravel is the driving force behind the Programme d’agrément en révision linguistique – Réviseurs Canada (PARL), the country’s first French-language editing proficiency program. Gravel has been integral at every stage of developing the program: from first leading the team that updated the professional standards on which the program is based (Principes directeurs en révision professionnelle) and overseeing test and study guide design, to ultimately launching the program in 2015. Amazingly, Gravel and the Editors Canada Comité Agrément/Principes were able to bring PARL from concept to execution in just two short years. Today, she continues to oversee PARL and hosts information sessions about the program in Quebec.

“I’m deeply touched that my role in launching PARL and my contribution to Editors Canada are being recognized,” said Gravel in her acceptance speech. “This encourages me to continue working on this important program.”

The members who nominated Gravel said, “Thanks in large part to [her] energy, enthusiasm and tireless efforts, French-language editors now have a way to evaluate their competence in editing and can earn recognition from Editors Canada. [The PARL program] is not only the first of its kind in Canada, it is unique in the world, further establishing Editors Canada in a leadership role when it comes to editing standards and editorial professionalism.”

“I’m honoured and proud to receive this award,” said Gravel. “I have been a member of the Editors Canada national executive council before and I cannot begin to measure the magnitude of this association. I sincerely appreciate the dedication of the many people who volunteer their time.”

President’s Award

Benoit Arsenault (Québec City, Quebec)

Benoit Arsenault has 30 years’ experience in French-language editing at Natural Resources Canada and 14 years’ experience in evaluating, editing and writing web content. He earned a degree in French linguistics and a certificate in professional writing and editing from Université Laval in Quebec City.

Benoit has always been fascinated by reading and writing. He likes playing with words to create a text that is easy to read and understand. “It must come from my father, who was a French teacher,” he explains.

Together with the other members of the Comité Agrément/Principes (CAP), he spent almost three years updating the French-language editorial standards and setting up a French-language certification process, including the computerized tools to support the tests.

Benoit believes it’s important to get involved in volunteering “to create connections with other members and to circulate ideas.” He also received the 2015 President’s Award for Volunteer Service.

His hobbies include going to the movies, walking and listening to country rock music. As to the future, Benoit would like to travel. Nashville and Memphis are on his list, along with Las Vegas, Great Britain, France and Germany.

Ellie Barton (Kingston, Ontario)

Ellie Barton has been a dedicated member of Editors Kingston since its formation, and she took on a co-coordinator role when the twig faced a critical turning point. Attendance was low, and a proposal arose to disassociate the twig from Editors Canada and instead create an independent local group. Understanding the importance of remaining affiliated with the association but also the need to be a hub for local editors (both members and non-members), Ellie ran a follow-up meeting that affirmed the twig’s connection to Editors Canada and set an open, positive tone. Working alongside her co-coordinator Nancy Wills and assistant coordinator Elizabeth d’Anjou, she then helped to revitalize the twig by establishing a web presence, exploring new publicity ideas, and planning and organizing meeting speakers and topics with wide appeal. As a result, meeting attendance has increased and twig membership is now steady. Ellie has been a driving force behind the positive changes in the twig, and she exemplifies Editors Canada’s spirit of volunteering.

Ellie began editing in 2004 after working for 15 years in public relations for health-care organizations. She is a freelance editor who works on scholarly texts, fiction, memoirs and non-fiction in the humanities. She developed and teaches an online editing course for Queen’s University.

Catherine Baudin (Granby, Quebec)

A member of Editors Canada since 2010, Catherine Baudin is the president of La Quintessence, a language services business specializing in writing, editing and proofreading. A native of France, Catherine takes pride in having found her place in Quebec society. She is certified as a writer by the Société québécoise de la rédaction professionnelle, in addition to having 20 years of experience in editing and proofreading.

She has seen the editing profession evolve since the start of her career, but thinks there is “a long road ahead for it to be recognized as a true, independent profession.”

It is thus not surprising that she became a volunteer member of the Comité Agrément/Principes (CAP). Her role on the committee included producing test-related documentation, such as study guides. She also contributed proofreading.

Catherine suggests that an individual volunteer can modulate their involvement by examining if certain tasks can be shared among several volunteers.

Her hobby is swimming. Catherine also enjoys reading, but admits that she “suffers from a professional impairment.”

Catherine would like to continue her editing work as long as possible. “When you love what you do,” she says, “you don’t want to stop!”

Anissa Bouyayi (Laval, Quebec)

Anissa Bouyayi began her professional journey as a translator before embarking on an international career in humanitarian development, which lasted for more than 15 years. In 2008, she turned to editing.

Today, Anissa works as an employment counsellor. She conducts workshops and helps job seekers by revising and editing their curriculum vitae and cover letters.

She joined Editors Canada in 2009 and became a volunteer in 2013. As a member of the Comité Agrément/Principes (CAP), Anissa contributed to developing the 2014 French-language version of editorial standards as well as editing and rewriting the agrément study guides.

Certified as a writer by the Société québécoise de la rédaction professionnelle, Anissa is proud of the role she played in the French-language certification process, which was launched in 2015. She sees the test as a genuine proof of quality for professional editors.

To Anissa, volunteering “is a real window on other realities and a good way to build a network.” She adds, “You won’t lose anything by getting involved.”

As for her leisure time, she enjoys walking, meditating and relaxing.

