Lyse Doucet (Côte d’Ivoire 1982)
Lyse is a Senior Presenter and Correspondent for BBC World. Her first overseas experience was with Crossroads International in 1982 when she volunteered in Côte d’Ivoire. She began her career the following year as a freelance journalist in West Africa, which proved a stepping stone to her career with the BBC. She has said that her Crossroads experience was “the catalyst that propelled me into the international work I do to this day.” She has received many prestigious journalism awards.
Ann McCain Evans (Ethiopia 1976)
Ann volunteered with Crossroads in Ethiopia in 1976. Currently she serves as Chairperson of the Harrison McCain Foundation and as a Director of the Marion McCain Foundation, The McCain Foundation and the Beaverbrook Art Gallery. She has served on a number of boards and committees, including the Montreal Board of Trade, the Steering Committee of the Westmount Environment Action Committee and served on the Board of Governors of Acadia University among others. Ann is a native of Florenceville, New Brunswick. A 1974 graduate of Florenceville High School, Ms. Evans studied at the Canadian Junior College in Lausanne, Switzerland and L’Université de Grenoble, France (Certificate, Languages, Literature and Civilization, 1978) and Trent University (B.A., Politics and History, 1979).
Lawrence Hill (Niger 1979, Cameroon 1981, Mali 1989, Swaziland 2014)
Lawrence is the award-winning author of ten books, including The Book of Negroes, which his years of work with Crossroads partly inspired. He has volunteered with Crossroads in Niger, Cameroon, Mali and Swaziland. He won the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize, the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best Book, and both CBC Radio’s Canada Reads and Radio-Canada’s Combat des livres. Lawrence is also professor of creative writing at the University of Guelph, in Ontario.
The Honourable Audrey McLaughlin (Barbados 1986)
Audrey was the leader of the NDP from 1989-1995, making her the first female leader of a political party in the House of Commons. She volunteered in Barbados with Crossroads International in 1986. A committed advocate for women, Audrey has served as President of the Socialist International Women and as member of the National Democratic Institute with which she helped women in Kosovo run the country’s first democratic election.
The Honourable Donald H. Oliver, Q.C. (Ethiopia 1962)
As a barrister, teacher, entrepreneur, lawyer and Senator, Mr. Oliver has served the people of Canada with distinction for more than 50 years. He volunteered overseas with Crossroads in 1962 on a placement in Ethiopia. He has since built a successful practice as a civil litigator and educator of law. He is Canada’s first African-Canadian senator.
Dr. Peter J. Paris (Nigeria 1958)
Dr. Paris was the first Canadian to go overseas with Operation Crossroads Africa, volunteering in Nigeria in 1958. Dr. Paris is Professor of Christian Social Ethics Emeritus, Princeton Theological Seminary. He is the senior editor of the New York University series “Religion, Race, and Ethnicity” and continues to teach throughout the United States, Canada, Jamaica, Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa.
J. Robert S. Prichard (Zambia 1969)
Robert is a Canadian lawyer, economist and academic. He’s the Chairman of the Bank of Montreal and Chair of Torys, one of Canada’s top law firms. He is the past President Emeritus of the University of Toronto where he previously served as Professor and then Dean of Law. He volunteered with Crossroads International in Zambia in 1969 while completing his honours economics Bachelor at Swarthmore College.
Betty Plewes (Ethiopia 1964, Liberia 1968)
Betty works as a consultant on issues related to the non-profit sector both nationally and internationally. For nearly a decade in the 1990s, she was CEO of the Canadian Council for International Co-operation. She has also filled various senior management roles at Cuso. She joined Crossroads as a volunteer in 1964 (Ethiopia) and 1968 (Liberia) and then served as Executive Secretary in 1968. From 2004-2010, she served on our Board of Directors.
