Public service as a long-time school board chair, municipal councillor, regional district director and vice-chair of one of the largest public employers’ associations in British Columbia (BC) has exposed Silas to extensive experience in governance reform, public policy, strategic planning, public engagement, nonprofits, economic development, media relations, human resources and collective bargaining—all balanced with a professional life as one of Canada’s top book editors. While chairing the Sunshine Coast Board of Education, Silas led a tremendously successful governance and policy restructure that replaced an externally constructed, outdated policy framework with an effective and publicly transparent decision-making model based on local values and role clarity. He also founded VOICE, a nonprofit group to strengthen intergenerational dialogue and civically engage the “silent demographics” of Millennials and Gen-Xers in his community. As director and vice-chair of BCs Public Schools Employers’ Association, Silas oversaw labour relations and bargaining support for all the province’s sixty school districts—and he tirelessly represented school boards at the table for the highly publicized eighteen-month BC Teachers’ Federation negotiation in 2013–14. In 2014, he was elected as a Town of Gibsons councillor with the highest number of votes in community history. Silas’s thirteen years as an elected official have given him a deep understanding of the dynamics of community development, leading him to complete IAP2 Public Participation Techniques and Planning training in 2017. The combination of his elected experience and Master’s in Public Administration offer an unparalleled perspective on building strong organizations, public policy and governance structures to faithfully and ethically represent local communities. Silas’ other great passion is literature. Hailed as one to watch by Quill and Quire, a magazine of Canada’s book trade, he’s the founder and president of Nightwood Editions, a publishing company that has launched over 100 books by primarily emerging and diverse writers. He is particularly committed to promoting Indigenous voices, working closely with authors such as Gregory Scofield, Carol Daniels, Philip Kevin Paul and Lisa Bird-Wilson.