Katherine Duncombe (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan)

Editors Saskatchewan chair Katherine Duncombe is being recognized for her dedication and leadership. Although the Saskatchewan branch is the smallest one in the association, being a part of the branch executive requires handling some big responsibilities. It can be challenging for a smaller group of people to meet all the expectations of a branch, such as meetings, professional development programs, and member recruitment. It became more difficult for the branch when the marketing and PR volunteer stepped down. Consequently, the executive members have been sharing the responsibilities, and Katherine has taken on much of the work. Katherine was understandably nervous to take on her new role as chair, but she has quickly become a leader.  On top of her chairing duties, she produces the branch’s monthly e-newsletter, updates the website, and manages the social media accounts. Katherine credits Editors Canada and Editors Saskatchewan for helping her gain the skills to be an editor, and she views her volunteer work as a way to give back to all those people who helped her.

Katherine has been a member of Editors Canada for four years. Starting out as a part-time editor, she moved to freelancing full-time two years ago. Her specialty is web editing, and she copyedits and publishes articles for The Motley Fool Canada.

Marie-Ève Laroche (Blainville, Quebec)

Marie-Ève Laroche has worked for 10 years as literary editor at a publishing house. In addition to her freelance editing services, she is a lecturer at the Université de Sherbrooke’s Longueuil Campus, where she teaches manuscript publishing and editing.

A professional editor since 2001, she believes she owes a lot to Editors Canada. She secured her first novel editing contract thanks to her entry in the association’s directory.

Marie-Ève has been a volunteer member of the Comité Agrément/Principes (CAP) for four years. She is proud of having contributed to launching the association’s first French-language editing test. As a committee member, she worked on structuring the tests and reviewing the questions for the first test. She also served as examiner for the first roster of candidates.

Marie-Ève thinks one should dare to be come a volunteer. “It will make you grow!” she says. “You will gain new contacts, and it’s really stimulating.”

In her free time, Marie-Ève plays the transverse flute in a wind ensemble. “The brain is so busy with rhythms and nuances,” she explains, “that one can’t think of anything else.”

Her dream is that her publishing and editing career will continue, with varied projects.

Anna Williams (Leduc County, Alberta)

Anna Williams has been chosen for the President’s Award for her excellent work as the Editor’s Weekly managing editor. An Editors Canada member since 2007, she stepped into the managing editor role in December 2013. Her professionalism and considerable communication skills, talent and work ethic are in large part responsible for making the blog one of the association’s most visible and positively received initiatives. Anna originally took on not just her role but all supporting tasks, such as handling technical matters and proofreading. She now works with a team of volunteers to ensure there is an article to post each Tuesday and that all content is interesting, readable and accurate. As a result of Anna’s efforts, the blog’s subscribers list has increased by over 300 readers.

Anna enjoys her work as managing editor and sees it as a great way to contribute to Editors Canada, enhance her professional experience, and network with other writers and editors. Before her work as managing editor, Anna oversaw the Editors Prairie Provinces job hotline, where she actively searched for and posted job opportunities. When not volunteering, Anna runs a freelance editing business specializing in business communications. She originally wanted to be an author and would like to someday revisit that dream.

2015 Recipients

Lee d’Anjou Volunteer of the Year Award

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Christine Beevis Trickett (Calgary, AB) 

Calgary-based editor Christine Beevis Trickett is the recipient of the 2015 Lee d’Anjou Volunteer of the Year Award. Christine has met all of the suggested requirements for this honour: she performed volunteer services over many years, took the initiative to identify and solve a critical problem or meet a need within Editors Canada, organized an activity that has a profound impact on the association, and inspired others to participate more fully within the association.

Christine has been a member and active volunteer of Editors Canada for almost 15 years. She was a founding member of the association’s Nova Scotia twig, where she served as twig and professional development coordinator. She was also a key member of the team that organized the association’s first conference in Atlantic Canada (Halifax, 2013), coordinating social media for the event while preparing for her own move to western Canada. Once in Calgary, she connected with local editors to found the association’s first twig in the western provinces. She now serves as Editors Calgary’s co-coordinator and was named association Volunteer of the Month in April 2015.

When she isn’t volunteering with Editors Canada, Christine is manager of editorial services for the Nature Conservancy of Canada, a role that unites her passion for the environment with her lifelong interest in sharing stories about nature. She is responsible for website and blog content, helps with website redesign, edits and proofreads newsletters, and produces reports and articles, among many other tasks. She considers herself fortunate to work for an organization that does meaningful work.

President’s Award

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Benoit Arsenault (Quebec, QC) 

Benoit Arsenault stepped up when the national executive council (NEC) needed help gathering and collating member feedback for the organization’s rebranding process. In a short period of time, Benoit and other volunteers consolidated the feedback they received from a number of sources and presented a brief for NEC consideration at its November meeting. Benoit was instrumental in getting feedback from francophone members of Editors Canada and translating the final report. In addition, Benoit was a member of the Comité Agrément/Principes from 2013 to 2016 and of the francophone affairs committee from 2015 to 2016 (he served as chair during that time as well). Being an active member of Editors Canada gives Benoit the chance to meet other editors, make professional contacts, and learn new things about editing and the organization.

Now retired, Benoit worked as a French editor and comparative editor (English–French) for Natural Resources Canada for more than 32 years. He earned a degree in French linguistics and a certificate in professional writing and editing from Université Laval in Quebec City. He has been a member of Editors Quebec/Atlantic Canada since 2012.

