Merete Anne Vespry

 
maverick@vex.net
anne@law-nerd.org
(last updated January 2002)

Experience

Knowledge

Publication Credits

Experience

Web Site Design
2001 Oct. -
Present 		Maintaining, updating and editing the French and English Web sites of the National Association of Women and the Law. <http://www.nawl.ca/> and <http://www.anfp.ca/>
2001 Sept. -
Present 		Designing and maintaining the Web site of the Guide Dog Users of Canada. <http://www.gduc.ca/>
2001 June -
Present 		Designing and researching content for the Web site of the Canadian Institute for a Just Society. <http://www.cijs.ca/>
1999 June -
1999 Dec. 		Researching and designing a World Wide Web site to be a resource for legal drafters and those interested in statutory interpretation, jurilinguistics and plain legal language, for Professor Ruth Sullivan at the University of Ottawa. <http://aix1.uottawa.ca/~resulliv/legdr/>
1997 Jan. -
1998 Aug. 		Managing and designing an accessible World Wide Web site for the On-Line Library and Information System (OLLIS). OLLIS was a student managed equity initiative at the University of Ottawa that worked with academic publishers and faculty at universities across Canada to make textbooks and other materials accessible on-line to students with print disabilities. <http://ollis.uottawa.ca/> (As of Feb 1999, this site has been redesigned and is no longer representative of my work.)
1996 Nov. -
present 		Researching, creating and maintaining a Web site for OUTlaw, the Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual law students' group at the University of Ottawa. <http://www.law-nerd.org/outlaw>
1995 Sept. -
1996 Nov. 		Creating and maintaining the Wen-do: Women's Self Defense Corporation Web site: <http://www.icomm.ca/~wendo/> (as of 1999, this site has been redesigned and is no longer representative of my work.)

Advocacy
2001 May -
present 		Vice-President of the founding board of the Canadian Institute for a Just Society; participated in the development of all policies and founding documents.
1998 Jan. -
present 		Member of the Legal Issues Committee of Equality for Gays And Lesbians Everywhere (EGALE), the national lobbying group for lesbian rights in Canada.
1996 Nov. -
present 		Organizing seminars and lectures on sexual orientation and the law for OUTlaw, the Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual law students' group at the University of Ottawa.
1995 Sept. -
1996 Nov. 		Assisting the Directors of Wen-do: Women's Self Defense Corporation develop policies regarding their mission, objectives and programs, first as a member of the Wen-do Community Advisory Committee, then as a member of the Board.
1994 Oct. -
1996 May 		Developing and designing educational materials and seminars on the subject of violence in lesbian relationships as a member of the group Lesbians Working to End Violence in Lesbian Relationships.
1993 Sept. -
1994 Dec. 		Providing public access to educational materials by assisting clients at Education Wife Assault. Answering crisis calls. Managing the Resource Centre.
1988 Nov. -
1991 Feb. 		Participating in the Toronto Lesbian and Gay Pride Day Committee. Organizing events, auditioning performers, arranging for sound and stage equipment and personnel, and coordinating stage security for Pride Day 1989 and 1990.

Researching, Editing and Publishing
2001 Nov. -
Dec. 		Researching and writing Submissions on Bill 125 - Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2001 for the Canadian Institute for a Just Society.
2001 July -
Aug. 		Researching, writing and editing How the status of Pakistani women in their homeland affects their ability to gain entry into Canada: A brief in support of the application of Ferdous Abdul Rahim for a visa to enter Canada for the Canadian Institute for a Just Society. (Co-written with Helen Smith)
2000 Sept. -
2001 Jan. 		Re-designing the complete materials for the Bar Admissions course into formats accessible to various screen reading technologies for students with print disabilities. Working with the Law Society of Upper Canada to ensure delivery of their materials and required text books in a timely fashion.
1993 Sept. -
1994 Dec. 		Researching, editing and designing factsheets and brochures for Education Wife Assault. Assisting with budgeting and report writing for projects, including a brochure writing project for assaulted women produced in twelve languages, and a handbook on support groups for immigrant women.
1991 Oct. -
1996 Aug. 		Running MAVerick Consultants as a sole proprietorship. Design and editing contracts listed below were carried out by MAVerick Consultants: design, writing and editing being done by myself, and some data-entry being contracted out.
1995 Jan. -
1996 Aug. 		Designing the illustrated book My Co-op Journal, desktop publishing 30-40 Job Profile sheets and writing several Job Profiles for the Guidance Centre at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.
1994 May Desktop publishing SamiYoni: A Journal for Lesbians of South Asian Descent, Vol. 1, No. 2.
1994 Apr. -
1994 May 		Co-editing, designing and desktop publishing the Lesbian Health Guide, for Queer Press.
1992 Aug. -
1992 Sept. 		Designing, formatting and editing APL manuals for the APL Software Division of Reuters Information Services.
1992 May -
1993 Feb. 		Managing the publication of the Freelance Editors' Association of Canada Directory of Members for 1993. Also revised the database structure, edited the contents and designed a new format for the Directory completed the project $2,500 under budget.
1991 Dec. -
1996 Aug. 		Copy editing and stylistically editing The Economics of the Confederation Debate by George Fallis for James Lorimer and Company Ltd.
1991 Dec. -
1996 Aug. 		Designing, indexing, editing and desktop publishing six editions of Massage Therapy: An Approach to Treatments for Massage Therapy Texts.
1991 Sept. -
1992 Aug. 		Stylistic editing, copy editing and proofreading the Research Studies of the Royal Commission on Electoral Reform and Party Financing, in house, for Dundurn Press.
1988 June -
1992 Feb. 		Managing, editing and contributing to Rites magazine. Editing and designing the Rites Supplement Faces of AIDS Prevention, used in the Lesbian and Gay Realities course at Ryerson Polytechnic. Editing and designing the Rites Supplement Writing Race, Righting Racism, used by the Lesbian and Gay History Conference in Montreal and by Trent University.

