Your Library Board

Frank Mensink (he/him)

Frank Mensink retired from Conestoga College where he was the Executive Dean – School of Business and Hospitality. He has taught audit, tax and accounting courses at the University of Waterloo, Conestoga College and his professional association. Frank is also a fellow of the Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario and currently serves on their Professional Conduct Committee. He completed his BMath and MBA at the University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University respectively.

Frank has served as Chair and member on many boards including the Audit Committee for the City of Waterloo, the Certified General Accountants of Ontario and Community Support Connections – Meals on Wheels and More. He has completed the Director training program delivered by McMaster University and the Conference Board of Canada.

Frank received the Waterloo Award in 2014 for enhancing quality of life in Waterloo. He has lived in Waterloo for over 45 years and is a regular user of the library.

Kelly McManus (she/her)

Kelly McManus is a lifelong volunteer and community builder. After 15 years working in government and the non-profit sector, Kelly joined the University of Waterloo in May 2013 where she serves as Associate Vice-President, Community Relations & Events. Kelly has contributed to several community boards, including serving as past-chair of the Greater Kitchener Waterloo Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. She is especially passionate about supporting investment in community programs, with volunteer roles at the Ontario Trillium Foundation, Rangers Reach, and the Waterloo Region Community Foundation.

She is a PhD candidate at the University of Waterloo, researching the social impact of community events. Kelly lives in Waterloo, and can frequently be found at the Stork YMCA and at the John M. Harper Branch of the Waterloo Public Library.

Councillor Julie Wright (she/her)

A resident of Ward 7, Julie is committed to championing climate action, affordable housing, a resilient Uptown, and engaging the city’s brain trust to solve the challenges we face. Julie makes her home here with her husband and two children.

Julie is currently the National Director of Our Living Waters. Previously, she was the Director for Partners for Action, a research initiative at the University of Waterloo that focuses on flood risk and resilience. She also previously led Waterloo Global Science Initiative (WGSI) – a non-profit partnership between the University of Waterloo and Perimeter  Institute – through its start-up phase to successfully launching a decade-long Summit series and catalyzing collaborations related to each event. The series included Energy 2030 (2011), Learning 2030 (2013), OpenAccess Energy (2016), Generation SDG (2018) and Together|Ensemble (2020). Prior to working at WGSI, Julie spent ten years in communications and public affairs roles for companies, clients, and campaigns in the tech, cultural and non-profit sectors at the forefront of sector disruption.

Over the past decade, Julie co-founded and co-chaired the Uptown North neighbourhood association, coordinated a long-running Walking School Bus for the Canadian Cancer Society, volunteered with a neighbourhood-based refugee resettlement group, volunteered for festivals and cultural events, and served on both the WRDSB’s Parent Involvement Committee and as a director at Emmanuel at Brighton Childcare Centre. She currently serves as a board member at Education Canada.

Julie is a voracious reader and is frequently hatching some sort of plan that involves growing something.

Nicole Campbell (she/her)

A lifelong Lakeshore resident, Nicole has fond memories of WPL. Many Sunday afternoons were spent at the McCormick Branch. The Main Library had paper Career Catalogs and Nicole used these to research her future options regarding employment and childbirth options.

A graduate of the University of Waterloo and McMaster University, Nicole had a 20 year career as a Registered Midwife. She attended hundreds of births in our community, primarily at Grand River Hospital (GRH) but also at home. Nicole was proud to serve as Head Midwife at GRH and on the Board of the Association of Ontario Midwives.

Nicole loved participating in WPL programs, creating great family memories. Every summer, they would pick a book series to read, requiring the children to learn where and when to find the next book, how to put it on hold, and find alternatives like audiobooks if hard copies weren’t available.

In 2018, Nicole was formally diagnosed with Primary Progressive MS. She shares her home with her husband, two children, mother-in-law and Portuguese Water Dog.

Rick Chambers (he/him)

Rick is a former secondary school English teacher and department chair who, for more than 26 years, taught in several schools in Dufferin and Waterloo counties in Ontario, and for three years with the Canadian Department of National Defence in Europe.