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Stacey Atkinson (Ottawa, ON)

Stacey Atkinson embodied the heart of Editors Canada through her enthusiasm and diligent work as the volunteer social media coordinator for the 2015 conference. A newer member of the association at the time, Stacey jumped right in and offered her help. Stacey ended up taking on more responsibilities than she originally signed up for, and despite there being fewer core volunteers than in previous years, she worked tirelessly to engage Editors Canada members in conversations on social media that were often clever and fun. As a result, she helped increase the conference’s publicity and contributed to maintaining Editors Canada’s great reputation.

When Stacey is not volunteering, she works as a freelance writer and editor. She is also the author of a novel, Stuck; her second book, Letters from Labrador, will be published in 2016.

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Heather Ebbs (Carleton Place, ON)

Heather Ebbs is being recognized not only for her three decades of service to Editors Canada but also for her efforts to help launch the third edition of Editing Canadian English (ECE). Heather has served Editors Canada at the local and national level since 1985, including as president from 1990 to 1992. In the past four years alone, she has been involved in the certification, communications and marketing, and publications committees. It is with the third committee that Heather’s help was instrumental in saving a project at a key stage. While the publications committee was in the midst of recruiting volunteers to write the text for ECE, both the co-chair and editor-in-chief had to step away from the committee. Heather accepted an invitation to help and became a faithful and stalwart supporter of the project, not only finding writers and keeping them motivated, but also offering input and advice on all sorts of issues. Without Heather’s help, the third edition of ECE would not have launched on time in February 2015.

Heather has been working since 1985 as a freelance editor, writer, indexer, and teacher, and has been a mentor and leader to many people in the editing and indexing industries. Heather won the Tom Fairley Award for Editorial Excellence in 1986 and has been honoured by the Indexing Society of Canada, of which she is a past president, for her volunteer services.

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Marsha Fine (Gatineau, QC)

Marsha Fine answered the call when the national executive council (NEC) asked for help gathering member feedback for the Editors Canada rebranding. In just eleven short weeks, Marsha worked with a group of volunteers to establish ways members could provide feedback, including through forums, emails, and social media. Marsha joined the task force because she believes that figuring out how to identify Editors Canada as an organization for both its members and the general public is an important discussion; she hoped that this process of gathering and consolidating member feedback would help Editors Canada continue to be a strong organization for editors. A member of Editors Ottawa–Gatineau for the past eight years, Marsha enjoys being part of the organization because it allows members to connect with one another and raises editors’ professional level.

Marsha has worked in publishing, both in-house and freelance, for most of her professional life. She currently works as an in-house English writer and editor for the federal government.

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Jennifer Glossop (Toronto, ON)

Jennifer Glossop has been an active member of Editors Canada since the 1980s, volunteering for years with certification. She is a President’s Award winner in 2015 for her work gathering and consolidating feedback for the Editors Canada rebranding. Collaborating with a group of volunteers, Jennifer searched through many forums, including the email forum and Facebook, to gather member feedback on the organization. The short time frame and large amounts of feedback to gather and organize made this an arduous task, but Jennifer was both determined and generous with her time. This project was important to her because she felt that rebranding had become a divisive issue; she hoped this project would be a way to bring the diverse needs and opinions of Editors Canada members, including unsatisfied ones, to the attention of the national executive council.

Jennifer has had an illustrious career in publishing for the past 40 years. She’s worked a both an in-house and a freelance editor for major houses and smaller publishers. Books she has edited have won the Governor General’s Award and the Crime Writers of Canada Award, and have been nominated for the Giller Prize and the Books in Canada First Novel Award. A mentor for many young editors, she has also taught editing at Ryerson University, Simon Fraser University, and the Banff Centre.

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Christine Hastie (St-Bruno, QC)

Christine Hastie was a member of Editors Canada for over 15 years as part of the Quebec/Atlantic Canada branch, volunteering as the branch chair for part of that time. When the national executive council (NEC) put out a call for bilingual volunteers to gather and organize member feedback for the organization’s rebranding, Christine offered to lead the team. With a background in collaboration and facilitation, as well as great admiration for the volunteer efforts that have gone into Editors Canada over the years, Christine wanted to ensure that the group worked well together and that no volunteer efforts would be undermined by misunderstandings. Due to the group members’ diversity of opinions and the large number of themes and ideas they encountered in the feedback, the project was challenging. Christine and the other volunteers worked energetically and with professionalism to produce a bilingual report for NEC consideration. Christine’s and the other members’ efforts highlight her belief that “great achievements are possible with a spirit of openness and collaboration.” The NEC is grateful to Christine for leading this project.

Christine has been editing for over 35 years and currently works for Veterans Affairs Canada. She has given presentations on collaboration to Editors Canada members, and has begun facilitating groups that enhance well-being through storytelling and appreciative inquiry.

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Breanne MacDonald (Mississauga, ON)

Breanne MacDonald is a 2015 President’s Award winner for her excellent work on two large Editors Canada projects. Although she was already heavily involved with the organization as the Editors Hamilton-Halton coordinator, Breanne became a volunteer coordinator for the 2015 conference. She soon assumed greater responsibilities, and did so gladly and confidently, taking on most of the work associated with the venue, as well as helping to organize the print program and the vendor fair. In addition, Breanne volunteered as a member of the rebranding taskforce, which was responsible for collecting and analyzing feedback on the new Editors Canada brand. She felt it was important to join the taskforce to ensure that members would feel comfortable expressing how they felt about the organization, even if their opinions differed from the majority. Breanne showed great leadership and much efficiency in both of her roles.

