Staff

Monica Dinney, Executive Director
Monica has an extensive background working with a variety of non-profit organizations in Winnipeg, with experience in program development and management, fundraising, event coordination, and working with Boards and volunteers.

She obtained the internationally recognized Certified Fundraising Executive credential in 2006 and holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of Winnipeg.

Monica is an active community volunteer, and has served on various Boards and committees. She is a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, currently on Professional Advancement committee. She is the National Liason for the Canadian Association of Gift Planners, Manitoba Roundtable.

Dedicated to the values and principles of literacy, education and lifelong learning opportunities, Monica joined the Bookmates Inc. team in 2009.

Colleen Cawood, Trainer/Program Support
Family Learning has been a part of Colleen's life since joining Bookmates in 2006. Colleen is responsible for ensuring training materials are prepared and organized for all of the various programs offered by Bookmates. She coordinates Family Learning Olympics events and kits that are loaned to community groups. She co-authored and illustrated Bookmates most recent self-published work "A First Counting Book". Books and reading have always been an important part of Colleen's life.

Candyce Jones, Program Coordinator
Candyce has been working with children and families in both residential settings and in the community for forty years; during that time she has worked in clinical settings and prevention programs and has always promoted a community development process in the organizations where she has worked.

Bookmates has been her home since January 2001. Candyce is both a provincial and national trainer of Family Literacy programs. She has developed and facilitated many programs including Alphabet Soup and Alphabet Soup in Motion. She and her Bookmates colleagues are currently developing a national program training in consultation with organizations engaged with families who are newcomers to Canada. This training will be piloted across the country in 2010.

Candyce's joy in this work is related to using a community development process, teamwork and her love of working with families. Her own family of Dave her husband, two adult sons and their partners as well as two young grandsons are at the root of her love of families.

Tricia Robinson, Program Coordinator
Tricia has been involved in family literacy programs for 10 years. Beginning as a parent participant, she became a parent-child facilitator, and is currently working in training and program development. Tricia is a life-long learner who has always been interested in families. Her current focus is on family literacy supports for newcomer families and program evaluation.

Maryanne Sproule, Program Developer/Trainer
Maryanne joined Bookmates after several years of experience running parent-child programs in Winnipeg. She has a degree in Nutrition from the University of Guelph and has also facilitated Consumer Education workshops in the community.

Maryanne has spent many years at home encouraging a love of learning with her four children .With a passion for working with families, she enjoys helping others learn to run family literacy programs in their community.

Rhea dela Cruz, Office and Program Administrative Assistant
Rhea and her family came to Canada from the Philippines in 2010. She has a background in office administration for an international private pre-school in Manila. She worked there for 6 years and was responsible for a variety of duties including providing information to parents, payroll and accounts, database management, administrative support for the Head of School and teachers, and other assorted tasks. She has a Bachelor of Science in Business Management from De La Salle University in the Philippines.