Don Oravec

I was born and raised in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada. I am married to Jim Harper and we have been together for twenty-four years. I graduated from the University of Guelph with a split major in English and History (1980); and graduated from the Canadian Securities Course (1990). 

I worked in the cultural sector for over 25 years, first at the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in Marketing, Customer Service and Development, then at Tafelmusik, Canada’s Baroque Orchestra as the Director of Development.  While at Tafelmusik I helped the organization establish a one-million-dollar endowment and increased their corporate and individual donors.  In 2003 I moved to the Writers’ Trust of Canada where I was Director of Fund Development and from 2005 to 2012 Executive Director.  The Writers’ Trust is a national organization dedicated to making the lives of professional Canadian writers better.  

In 2012 I retired and I am now splitting my time between Toronto and Fort Lauderdale; and traveling to places on my ‘bucket list’, and reading and writing voraciously.  

I had a seat on the board of Toronto’s Word on the Street (a literary festival held in Toronto and across Canada every September). I am founding member of the Board of Directors and currently the Chair of the Board of the Carol Shields Prize for Fiction, a new North American writing prize for women. I am the Past-President of the Board of Directors of Project Bookmark Canada – a national charity dedicated to placing bronze plaques across Canada where important Canadian books have been set.  The charity promotes, reading, writing and helps create a legacy for Canadian writers and their books. I am a member of the Quadrangle Society at Massey College at the University of Toronto.  I am a member of the Board of Directors for The Stonewall Center in Fort Lauderdale Florida.