A member of Editors Canada since 2010, Breanne now sits on the national executive council. Breanne works as an in-house proofreader and has been editing since 2010. She specializes in proofreading marketing material and documents that have a mix of graphics and text. She is a graduate of Ryerson University’s publishing program.

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Patricia MacDonald (Howie Centre, NS)

Patricia MacDonald was a pillar of support for the Editors Canada 2015 conference. Although she was already heavily involved with the organization as chair of the volunteer management committee, she offered her services to recruit and manage the conference volunteers. She was no stranger to this role, having been on the organizing committee for the 2013 conference. This time she had fewer volunteers and more responsibility, but she worked tirelessly and cheerfully. In addition to her volunteer coordination duties, she assisted with the conference’s social media. She worked with other volunteers to engage Editors Canada members online in interesting ways, publicizing the conference and strengthening Editors Canada’s reputation as a collaborative and fun organization.

Patricia joined Editors Canada shortly after beginning her freelance editing career in 2000. She specializes in copy editing and proofreading sports memoirs, physical education and kinesiology textbooks, and guidebooks for coaches and athletes.

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Dani Pacey (North York, ON)

Dani Pacey’s outstanding dedication to Editors Toronto, especially in her role as member relations chair, has earned her respect and gratitude from branch members and the executive. Dani has sat on the Toronto branch executive since 2012; when she moved into the role of member relations chair, she became the face of the branch and built relationships with its members. Never content with the status quo, Dani is always thinking bigger and better, suggesting new and more exciting ways to engage with members. She’s done it all—organizing holiday events, running monthly programs, recruiting volunteers, and supporting new members. Dani has also been a strong figure of support for the branch executive by offering advice and help with issues even when they’re outside her portfolio. Editors Toronto feels lucky to have Dani as a member!

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Alexandra Peace (Canning, NS)

Alexandra Peace likes to contribute to any organization she joins, which is why she volunteered as recording secretary when the national executive council (NEC) needed one for its meetings. It was a great fit for her: she wanted to learn how Editors Canada is run, and the position provided a good opportunity for travel. When the NEC decided to cancel its quarterly meeting in March and replace it with monthly teleconferences and one three-hour videoconference, Alex cheerfully worked around the changes. She “attended” and recorded all meetings, as well as produced and finalized the minutes, which allowed the NEC to continue working. In addition to this role, Alex is the new co-coordinator of Editors Nova Scotia. She enjoys her volunteer work because she finds it fun, and she feels like she is making a contribution.

Alex is a freelance editor, proofreader, and indexer. She works from her home in rural Nova Scotia and has taken courses on editing and indexing from Ryerson University.

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Jean Rath (Ottawa, ON)

Jean Rath joined Editors Ottawa–Gatineau in 2012 when she was starting out as a freelance copy editor. She began volunteering because she had the time and wanted to meet other people in the industry. For two years she served as the branch’s membership co-chair, and last September she joined the team that gathered and collated feedback for the Editors Canada rebranding. In just eleven weeks she and the team went through various platforms, consolidating and organizing the vast number of comments into a report in both English and French for the national executive council (NEC). This task absorbed more time than initially envisioned, and the NEC appreciated Jean’s generosity and hard work on the project. Jean enjoyed the experience of working as part of a team and dealing with words outside of editing.

After editing for friends for years, Jean now runs her own freelance editing business called Thought-Sight Consulting. She’s completed Ryerson University’s copy editing course and has training through Editors Ottawa–Gatineau branch seminars. Jean is grateful to Editors Canada and its members for their help and advice.

2014 Recipients

Lee d’Anjou Volunteer of the Year Award

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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.

President’s Award

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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.

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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!

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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.

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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”!

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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!

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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.

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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.

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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.

2013 Recipients

Lee d’Anjou Volunteer of the Year Award

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Moira White

Moira has volunteered for EAC for over a decade, often as the go-to person when no one else is able to take on a job. This willingness to take on multiple responsibilities reflects her commitment to the association and her fellow editors. It also means that she contributes a huge amount of her time—like in 2007 when she served as the National Capital Region branch chair, national executive council (NEC) member, and conference chair. She served as NEC president for two years and, in 2012, became the director of professional standards, a position she will continue to occupy next year. Aside from these large positions, she has also taken certification pilot tests, invigilated tests and worked on various national committees.

Moira works as a freelance editor, mainly for government and corporate clients. In the last five years, teaching has become a larger part of her career, which she enjoys because she always learns something from her students. As both a practicing editor and an instructor, Moira is able to keep her skills sharp and stay up-to-date with trends in editing.

Moira’s contributions to EAC are all the more impressive given that when she began her volunteering all five of her children still lived at home. Now, she is a grandmother, and outside of work fills her life with family, knitting, quilting, swimming, cycling and, most recently, exploring the lake near her cabin in Quebec on her new paddleboard.

President’s Award

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Iva Cheung

Iva completed the Master of Publishing program at Simon Fraser University, and worked for many years at a trade publishing house. She now runs her own editing and publishing consulting business, blogs about editing and publishing, and teaches in the Writing and Publishing program at SFU. Iva joined EAC as a student, and has contributed at both the branch and national levels. She helped update the copy-editing section of Meeting Professional Editorial Standards, volunteered for the 2011 conference, served on the code of ethics task force, and worked on the credential maintenance program. She currently sits on the certification steering committee and volunteers for the programs committee with the British Columbia branch. She finds volunteering enormously rewarding, as it has helped her develop as an editor and create connections across the country. When she’s not working, Iva loves to cook, visit the farmer’s markets and spend time with her family. She also sometimes draws comics about editing—but she’s not sure whether that’s work or a hobby.

