Patricia MacDonald of Howie Centre, Cape Breton, NS, has been named the Lee d’Anjou Volunteer of the Year for 2022 by Editors Canada.
MacDonald is recognized for nearly a decade of service to the association, working on several conference committees and task forces, as well as the national executive council. She has had a particular focus on making member services more accessible and making volunteers’ work more effective, meaningful and rewarding.
She oversaw the task force to improve access to member services and was instrumental in creating the Editors’ Vine, a popular monthly online meeting of members that was an initiative to connect members who face barriers in attending twig or branch meetings (which became all members during the pandemic). MacDonald also supervised the insurance task force and oversaw important volunteer resources, such as updates to the Volunteer Handbook, the Committee Handbook, as well as the creation of the VolunteerConnect spreadsheet.
“All of these were valuable contributions of her time and work, which contributed to making the association stronger and more relevant for members,” said her nominators.
Established in 2010, 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.
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.
Recipients of the 2022 President’s Award for Volunteer Service:
- Victoria Bell (Editors Ottawa–Gatineau)
- Natalia Iwanek (Editors Toronto)
- Fazeela Jiwa (Editors Atlantic)
- Amber Riaz (Editors British Columbia)
- Jess Shulman (Editors Toronto)