The Walrus Foundation

executive director & co-publisher
Shelley Ambrose
(416) 971-5004 ext. 236
shelley.ambrose@walrusmagazine.com

director of development
Mary Cranston
(416) 971-5004 ext. 255
mary.cranston@walrusmagazine.com

manager of special events & projects
David Leonard
(416) 971-5004 ext. 222
david.leonard@walrusmagazine.com

office manager
Fiona Wilson
(416) 971-5004 ext. 221
fiona.wilson@walrusmagazine.com

Giving to The Walrus Foundation
Board of Directors
Board Member Biographies
Educational Review Committee
Selected Contributors to The Walrus
Praise for The Walrus

The Walrus Foundation is a charitable non-profit organization with a mandate to promote public discourse on matters vital to our country. The Foundation is dedicated to supporting Canadian writers, artists, readers, education, and ideas.

We achieve these goals, first and foremost, by publishing The Walrus, the most awarded magazine in Canada, named Magazine of the Year at the National Magazine Awards in June 2007. The Walrus is a monthly publication of ideas, sophistication, and wit, and a place where readers, writers, and artists meet. It is supported by walrusmagazine.com, which offers both archives and original content.

In addition to the magazine, The Walrus Foundation runs an intensive editorial, art, and publishing internship program for aspiring editors, writers, designers, and digital media and publishing professionals selected from across Canada.

Through national public events, The Walrus Foundation is committed to the public square, to celebrating Canadian talent, and to increasing participation in our democracy through spirited and intelligent debate, by lifting the magazine off the page and onto the stage in public forums.

The Walrus Foundation is supported by individuals, foundations, partnerships, corporate sponsors, and public sector grants. The Walrus magazine is supported by advertisers, corporate donors, subscribers, and newsstand sales. The Walrus’s charitable status depends on its editorial content, which must make up 70 percent of the magazine’s pages; and is required to be 80 percent educational and 80 percent Canadian.

A volunteer Educational Review Committee composed of academics from universities across Canada assists the Foundation in fulfilling its mandate.

The Walrus Foundation and The Walrus magazine are grateful to both the Board of Directors and the Advisory Council for their support, expertise, and dedication.

We would like to express our deep gratitude to the Chawkers Foundation for its generous ongoing support. The Walrus also acknowledges the financial support of the Government of Canada, through the Publications Assistance Program and the Canada Magazine Fund, toward our mailing and editorial costs. The Canada Council for the Arts supports the capacity-building efforts of The Walrus Foundation.

Outright Gifts
An outright gift is a direct transfer or pledge of any asset to The Walrus Foundation including cash, securities, real estate, and tangible personal property. These donations can be made by cheque, money order, credit card, or gifts of securities. The Walrus Foundation will provide an acknowledgment of all gifts for tax purposes.

Planned Gifts
Your gift can be made as a one-time gift or a long-term pledge; pledges can be made monthly, quarterly, or annually. The Walrus Foundation's gift planning program enables you to make a significant contribution both now and in the future through recurring donations, bequests, and other long-term support possibilities. If you are considering a planned gift, please contact Walrus Foundation director Shelley Ambrose at (416) 971-5004 ext. 236 or shelley.ambrose@walrusmagazine.com.

You can send a cheque or money order to:

Michael Decter
Michael Decter is a leading health care authority. A Harvard-trained economist, he is also the former deputy health minister for the Ontario government. As chair of the Health Council of Canada, former chair of the board of the Canadian Institute for Health Information, and consultant to leading teaching hospitals, Michael has more than twenty-five years of experience in the public and private health sectors. He is president of LDIC Inc., an investment management firm that advises high net-worth individuals, trusts, estates, pension funds, corporations, and institutions.

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Bruce Bennett
Bruce Bennett started at Bennecon Ltd., a treasure management consulting firm, in 1991 and was appointed president in 1995. He has since worked with over 150 of Canada's largest private and public organizations. He is a former treasurer of the Treasury Management Association of Canada (TMAC), a national organization of treasury professionals. He is also a former director of the Toronto and national chapters of TMAC. Bruce is active in his community as Chairman of the Board of the Grace Church Child Care Centre and a director of the Dunloe Children's Centre. He has a business degree from the Business School at the University of Western Ontario.