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Anne Curry

Anne has devoted most of her professional career to education, teaching French and English in Nova Scotia, Thailand and Newfoundland. She has been a principal, a coordinator of French language services for a school district, an instructor in BEd and MEd programs, and an independent consultant for Mi’kmaw language teachers on curriculum development and processional learning. Her work in editing grew out of her background in education, and she currently draws on her vast experience to edit theses and academic articles relating to education while continuing to work as an instructor and educational consulting. In 2012, realizing that her unofficial copy editing work had become a larger part of her life, Anne joined EAC and attended its conference in Ottawa. She acted as the speaker coordinator for the 2013 Halifax conference, and plans on becoming more involved with her local twig.

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Dave Ealey

After completing his Master’s in ornithology from the University of Alberta, Dave worked for many years as a wildlife biology consultant. His experience with writing reports and proposals eventually led him to the Alberta government, where he worked as a technical editor dealing with a wide range of portfolios, including environment, parks, and fish and wildlife. He joined EAC in the early 90s and spent several years volunteering his time as the Prairie Provinces branch treasurer and contributing his skills to planning and budgeting. Recently he used his knowledge of government to assist with grant applications that successfully helped fund the Words in 3 Dimensions conference held in Edmonton. Dave is now retired, but stays active with EAC by participating in professional development programs and as an auditor. He also mentors young biologists through the Alberta Society of Professional Biologists, and is involved with the accreditation program of the Canadian Public Relations Society, Edmonton Chapter. Dave is an avid power walker and has committed to completing four half marathons this year. He fills the rest of his spare time with travel, singing, trumpet playing and enjoying his impressive collection of dictionaries and reference materials.

Heather Guylar

Heather has worked both full time and freelance for educational, trade, feminist and non-profit book and periodical publishers as a copywriter, copy editor, print production manager, and web and print designer. She currently works full time in a corporate setting while continuing her freelance work in other areas. Heather joined EAC early in her career as a copywriter to learn more about editing and the publishing industry. She rejoined six years ago when she started expanding her knowledge base into the digital world, so EAC has been instrumental in her education and professional development as an editor. She volunteers her time as Edition’s graphic designer and has helped to design promotional pieces for the association. She is an urban adventurer, spending her free time exploring Toronto and its neighbourhoods, enjoying theatre, opera, concerts, movies, ballet and the occasional Blue Jays game.

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Nancy Holland

Nancy edited her first newsletter when she was eight years old. Since 1992, she has worked as a technical writer, editor and instructional designer. She became involved with EAC in 2007, and has contributed her time in a variety of ways, including acting as the co-chair of the 2013 Halifax conference, founding the Nova Scotia twig, and working with the certification steering committee. She has been the Atlantic representative to Quebec/Atlantic Canada (QAC) branch, QAC rep to the national executive council, treasurer of the Toronto branch, envelope stuffer, seminar host, and The Word on the Street table organizer. Outside of work, Nancy is an avid runner and shows the same dedication to the running community as she does to her fellow editors. She works as a certified coach, director of Run Nova Scotia, co –race director of the Cabot Trail Relay and a race announcer. When she’s not busy with running or editing, she loves to ski, travel, learn about wine, and, as a parrothead, indulge her love of Jimmy Buffet.

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Valerie Mansour

Valerie began her career as a journalist, freelancing for many years in the diverse spheres of CBC radio, magazines and newspapers. Several years ago she took a new approach to information sharing and began doing documentary film research and scriptwriting, which she still continues today. One of her current writing projects is interviewing and profiling refugee families. Along with these pursuits, she has always been an editor and started her own company with her partner: The Writing Resource.ca provides editing and writing services, coaching and workshops. Valerie also draws on her past experience as a restaurant reviewer to review cookbooks and write food features for regional magazines. After she started her company, Valerie joined EAC as a way to gain resources and meet other editors. She acted as co-chair and helped organize the 2013 conference in Halifax. When not writing or editing, Valerie enjoys travelling, biking, working out, reading, cooking and gardening.

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Jennifer McMorran

Jennifer has spent much of her professional life in the world of travel, starting out copy editing, translating and travel writing for Ulysses Travel Guides in Montreal. Motherhood was another journey, as was the freelance work she did when her children were young. Then, it was back to work as the editor at Nights publications, a publisher of travel and lifestyle magazines for the Dutch Caribbean. Recently, she began a new job as editor at Cheneliere Education, a publisher of school textbooks. Jennifer is the secretary for the Quebec/Atlantic Canada branch. She also answers French language queries and, this past year, helped coordinate the purchase of new QAC-branded material. Her involvement with EAC has helped motivate Jennifer to continue learning and pushing herself as a professional. When she’s not working, Jennifer enjoys being a great mother to her two daughters (aged 8 and 12), gardening, travelling, and fixing anything around her house that is broken or crooked.

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Brooke Smith

Brooke started her editing career as a copy editor, and it is still what she loves most. She currently works as managing editor at Benefits Canada, writing, editing, copy editing and assigning stories. She previously worked as copy chief at Fashion magazine and in Chatelaine’s copy department. She is also managing editor for Edition and has marked certification tests. Outside of work, she is a committed runner, last year completing 46 races to mark her 46th birthday. She hopes to run 25 half marathons in 25 different states—so far she’s completed 7. She also makes cards, jewellery and artist trading cards.