Rick was the last chair of the 55+ Advisory Board for the City of Waterloo where he had served for three years. In 2016, the Board’s role was amalgamated with the work of the Mayor’s Advisory Committee for an Age-Friendly City. Rick has served on that Committee since 2014, and he serves on the Region of Waterloo Age Friendly Network, and chairs the Region of Waterloo’s Hall of Fame Committee (Pioneers and Builders division). He also co-hosts the Friday Flicks Travelogue series for the City of Waterloo. In 2017, he was named Senior of the Year for the City of Waterloo, and in 2018, awarded the Senate of Canada’s Sesquicentennial Medal for Community Service.

Rick holds degrees from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, and the University of Calgary in Alberta.

He has lived in Waterloo since 1988, and was married to his wife, Trish, for 51 and a half years. He has three married children and four grandchildren.

Dawn Charlton (she/her)

Dawn is serving her second term on the WPL Board following an eventful first term focused on supporting staff through the pandemic, opening the Eastside Branch, and transitioning to a new WPL CEO and management team. Dawn is a steadfast champion of public libraries and especially WPL.

Dawn recently retired from the University of Waterloo as Director, Marketing and Brand after a 35-year marketing and communications career that also included Toronto Public Library, Tourism British Columbia (Vancouver), HR MacMillan Space Centre (Vancouver), Canadian Museum of Civilization (Ottawa-Gatineau), and Charlton+Company (Ottawa).

Community service roles have included: Waterloo Public Library (Vice-Chair, Governance Chair, Trustee); Crieff Hills Retreat Centre (Governance Lead, Member); Knox Waterloo (Inclusion Initiatives Committee); Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council (Mentor); and Ottawa Food Bank (Board Member).

Dawn and her wife, Sue Senior, fully enjoy life in Uptown Waterloo and can often be found participating in the many community activities and events in Waterloo Region and beyond.

Micaela Kelly (she/her)

Graduating from University of Waterloo in 2009 with a degree in communications, Micaela worked in Vancouver, Taiwan, and Ottawa in public relations and for non-profits before placing roots in Waterloo with her husband in 2013. She now works at the University of Waterloo as a communications specialist in the Co-operative and Experiential Education unit while completing her Master of Environment and Business degree.

A life-long advocate for sustainability, Micaela has worked for various non-profits including Friends of the Earth, DeSmogBlog and David Suzuki Foundation. She has done volunteer work for Sustainable Waterloo Region and United Way Waterloo Region. She continues her passion for advancing sustainability messaging in her current role and through her master’s work.

Micaela lives with her husband, Mike and their two sons in Waterloo. Instilling an early love of reading in her children, her family can often be found at the Waterloo Public Library’s Eastside Branch or Main Library.

Leilei Li (she/her)

Leilei is a highly accomplished professional with 16 years of management experience in various industries, ranging from Canadian retailers to international luxury brands. She is also passionate about giving back to her community, by serving on the boards of non-profit organizations that promote music, art, and education.

Growing up in an immigrant family on the Prairies, she benefited immensely from the public libraries. She continues to enjoy, now with her children, the reading and other programs available at her home branch, the John M. Harper Branch. She is a strong advocate for the library system that fosters EDI and civic engagement in our community and nurtures younger generations.

She holds an MBA from ESSEC Business School in France and double bachelor’s degrees in Commerce (Honours) and Psychology from Queen’s University.

Jennifer Murphy (she/her)

Jennifer is an educator and has spent most of her career as a Special Education Coordinator with the Limestone District School Board in Kingston, Ontario. In 2020, she moved to Waterloo and joined Shad Canada as the Director of Alternative Programs where she designs programs for youth to see themselves as changemakers. Her professional passions include early literacy, design thinking and inclusive education.

Jennifer loves being outdoors and enjoys exploring many of Waterloo Region’s parks and trails. A new skill she recently picked up is baking croissants from scratch – which is both an art and a science! Jennifer is a huge fan of libraries and is proud to be a member of the Waterloo Public Library Board.