Shauna Sylvester

Ms. Sylvester is a Fellow at the Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University (SFU) and the Director of Canada’s World, a national citizens’ dialogue on Canadian international policy.

Prior to developing Canada’s World, she Co-Founded and served as the first Executive Director of the Institute for Media, Policy and Civil Society (IMPACS), a charitable organization devoted to strengthening democracy by increasing the voice and profile of civil society and advancing media freedom internationally. During her tenure, IMPACS grew from its humble base in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside to an international organization with programs in Nepal, Sri Lanka, the Middle East, Cambodia, Haiti, and Guyana.

Before founding IMPACS in 1997, she worked for 15 years with a wide range of non-profit organizations, businesses, and educational institutions in Canada and abroad, including CUSO (now CUSO-VSO) and Canada World Youth. She has provided policy advice to governments and foundations on subjects as varied as forestry, human rights, media, peacebuilding, and AIDS.

She holds a Master's in management from McGill University and a BA from Simon Fraser University (SFU) where, in 2005, she was honoured with an Outstanding Alumni Award.

She was recognized as one of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 in The Globe and Mail (2003). She lives in Vancouver with her husband, Ross Gentleman, her daughter, Rowan, and her stepson, Neil.