2012 Recipients

Lee d’Anjou Volunteer of the Year Award

Headshot of Barbara Dylla

Barbara Dylla

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.

President’s Award

Headshot of John Green

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.

Headshot of Christine LeBlanc

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).

Headshot of Eva Radford

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.

Headshot of Gael Spivak

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.

Headshot of Rachel Stuckey

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.

Headshot of Gilles Vilasco

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.

2011 Recipients

Lee d’Anjou Volunteer of the Year Award

Adrienne Montgomerie

Adrienne Montgomerie, winner of the EAC’s 2011 Lee d’Anjou Volunteer of the Year Award, is recognized for her tireless dedication and enthusiasm in launching a new Kingston, Ontario-based EAC twig. She was an integral part of its development, from conception through to recruiting volunteers and organizing regular meetings and guest speakers.

“Adrienne’s willingness to put in hours of volunteer work has transformed the lives of editors in and around Kingston,” said EAC president Michelle Boulton.

For Adrienne, the highlight of starting the twig has been the sense of diversity and community it offers. “[The] people are the fun part,” she said.

Adrienne has also written newsletter articles, edited the EAC’s recently updated Copy Editing: Meeting Professional Editorial Standards and is heading up the association’s website revitalization task force. She is also a Certified Copy Editor.

Montgomerie’s award was announced at the EAC’s conference on May 28 in Vancouver.

President’s Award

Theresa Agnew

Theresa Agnew became a freelance writer and editor in 2000. Much of her freelance work involves writing and editing educational and training materials. She also seeks out contracts that reflect her personal interests in active living, diverse communities and sustainability issues.

When Theresa joined the EAC in 2000, the Prairie Provinces branch was going through a difficult period with too few members doing too much work. She offered to chair the branch’s board’s program committee, and, after eight successful years in that role, she took on the position of Prairie Provinces branch chair. Since then, Theresa has been involved in numerous volunteer activities, including coordinating a series of readings by local Edmonton editors and co-chairing the EAC national conference in Edmonton in 2008.

Theresa is the type of person every organization hopes to have: clear-thinking, hard-working, committed and fun to be with. She is a great communicator, organizer, promoter and recruiter. Her initiatives have revived the Prairie Provinces branch, and her enthusiasm has drawn other members to volunteer.

Susan Bond Hurka

Susan Bond Hurka discovered EAC in 2003 when she took an Eight Step Editing workshop in Saskatoon. She realized that 90% of her job—creative director of a print publishing company—involved some form of editing. Susan joined EAC in 2004 and, with a vanload of executive members, went to the national conference in Calgary. Guess what happened? 

Susan served on the local executive for seven years and helped the twig of the Prairie Provinces branch transform into the Saskatchewan branch. Her writing and organizing skills, her stamina for attending meetings and her great ideas have helped the Saskatchewan branch thrive.  

During those seven years, Susan’s career went through a metamorphosis of its own. When the publishing company was winding down, she started her own company, Fulcrum Editorial Inc. She freelanced for five years, editing for print and web. In 2010, her biggest client, an interactive web design agency, hired her as their content strategist. She creates functional, user-friendly web content that meets clients’ business goals and users’ objectives.

Donna Dawson, Certified Professional Editor

Donna Dawson has been a freelance copy editor, proofreader and EAC member since 1996. She works primarily on medical and health information for consumers and professionals and on business and financial material. She has also worked for clients in fields ranging from theatre to education.
 
Donna has taken advantage of the learning and networking opportunities EAC offers—she was one of the first editors to achieve EAC certification in proofreading and copy editing—and she has been an active volunteer. Donna led the Toronto branch’s mentorship program through its infancy in 2009, and now the toddler is up and running and continuing to grow thanks to Donna’s ongoing guidance.

In the December 2008 edition of Active Voice, she posed the question, “Are you certifiable?” in an article that described her certification experience. Since then she has been a member of the certification program’s credential maintenance subcommittee and has helped revise the Proofreading section of Meeting Professional Editorial Standards.

Volunteers such as Donna, whose efforts benefit both new and experienced editors, help EAC thrive.

Marlene Dong

Longtime writer and editor Marlene Dong, from Vancouver, BC, has served as EAC’s conference communications co-chair since June 2010. Once on board, she put together a strategic and comprehensive communications plan that included a detailed budget and a social media marketing component. She does her utmost to ensure conference communications are both strategic and professional, representing the association in the best possible way.

Marlene has done volunteer work in some capacity all her life, and firmly believes that “it’s one of the best ways to network and learn.” She volunteered as communications coordinator for EAC’s 2011 conference as a way of utilizing her range of skills and knowledge to showcase her writing, editing and communications skills.

Marlene also works as a communications officer for BC’s largest undergraduate institution, Langara College. Before that, she worked from home for over nine years as a communications consultant specializing in writing and editing services.

Frances Peck

Frances Peck has been working with words for over 20 years as an editor, a writer and a teacher. A partner with West Coast Editorial Associates, she deals with print and web-based material on a wide range of topics. She teaches editing at Simon Fraser University and Douglas College, writes a regular column for the journal Language Update, and gives workshops across Canada for writers, translators, and editing groups.

The workshops Frances conducts for the EAC benefit both up-and-coming and experienced editors. Whether we’re perplexed about the finer points of punctuation or flustered by functional shifts, she helps us find the answers we need.