Helen Burstyn
Helen Burstyn has enjoyed a thirty-year career in public service, public relations, marketing, and volunteer service. She is in her second term as chair of the Ontario Trillium Foundation. Before joining the Foundation, she was the senior advisor, stakeholder relations to the Premier of Ontario. Previously, she was a partner at Advance Planning/MS&L, a global communications and investor relations firm. Helen spent her earlier career in the Ontario public service, where she served as deputy secretary to the Premier’s Council and held various senior roles in economic development, trade, and international relations. She is vice-chair of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) Board of Trustees, a director of the Ontario Youth Challenge Fund, the City of Toronto’s War of 1812 Commemorative Committee, Equal Voice, the Toronto International Film Festival, the Canadian Journalism Foundation and Luminato. She is immediate past president of the Canadian Club of Toronto and a founder, past president, and chair of the honourary board of Gilda’s Club Greater Toronto. Helen is also the president of Public Projects, which provides consulting services to governments, corporations and not-for-profit enterprises on their social investments and strategic positioning.

Paul Cohen
Paul Cohen is Vice-President of Marketing and Sales for Cantech/Ralston. The privately held company employs over 400 people in six North American manufacturing facilities, producing a range of industrial and consumer plastic and packaging products. As a recent chair of the Canadian Plastics Industry Association, Paul worked with industry members to sponsor the construction of a massive living sculpture, The Elevated Wetlands, by well-known Canadian artist Noel Harding.

Heather Conway
Heather Conway is Executive Vice President, Marketing, Creative Services and Public Affairs for Alliance Atlantis. She is responsible for all marketing programs, affiliate relations, as well as media and government relations and public affairs, sponsorships and donations, and internal communications. Prior to joining Alliance Atlantis, Heather was Executive Vice President, Corporate and Public Affairs at the TD Bank Financial Group — the first woman in the bank's history to hold the executive vice president title. She has worked for consulting groups including Hill & Knowlton, the Neville Group, and Public Affairs International, and with the federal minister of finance as Special Assistant, Fiscal and Tax Policy and Communications. In 2002, she was named one of Canada's Top 40 Under 40. She also serves as a director of the board of American Express Canada.

Francesca Grosso
Francesca Grosso specializes in health policy and health care communications. As a principal at Grosso McCarthy, she provides counsel to public and private sector clients. Her work in policy includes numerous studies of key health issues. A leader in the field, Francesca helped establish the Health Council of Canada, later serving as the lead of the Council's Transition Team. She recently co-authored Navigating Canada's Health Care, a user guide to the Canadian health care system, which offers advice to average Canadians on how to navigate their healthcare system. A member of Sun Media's Osprey Writers' Group, Francesca is also a speaker for the National Speakers Bureau.

Mark Kingwell
Mark Kingwell is a professor of philosophy at the University of Toronto and the author of many acclaimed books, including Dreams of Millennium (1996), Better Living (1998), The World We Want (2000), Practical Judgments (2002), and Nearest Thing to Heaven: The Empire State Building and American Dreams (2006). Educated at Yale and the universities of Toronto and Edinburgh, he is also a contributing editor for Harper's magazine and Descant, and is an active member of the Foundation for Ethics and Meaning in New York. He is a past columnist for Saturday Night, Adbusters, and the National Post, and a winner of National Magazine Awards for both essays (2002) and columns (2004). He lectures extensively to academic and popular audiences throughout the world. In 2000, he was awarded an honorary DFA by the Nova Scotia College of Art & Design for contributions to theory and criticism.

Chethan Lakshman
Chethan Lakshman provides senior communications advice, counsel, and speechwriting to RBC’s President and Chief Executive Officer, and is responsible for overseeing communications strategy and activities related to Enterprise Brand and Communications. Throughout his career, he has used his expertise to develop strategies that communicate complex issues, ideas, and policies in an environment of competing interests to a variety of audiences. A former journalist with The Globe and Mail, The Financial Post, and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Lakshman moved into corporate communications in 1994. He is currently Chair of the Board of the Toronto Business Development Centre, a not-for-profit organization committed to nurturing the growth of new and emerging businesses in Toronto.

Gerald Lazare
Gerry Lazare holds a Ph.D. in human development and applied psychology with a special focus in cognition and emotion from the University of Toronto. Currently, he teaches psychology at the Ontario Institute in Studies in Education at the University of Toronto and instructs aboriginal teenagers at the Native Learning Centre, a satellite program of Jarvis Collegiate Institute. Gerry also sits on the board of the Chawkers Foundation, an organization which has generously supported The Walrus since the magazine's inception.

