with EductCHRIS BEASLEY is the owner of OneVoice Stories, a small business in Ottawa, Canada, in which she records, edits and publishes life stories for seniors and their families. With 25 years’ experience as a business writer and editor for private and public sector clients, she has produced reports, web content, proposals, business plans, marketing material, and technical manuals. A graduate of Shenandoah Conservatory of Music (Virginia), Chris is an amateur classical pianist and has sung for over 10 years with Triolet, a female a cappella group in Ottawa. She has organized classical music concerts, festivals and fundraisers, and led a variety of musical activities for children and adults.
PETER GILLIES has 35 years’ professional experience as an educator, project manager and community development professional. From 2005 to 2012 he focused on capacity building for community-based organizations, program start-up and management of USAID and JICA projects, and assessment and evaluation work in Afgahnistan, Djibouti, Indonesia, Pakistan, Timor Leste and the UAE. His current professional life in west Québec is nurtured by work in art and heritage, and the social justice issues they help inform. He is a co-founder of the Wakefield Fringe Theatre Festival (now the Ta Da! Festival); former vice president of the Fairbairn House Heritage Centre where he focused on sustainability and community programming; and currently part of the management transformation team at La Fab sur Mill artists co-op and performing arts centre in Chelsea.
Together, Peter and Chris volunteered with Educate for Life in 2014 and 2015. In February 2014, they held a two-day music workshop with students at Hunar Ghar that focused on dance, song, rhythm, and creative composition. In 2015, they planned and orchestrated a five-day visit to Udaipur by seven Class 6 students and two teachers as part of the school’s transition strategy for its Class 8 graduates, to inspire the students and open their world to possibilities. The trip consisted of workshops with an artist, a musician and a spice maker/shopkeeper; visits to a secondary school and a library; as well as a variety of fun activities.
At home in Wakefield, Quebec, theyr are founding members and organizers of the Wakefield Writers Festival-La Pêche.
PETER GILLIES has 35 years’ professional experience as an educator, project manager and community development professional. From 2005 to 2012 he focused on capacity building for community-based organizations, program start-up and management of USAID and JICA projects, and assessment and evaluation work in Afgahnistan, Djibouti, Indonesia, Pakistan, Timor Leste and the UAE. His current professional life in west Québec is nurtured by work in art and heritage, and the social justice issues they help inform. He is a co-founder of the Wakefield Fringe Theatre Festival (now the Ta Da! Festival); former vice president of the Fairbairn House Heritage Centre where he focused on sustainability and community programming; and currently part of the management transformation team at La Fab sur Mill artists co-op and performing arts centre in Chelsea.
Together, Peter and Chris volunteered with Educate for Life in 2014 and 2015. In February 2014, they held a two-day music workshop with students at Hunar Ghar that focused on dance, song, rhythm, and creative composition. In 2015, they planned and orchestrated a five-day visit to Udaipur by seven Class 6 students and two teachers as part of the school’s transition strategy for its Class 8 graduates, to inspire the students and open their world to possibilities. The trip consisted of workshops with an artist, a musician and a spice maker/shopkeeper; visits to a secondary school and a library; as well as a variety of fun activities.
At home in Wakefield, Quebec, theyr are founding members and organizers of the Wakefield Writers Festival-La Pêche.