FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Toronto, May 25, 2026—The Editors’ Association of Canada (Editors Canada) has announced that Holly Vestad of Montreal, Quebec, is the recipient of the 2026 Lee d’Anjou Volunteer of the Year Award.
Editors Canada supports its members in finding work by connecting them with jobs and professional networks across the country and around the world. Through resources like the Online Directory of Editors, National Job Board and networking opportunities, members gain visibility and access to potential clients seeking editorial expertise. The association also offers training, professional certification, and resources that help editors strengthen their skills at every stage of their careers.
When Holly Vestad stepped into the role of chair of Editors Canada’s career builder committee nearly two years ago, her goal was to better connect members with the job resources that were available to them. The idea for a one-stop destination to help Editors Canada members find work sparked at the association’s annual general meeting in 2012, but the project faced numerous setbacks and remained largely dormant for years. Holly’s leadership was the missing piece. With enthusiasm, care and compassion, she rebuilt the committee and set to work building the Career Development Hub (the Hub). After 14 years of development, the Hub officially launched in March 2026.
This new website brings together career-centred Editors Canada webinars and training materials, The Editors’ Weekly blog posts, and curated career and job resources, all in one user-friendly destination. The Hub is a members-only resource that is managed by the career builder committee and is regularly updated to provide members with current, practical tools. On it, members can find quick access to the links used most, like the job boards, Canadian Oxford Dictionary, The Chicago Manual of Style, Oxford Reference and Professional Editorial Standards.
“Holly is a natural leader,” says one of the supporters of her nomination. “[She] recognizes that people are more likely to engage if they see the benefit of volunteering [and she] brings this consideration to all committee meetings and her interactions with the committee members.”
“Editors Canada is lucky to have a volunteer who is so committed to recognizing a need within the association and doing what she can to solve that need.”
Holly Vestad’s multidisciplinary career includes: editing; tutoring at First Peoples’ House and the McGill Writing Centre, where she also facilitates writing events; coordinating an arts-based suicide intervention program for Inuit youth in Nunavik; writing about senses of home and the self, with her most recent creative essay, “Shelter You Seek,” published in Shelter in Text (University of Alberta Press, 2025); and finally, as an emerging textile artist, exploring tactile narratives, creating new stories with discarded fabrics.
Established in 2010, the Editors Canada President’s Award for Volunteer Service recognizes outstanding service to the organization by member volunteers. From among the nominations received for the President’s Award, one nominee is selected to receive the Lee d’Anjou Volunteer of the Year Award.
Recipients of the 2026 President’s Award for Volunteer Service are as follows.
Badou Bousso (Editors Ottawa-Gatineau)
Carolyn Brown (Editors Ottawa-Gatineau)
Heather Buzila (Editors Edmonton)
Greg Ioannou (Editors Toronto)
Anne Louise Mahoney (Editors Ottawa-Gatineau)
Gael Spivak (Editors Ottawa-Gatineau)
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About Editors Canada
Lee d’Anjou is a founding member of the Freelance Editors’ Association of Canada and remains a guiding force in the association now known as Editors Canada. She is a champion of professional standards of editing, a pioneer of the association’s certification program, and one of the association’s most recognized and outstanding volunteers.
Additional information about the President’s Award for Volunteer Service and the Lee d’Anjou Volunteer of the Year Award can be found on the Editors Canada website.
Editors Canada began in 1979 as the Freelance Editors’ Association of Canada to promote and maintain high standards of editing. In 1994, the word “Freelance” was dropped to reflect the association’s expanding focus to serve both freelance and in-house editors. As Canada’s only national editorial association, it is the hub for members and affiliates, both salaried and freelance, who work in the corporate, technical, government, not-for-profit and publishing sectors. The association’s professional development programs and services include professional certification, an annual conference, seminars, webinars, and networking with other associations. Editors Canada has four regional branches: British Columbia; Toronto; Ottawa–Gatineau; and Quebec, as well as smaller branches (called twigs) in Atlantic Canada, Barrie, Calgary, Edmonton, Hamilton-Halton, Kingston, Kitchener-Waterloo-Guelph and Manitoba.
Media contact
Michelle Ou (she/elle)
Senior Communications Manager
Editors Canada
communications@editors.ca