Frances has been an active EAC volunteer for many years. She helped create the certification pilot tests in 2001, led the first marking teams and later chaired the certification steering committee. She also chaired the committee that spent three years revising our Professional Editorial Standards and continues to play an advisory role in overseeing this new document. Frances’s excellent work in these demanding volunteer positions has helped strengthen the Canadian editing community.

Nathalie Vallière

Nathalie Vallière has been an active part of the renaissance of the French section of the Quebec/Atlantic Canada branch. The branch had not held workshops or presentations in French for nearly two years, but after the EAC’s 2010 conference in Montreal, Nathalie successfully took on the challenge of organizing professional development workshops, which generated interest among French EAC members and non-members in the Montreal region.

Nathalie says that her main motivation is that “if we want our work as editors to be recognized, we need to make sure that we are as competent as we can be. Getting training is a way of keeping track of our knowledge, improving it and sharing it with other colleagues.”

Nathalie worked as an in-house editor for a publishing house for 16 years and now has her own freelance business.

The francophone members of QAC thank Nathalie for her contribution to the association.

Ruth Wilson

Ruth Wilson has made extensive volunteer contributions to the EAC. She is a member and past chair of the certification steering committee and a member of the professional standards committee.

When asked to help with the 2008 Standards revision, she didn’t hesitate, taking time away from her work and family to sequester herself in a retreat facility for a week, then continuing for months afterward to contribute to the seemingly endless stream of email revisions and collaboration.

From North Vancouver, BC, Ruth worked in-house for 16 years and then moved to freelancing. Shortly after, she was invited into West Coast Editorial Associates. She edits a variety of materials and also teaches workshops.

Ruth has been a member of the EAC since the early 1980s. She has collaboratively, consistently and effectively contributed to the development of the EAC and the editing profession in Canada, bringing great intelligence and vision to her volunteer work.

Holly Yoos

Holly Yoos is a web content writer, an editor and social media consultant who specializes in business communications. She brings a wealth of skills and knowledge to EAC including over 4 years of business communications experience and 21 years of business experience. She has a certificate in business communications and professional writing from Simon Fraser University, a masters certificate in project management, a master’s degree in archival studies and a bachelor of arts degree.

Holly joined EAC’s BC branch in March 2010. But this new member didn’t sit back and test the waters: she cannonballed into the deep end of the volunteer pool by taking the demanding role of speaker coordinator EAC’s 2011 conference. She did an excellent job coordinating the speakers committee and liaising with the conference committee. Her enthusiasm and professionalism contributed greatly to the conference’s success.


Profiles of past winners prepared by EAC member volunteers Rhonda Skinner and Anna Williams.

2010 Recipients

Lee d’Anjou Volunteer of the Year Award

Cy Strom

Toronto branch member Cy Strom was recognized for his continuing role in writing and then revising EAC’s Professional Editorial Standards (PES) and Proofreading: Meeting Professional Editorial Standards (Proofreading: MPES), both of which are essential publications for the editing profession. PES describes the skills editors should have, tells employers what to expect from the editors they hire, and helps post-secondary institutions and other training providers design courses and material on editing. Proofreading: MPES is one of four parts of a study program that allows editors to test their skills and learn by example.

Cy was also one of the editors who took the first steps to develop EAC’s landmark certification program, working on EAC’s first Proofreading pilot test and marking guide.

President’s Award

Ursula Acton

Ursula Acton, a Saskatoon-based editor, started out in newspaper editing “back in the days when cut-and-paste involved a straight edge and wax.” She has been a freelance editor for the past 10 years.

Ursula has co-chaired the Professional Development Committee of EAC-Saskatchewan for the past two years. Her attention to detail and her diplomacy have ensured that the branch’s professional development workshops have run smoothly and seemingly effortlessly. In 2010, Ursula brought her enthusiasm and conscientious approach to her position as Saskatchewan’s representative on the national executive council.

“I belong to the Editors’ Association of Canada because it is the first and best source of like-minded colleagues,” Ursula explains. “The meetings and professional development opportunities are the perfect antidote to endless hours working in isolation.”

Barbara Dominik

Health, science and math editor by day, treasurer and hotline coordinator by night, Vancouver-based Barbara Dominik is a superhero to many on the BC branch executive. The former mechanical engineer, who got into the profession after having two kids, has been on the branch executive for just three years, but in that short time she’s made a big impact. During her second year Dominik helped draw up a budget and manage the monthly financials. The result? Balanced books. As the current treasurer, she’s kept the branch in the black despite shifting revenue. Her appreciation for numbers has other benefits, too. “Through my involvement in my girls’ education, I’ve developed a passion for strong math and science education. We really need to raise information-savvy children—numerate, critical thinkers—to deal with the information age,” she says.

Diane Ferland

Quebec/Atlantic Canada branch member Diane Ferland worked for 25 years as a writer and translator for non-profit organizations before going back to school and obtaining her official translation certificate. Then she began her own freelance translation business, and eventually moved into editing. Now, in addition to her translation work, Diane proofreads and copy edits educational materials for a Quebec publisher.

Diane joined EAC to develop contacts and have access to professional development opportunities. “I also needed to break the isolation of freelance work,” she adds. At her first EAC meeting, Diane decided to volunteer and began organizing seminars in both English and French. She later served two years as branch chair and now serves as past chair and treasurer.
 
“I don’t think I would have lasted as a freelancer without EAC,” says Diane. “I’ve made many friends and found a group of people that I have a lot in common with. I am proud of the award, but feel that I have been rewarded in many other ways as well.”

