Ceta Ramkhalawansingh - Board Chair

Don Chapman - Vice-Chair

Helena Aalto - Treasurer / Director, Toronto

Robert Calder - Director, Saskatoon

Todd Gnissios - Director, Lethbridge

Carolyn Marshall - Director, Halifax

Julie Marshall - Director, Kitchener

Mark Milner - Director, Vancouver

Alexandra Moorshead - Executive Director, ex-officio board member

Board Member Bios (in alphabetical order)

Helena Aalto has worked in communications and marketing for retailers Chapters and Coles, publishers Fitzhenry & Whiteside and Kids Can Press, and not-for-profits the Canadian Children’s Book Centre, Editors’ Association of Canada, and ABC Life Literacy Canada.  Consulting clients include the Association of Canadian Publishers, Ontario Media Development Corporation, Cultural Careers Council Ontario, and Access Copyright.  Helena is the national liaison on The Word On The Street Toronto board and Treasurer of The Word On The Street Canada.

Robert Calder is an Emeritus Professor of English, University of Saskatchewan where he was on faculty for over 45 years. He is the author of several books including W. Somerset Maugham and the Quest for Freedom (1972). Calder won the 1989 Governor General’s Non-Fiction Literary Award for Willie: The Life of W. Somerset Maugham (1989).  He has also written the introductions and explanatory notes to four Maugham novels and is the author of Beware the British Serpent: The Role of Writers in British Propaganda in the United States, 1939-1945 (2004), and A Richer Dust: Family, Memory and the Second World War (2004). Calder was given the University of Saskatchewan’s Distinguished Researcher Award in 2005 for his outstanding scholarship and publications. He continues to publish eclectically, writing some sports history, and is working on two new books.

Don Chapman has been involved with The Word On The Street since its establishment in Kitchener in 2002 and is one of the founding partners of the Waterloo Region One Book One Community initiative - a feature of The Word On The Street Kitchener program. Don is Vice-Chair of The Word On The Street Canada Board and has served on the national board since 2002.  Don was the Manager of Special Events for the City of Kitchener, where his team was responsible for a wide range of festivals, events and community programs.  Chapman is  a principal with the event management and consulting firm, DWC & Associates.

Carolyn Marshall is Principal of The Research Store and Partner with Bloom Non-Profit Consulting Group. She has worked in the charitable and non-profit sector for the past decade and holds the Certified Fundraising Professional designation from CFRE International. She is a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) and the Association of Professional Researchers for Advancement (APRA). In addition to her volunteer role with The Word On The Street, Carolyn acts as a mentor with AFP and is a regional representative for APRA Canada. Carolyn has been a supporter of The Word On The Street Halifax since its inception and plays an active role in the organization’s continued success as a board member.

Mark Milner has been an active board member since in 2001 and is currently Chair, The Word On The Street Vancouver. Mark was invited to read at Poets' Corner at The Word On The Street Vancouver before joining the festival’s board. He has published short fiction and poetry in a number of literary journals and anthologies and holds degrees in English Literature from the University of Calgary (BA - 1992) and University of British Columbia (MA - 1997). While studying at the University of Calgary he founded a student magazine (SansCrit) and was the president of the Dandelion Magazine Society (also in Calgary), which published Dandelion and blue buffalo. Mark further contributed to Calgary’s literary scene as co-founder of a successful literary reading series. Mark works for the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia, as a Manager of Road Safety Programs.

Alexandra Moorshead is the Executive Director, The Word On The Street Canada, prior to which she was Festival Director of The Word On The Street Toronto for three years where she grew and diversified the organization’s revenue base, oversaw the development of a number of new artistic programs and attracted new audiences to the event. Alexandra's background includes producing large community events and managing the marketing of a group of Canadian-owned consumer and trade magazines. Through her consulting firm, Moorshead & Associates, Alexandra has co-ordinated a series of workshops and a writing contest which resulted in an anthology of stories by adult literacy learners that promoted literacy and gave a voice to those who are learning to express themselves through the written word.

Ceta Ramkhalawansingh is the Board Chair, The Word On The Street Canada. Until her retirement in 2010, she was the corporate diversity manager for the City of Toronto where she worked for nearly 30 years. She has worked in literacy, publishing, women’s studies, human rights, race relations, education and land use planning. She was a member of the inaugural Advisory Board, The Word On  The Street Toronto in 1990. Ceta has served and continues to serve on several community boards, including serving as Chair, Learnxs Foundation and as Honorary President, Grange Community Association. Ceta is the recipients of several awards such as the University of Toronto’s Arbor Award, the Persons Day Award from WIN and LEAF, and was a member of the Labour History Collective, co-winner of the City of Toronto Book Award. A detailed bio is available.