Richard (Dick) O'Hagan
A strategy and communications consultant, Dick O'Hagan has been an executive and adviser in business and government, serving two Canadian prime ministers — Lester Pearson and Pierre Trudeau — and, inter alia, two successive Chairmen/CEOs at the Bank of Montreal. He also served at the Canadian embassy in Washington where he helped develop and headed a broadened information and public affairs programme. He has been a director of corporations, public and private, and associated with various non-profit institutions and initiatives. A native of New Brunswick, his career began in Toronto as a daily newspaper reporter. He is writing his memoirs.

Andrew Pringle
Andrew Pringle is President of the Canadian Foundation for AIDS Research, chair of the PC Ontario Fund, and a Director of the Canadian Council of Christians and Jews and the Schmeelk Foundation. In 2002, he retired from positions at RBC Capital Markets as a Managing Director, Head of Global Fixed Income, and Executive Committee Member, following three decades in the financial sector. He is also a member of the independent review committee of Fidelity Investments Canada and an adviser to the Evergreen Foundation. Andrew attended Upper Canada College, where he has served as chair of the board, and the University of Western Ontario.

Jeff Rayman
Jeff Rayman is the president and chief executive officer and co-founder of Secutor Capital Management, an investment advisory firm. From 2000 to 2002, he was president of Studentawards Inc., and from 1989 to 2000 he was president of Alliance Atlantis Equicap. Jeff has twenty years experience in the financial services industry.

Daren Trousdell
Daren Trousdell brings extensive management, industry, and technical expertise to his role of Chief Operating Officer at Isobar Canada, the number-one ranked global digital marketing network owned by Aegis Media Plc. In this role, Daren leads all Canadian digital marketing efforts across the various Aegis Media Canada lines of business, covering national client strategy for digital media, creative, and technical production, as well as managing the day-to-day operations of the agency. His leadership has been instrumental in establishing long-term and successful relationships with key clients such as The Home Depot, Sears, Citibank, Virgin Mobile, Mitsubishi Motors and eBay.

Aritha Van Herk
Aritha Van Herk is a professor of Canadian literature and creative writing in the Department of English at the University of Calgary. Her books include Judith, The Tent Peg, No Fixed Address: An Amorous Journey, Places Far From Ellesmere, and Restlessness. Her essays are collected in In Visible Ink and A Frozen Tongue. Both her creative and critical writing have been widely published, and her work has been translated into ten languages. She has lived in Edmonton, Vancouver, Australia, and Spain.

The Educational Review Committee analyzes The Walrus's art and editorial content to ensure that it meets The Walrus Foundation's educational mandate. The committee believes that:

articles must engage and inform the reader and provide him/her with a learning experience. They should evoke thoughtful consideration... The content of each article, essay, review, etc., must be meaningful, relevant, and useful from a social, political, cultural, and/or scientific perspective. All articles must also strive for excellence in written communication.

“The country does need a high-quality magazine that talks up to its readers, and which brings humour, anger, and real passion to Canadian public debate.”
— Michael Ignatieff, leader, Liberal Party of Canada

"A magazine such as The Walrus promises to be the missing link in the cultural and intellectual life of this country."
— Anne Collins, executive editor, Random House of Canada

"My god, a critical discussion of intelligent issues! What will these Canadians think of next?"
— Clayton Ruby, lawyer

"The Walrus is one of the most intelligent magazines to have entered the Canadian scene in some time. It has shown great courage; its standards are high and its success noteworthy. I would ask that you give generously to ensure the survival of this very important publication. The Canadian literary landscape will be better for it."
— Margaret Atwood, author, winner of the Booker Prize

"The Walrus is one of the best things that has happened in Canada. It’s very rare, an outfit like this, informed by integrity, vision, and dedication. Please help The Walrus survive. We need it."
— Leonard Cohen, poet, singer/songwriter, and author

“Intelligent, long-form journalism that encourages thoughtful debate is not — as you have likely noticed — easy to come by in this era of sound bites, tabloids and 'journalism' designed to sell us goods and gossip. Then there is The Walrus — a sophisticated magazine with a mandate to engage Canadians in issues of national importance.”
— Pamela Wallin, journalist, broadcaster, and diplomat