As a former craftsperson and small-business owner, I have a special interest in entrepreneurship—in how things are made and ideas are developed. I’ve interviewed people who design modular-component bridges, manufacture bagpipes, harvest and market wild rice, grow nut trees, and are striving to develop plastics from potatoes, manage construction noise and foster diversity on non-profit boards.

I’ve edited case studies examining public administration, municipal policing, energy grids and public-private partnerships and written summaries and introductions for many of them, applying plain-language principles to help my clients effectively communicate complex ideas to their non-specialist readers.

I have written travel articles and children’s books that I’ve also illustrated with fabric appliqué, polymer clay and pen and ink. I've ghostwritten a psychic newsletter.

Canadian Council for Public-Private Partnerships (editing, proofreading, research, writing)
• Three Case Studies: CCPPP’s 2015 Award-Winners
• Position paper: First Nations P3s: Where Are They?
• Three Case Studies: CCPPP’s 2014 Award-Winners
• Three Case Studies: CCPPP’s 2013 Award-Winners
• 25,000-word summary of proceedings: 20th Annual National Conference, “The Power in Partnership”
• Three Case Studies: CCPPP’s 2012 Award-Winners
• Three Case Studies: CCPPP’s 2011 Award-Winners
• Breaking New Ground: P3 Hospitals in Canada
• Public-Private Partnerships: A Guide for Municipalities

Ontario Public Health Association (editing)
• Position paper: Informed Decision-Making and Infant Feeding

LeaderCity Canada (writing, editing, research)
• “Doing it Right at the Wallace McCain Institute: Developing entrepreneurial leaders in the Greater Atlantic area”; “Free the Children and Me to We: Inspiring the collective leadership potential of young people around the world”; biographies, web content

MaRS Market Intelligence (editing)
• “Critical Factors and Opportunities in Solar Power Electronics”; “Mod Media Moguls”;
“Client Venture Templates”; “Ontario Utilities and the Smart Grid”; press releases

Research, Innovation, Commercialization (RIC) Centre (writing, editing)
• “Peel Startup Weekend”: 700-word article for Mississauga Business Times

IPAC Series in Public Management and Governance, University of Toronto Press (editing)
• Off and Running: Canadian Government Transitions, Prof. David Zussman (2012)
• Deputy Ministers in Canada, Prof. Jacques Bourgault, ed. (2013)

Couchiching Institute on Public Affairs (writing, editing, proofreading)
25,000-word summary reports of four-day events, including brief speaker biographies and abstracts of keynote speeches and panel discussions:
• From the Ground Up: Civic Engagement in Our Time (2011)
• The Global Financial Crisis: Watershed Moment or Wasted Opportunity? (2010)
• The Global Politics of Food (2009)
• The Power of Knowledge: The New Global Currency (2008)

Lester Publications, 2011‒present
Articles for regional, agriculture and construction industry magazines Northern Experience, Communicator, Groundbreaker, Northern Experience, PileDriver, Piling Canada, and Think BIG:
Company and association profiles:
• Anchor Shoring and Caissons; John’s Electric; ASL Paving; ROC Equipment; Meever USA; Liebherr; HoistCam; Guardian Traffic Services; Groundwerks Soil Solutions; GEMTEC; Johnston Construction; Crux Subsurface; Hasse Contracting; Alcom Electronic Communications; Wayne’s Backhoe Service; Universal Engineering Sciences; Force; Helical Piling; Anchor Shoring; Naosap Harvest; Canadian Association of Farm Advisors; Canadian International Grains Institute; BioTalent Canada

Features:
• “Is There a Place in P3s for Small Contractors?”; “What’s New in Heavy-Construction Equipment for 2014”; “Saskatchewan Heavy Construction Association Economic Impact Analysis”; “Flooding: ‘Hundred-year’ floods more frequent across Canada”; “Growing Forward 2: Farm-industry responses to government policy changes”; “BRIC Reports: Agriculture in India”; “Excedrin Headache: When the noisy neighbour is you”; “Youth in Pile Driving: Attracting young people to the construction trades”; “Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency: Protecting industry or protecting citizens?”

Personal profiles:
• Dawn Tattle; John Fleming, Kevin Lone, Jamie Plesh, Christina Creaser, Bob Brode

Project profiles:
• “Paving the Way for Growth”; “EllisDon Uprising: Harnessing the Power of the Idea Generation”; “Careers in Construction Website Relaunch”; “Deh Cho Bridge”; “Helping to Build Bridges to Prosperity”; “Plastics from Potatoes”

Yahoo Finance
• “Banking on Immigrants for Growth”; “Do You Need Tenant Insurance?”

Small Biz Advisor
• “Expanding into International Markets”; “Succession Planning”; “Long Term Care Insurance”; “Benefit Plans: From optional to mandatory”; “Preparing for Biologics”

Mortgage Journal
• “BYOD: when employees bring their own laptops, tablets, and smartphones to work”

Maytree Foundation
5,000-word profiles of award-winning community organizations and how each achieved board diversity:
• Centennial College; Dixon Hall; Family Service Toronto; Harbourfront Centre; North York Seniors Centre; United Way Toronto; Women’s College Hospital; YMCA

Edible Toronto
• “Cutting the Mustard”: Canadian gourmet food market entrepreneurs—small, medium, and large
• “Nuts in Niagara”: scientific curiosity fuels orchardist Ernie Grimo’s passion for nut trees

Canada’s History
• “Pipe Line from Canada”: Niagara bagpipe maker’s innovations update an ancient craft

EDITING: FICTION & MEMOIR
• “Aydy’s Fiddle” by Edward Curnutte: historical fiction
• “An Immigrant’s Story” by Pernille Fischer-Boulter: memoir by one of Canada’s Top 25 Women of Influence
• “The Swordbearer” by Marcy Erb: fantasy adventure
• “Fear Nothing” by Jacqueline Snyder: science fiction
• “Tova Tovarah” and “Of Bonds and Bondage” by Rita Baker: historical romances
• “ECMOdays” by Sandra Fleming : memoir of the author’s son’s grave illness and the family’s survival
• “The Path” by Maria Trautman: memoir of a difficult childhood and triumphant adulthood
• “Follow Me Now” by Jennifer Kaplan: contemporary fiction

CHILDREN’S BOOKS
• Alphamagnets, Penguin (illustration)
• Alphamagnets, Penguin (illustration)
• Make Your Own Jewelry Book and Box, Reader’s Digest Press (design, writing)
• Butterfly Bangles and Ladybug Beads, Reader’s Digest Press (design, writing)
• Stephen's Frog, Annick(writing, illustration)
• Going, Going, Annick (writing, illustration)