Randee Holmes

Looking for a volunteer who can get the job done right? Look no further than communications consultant Randee Holmes. A Toronto writer, editor and researcher who specializes in environmental issues, Randee prides herself on high professional standards, attention to detail, flexibility and a co-operative nature. These skills have made her invaluable at the Toronto branch where she has coordinated the roster of seminar hosts for more than a decade. No small feat, given the number of seminars the branch offers each year and the fact that she has two young children. Randee, a one-time seminar host herself, not only manages, schedules and trains volunteers, but has also devised the indispensable host kit known as “The Box.”

Krysia P. Lear

Guelph-based editor Krysia P. Lear began her career as a writer, but quickly learned she had the skills to make a great editor. After attending an editing seminar at a writers’ conference, she realized that editing fit her analytical side and passion for having things make sense. Shortly after joining EAC in the 1990s, Krysia became an active volunteer, working her way from the position of secretary, to program chair, national public relations chair and, eventually, national member-at-large.
 
“Being a member of EAC means being with ‘my tribe,'” Krysia says. “I considered joining another communications organization, but after attending some EAC meetings, I realized I felt more at home with the interests of EACers.”
 
Krysia currently runs her own company, The Editorial Suite. She has a Bachelor of Theology and a Certificate in Magazine Editing, and has completed numerous courses from the Canadian Public Relations Society, the Society for Technical Communications, the Professional Writers’ Association of Canada and, of course, EAC.

Perry Millar

Perry Millar has been editing for over 25 years. She helped build the British Columbia branch of EAC before moving and creating a new branch of EAC in Saskatchewan. Perry has also played an active role in establishing the national certification program and helped to rewrite Professional Editorial Standards in 2008.

Perry says, “I belong to EAC for the professional development, the collegiality, and for the satisfaction of passing on knowledge and keeping a professional editors’ association alive and kicking for the upcoming generation of editors.”

Perry has worked extensively in academic and trade publishing. She particularly likes shaping and developing books. “But most of all, I love reading a wide range of material that I would never otherwise read,” she says.

Maureen Nicholson

Maureen Nicholson is an editor, writer and teacher based on Bowen Island, British Columbia. She began her editing career as managing editor of West Coast Review at Simon Fraser University before going on to work at The Georgia Straight, the Canadian Centre for Studies in Publishing, Motion Works Publishing and numerous small magazines. In addition to running her own company, Keyline Consulting Associates, since 1991, Maureen is currently program head for Professional Writing at Douglas College.
 
As former EAC president (2005 to 2007), Maureen has been an integral part of the association, writing numerous EAC policies and helping to develop EAC’s current strategic plan.
 
When asked about winning her volunteer service award, Maureen was quick to turn the recognition on to her EAC colleagues. “I thought about people I’d nominate next year,” she says. “I’m delighted that the big award is named after Lee d’Anjou … and very, very pleased that Michelle Boulton and the national executive were able to put these awards in place.”

Wilf Popoff

Saskatoon-based editor Wilf Popoff began editing 50 years ago at The Sheaf, the University of Saskatchewan’s student newspaper. He went on to work for the Saskatoon StarPhoenix and the Edmonton Journal.  He has been self-employed as a contract editor for the past 14 years.

Wilf was a founding member of EAC-Saskatchewan in 2000 and has served on the executive ever since. Wilf co-edited Latest Edition, the Prairie Provinces branch newsletter, for four years (2002-06) before moving on to edit Active Voice, the association’s national newsletter.

Wilf believes that professional affiliation in organizations such as the Editors’ Association of Canada is essential to professional work. “I volunteer because when I was a young editor and writer I was guided by older men and women who helped me learn my craft,” Wilf says. “They are no longer around to repay, so I repay my colleagues instead and offer guidance to young editors and writers.”

Rosemary Tanner

When Rosemary Tanner first volunteered for the national executive, she says, she was “trying hard to fade into the woodwork.” Happily, the freelance editor ended up doing just the opposite. In her 14-year history, she has worn hats as professional development chair, treasurer, president and unofficial mediator, forging bonds within the publishing community and proving herself to be a natural-born leader. Case in point: in 1996, Tanner helped bring the Prairie Provinces branch into the national fold. Won over by her welcoming and friendly approach, the branch asked the national executive council to fund her trip to its 10th anniversary celebrations.

So what else does this science specialist bring to the table? Things like farm-fresh eggs, chicken, lamb and maple syrup—bounty from her property in Kenilworth and the surrounding rural community that her colleagues in Toronto love to receive. She and her husband, Raymond, live in a restored schoolhouse with extensive vegetable gardens.

Ken Weinberg

After graduating from Ryerson with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, Ken Weinberg spent the first 20 years of his career in the data communications industry. He later moved into technical training for Fortune 500 companies, and eventually went on to study technical writing and editing at George Brown College. This technical background is evident in Ken’s editorial work. “I enjoy making complex ideas and procedures easy to understand and follow,” says the Toronto-based editor. “Life is complicated enough; we don’t need instructions to be any more complicated than necessary.”
 
As an EAC volunteer, Ken was responsible for guiding the website committee through the task of bringing EAC’s website in-house—all while laid up in bed after back surgery.
 
On hearing about his award for volunteer service, Ken says he “felt proud to be included in such an esteemed group.”


Profiles of past winners prepared by EAC member volunteers Denise Barnard, Tammy Burns and Penny McKinlay.

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