Training
2001 July Creating the course outline and handouts for and running a short seminar on accessible web design for staff of the Canadian Bar Association.
1997 Jan. -
1998 Aug. 		Training volunteers to use scanning, optical character recognition systems, to perform basic HTML markup on documents being prepared for the On-Line Library and Information System (OLLIS).
1991 Sept. -
1992 Aug. 		Teaching the use of database applications for resource centres, mailing lists, fundraising campaigns and community medical centres, with Nirv Centre, a non-profit computer sales, education and networking organization.

Other Experience
1997 June -
present 		Promoting and selling books, referring customers to related publications, handling and tracking inventory, and ordering stock part-time at After Stonewall Bookshop.
1991 Dec. -
1992 May 		Managing the Winter Term of professional development seminars for the Freelance Editors' Association of Canada.
1989 Sept. -
1990 Dec. 		Creating a cataloguing system for the Womens Art Resource Centre collections and their thousand-plus artist slide registry. Training staff in database search techniques. Assisting researchers. Drafting the Resource Centre budget and text portion of the Womens Art Resource Centres funding applications.
1988 Aug. -
1994 Sept. 		Stage managing or running lighting or sound systems in theaters and on open air stages for companies including the Toronto Rape Crisis Centre, Buddies in Bad Times, CKLN Radio Station, the East Coast Lesbian Festival, Nightwood Theater, the Ontario Coalition for Abortion Clinics and Womynly Way.
1988 June -
1988 Dec. 		Promoting and selling books, referring customers to related publications, handling and tracking inventory, and ordering stock at Glad Day Bookshop.
1988 June -
1988 Dec. 		Auditioning musicians and performers and managing gallery and stage facilities with the Arts and Entertainment Committee at the Womans Common.
1985 May -
1986 Sept. 		Testing and repairing equipment at the Technical Laboratory at Control Data Institute. Repairing computer keyboards for Wang Canada. Servicing Compuserve Canada's main line of IBM XT and AT compatibles. This latter position included customer support both over the telephone and in person.

Education
University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada: Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) Hons.

University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada: Sociology B.A. with minors in English and Philosophy.

American International School, Vienna, Austria: International Baccalaureate. High level: English, Mathematics, Physics; Subsidiary level: Computer Science, Economics, German.

Awards
1996/1997 Gordon Blair Book Prize for outstanding achievement in first year Legislation.
2001/2002 Brainbench Master Certificate: Web Design for Accessibility

Computer Skills
Database Management: dBase and Paradox.
Electronic Research: Quicklaw, Westlaw, and various Internet browsers and search tools.
Graphic Design: CorelDraw, CorelPhotoPaint, and CorelVentura; also familiar with Aldus Pagemaker and Adobe Illustrator.
HTML Design: Specialize in accessible website design using Macromedia Homesite, Arachnophilia, HTML Assistant and other text editors.
Operating Systems: DOS, Linux, UNIX and Windows (3.1, 9x).
Programming Languages: C, C++, Javascript and Visual Basic.
Word Processing: Corel WordPerfect and Microsoft Word.

Languages
Fluent in English. Read, understand and speak some French and German

Courses and Seminars
HTML Writers Guild, Punta Gorda, Florida: Distance education course in Accessible Web Design.
Algonquin College, Ottawa, Canada: Certificate courses in C/C++, Visual Basic, Operating Systems, Hardware troubleshooting, Project Management, Javascript, and Technical Writing.
OUTlaw, Ottawa, Canada: Seminar on Lesbian and Gay Rights across Canada.
International Law Students Association, Ottawa, Canada: Third Annual Fall Conference, Seminar on International Law and the Regulation of the Information Highway.
OUTlaw and the Canadian Bar Association of Ontario, Ottawa Lesbian and Gay Issues and Rights Committee, Ottawa, Canada: Seminars on: Challenges to the Succession Law Reform Act; and Estate Planning for Lesbian or Gay Families: Practice Points.
American Society for Information Science, Silver Spring, MD: Information Privacy, Security and Data Integrity, Conference on legal issues affecting information and the Internet.
George Brown College, Toronto, Canada: Completed all required courses towards a Technical Writing Certificate.
Assaulted Womans Helpline, Toronto, Canada: Seminar on Handling Crisis Calls.
Freelance Editors Association of Canada, Toronto, Canada: Courses in Stylistic and Copy Editing, Proofreading, Grammar and Newsletter design.
Wen-do: Women's Self Defense Corporation, Toronto, Canada: Basic Self Defense.
Lesbians Against Racism, Toronto, Canada: Workshops on Race, Racism and Anti-Racism.
George Brown College, Toronto, Canada: Women Into Trades and Technology Certificate.
Control Data Institute, Toronto, Canada: Certificate in Computer Technology.

Publication Credits

Writing in:
Education Wife Assault Newsletter (Toronto), Fireweed (Toronto), Fuse Magazine (Toronto), Kinesis (Vancouver), The Lesbian Health Guide (Queer Press, Toronto, 1994), Matriart (Toronto), Miscegenation Blues: Voices of Mixed Race Women (SisterVision Press, Toronto, 1994), Rites Magazine (Toronto), The Womanist (Ottawa) and Xtra!(Toronto and Ottawa)

Photographs for:
Canadian Womens Movement Archives (Toronto), Gay Community News (Boston), Matriart (Toronto), Multicultural Womyn in Concert (Toronto), Our Lives (Toronto), Rites Magazine (Toronto) and The Web (Toronto)

References

Available on request.