The People Behind the Pages
Book Clubs for Inmates (BCFI) is a volunteer-driven registered charity dedicated to fostering empathy, literacy, and community within prisons across Canada. What began in 2008 as a single conversation at Collins Bay Institution has grown into a national network of over 50 book clubs, supported by a diverse board of literary professionals, legal experts, and community leaders. We believe that by providing a space for civil discourse and the exploration of high-quality literature, we can support the successful reintegration of incarcerated individuals and contribute to a more compassionate society.
Tom Best
Executive Director
Tom joined BCFI in January of 2022, having served as the Executive Director of First Book Canada for 10 ½ years. Under his leadership, First Book Canada earned Charity Intelligence Top 10 Canadian Impact Charity rankings in 2020 and 2021.
More about Tom
He has enjoyed a distinguished career in the Canadian book publishing industry – including positions with HarperCollins, Raincoast Books, CDG Books, Key Porter Books and H.B. Fenn, as well as being with Frontier College’s Board of Governors, the National Reading Campaign and the “Read ON Canada!” program, a coalition of literacy groups and food banks working together to inspire reading in kids across Canada.
Jeannie Kwan-Brydges
Program Coordinator
Jeannie joined our charity in November 2021. A graduate of Ryerson University, Jeannie brings to BCFI over 20 years of experience in managing, planning and implementing projects, products and programs.
Sarah Smith-Eivemark
Communications Coordinator
Sarah is BCFI’s newest team member; she joined our organization in February 2026 after a decade of professional experience working across the Canadian publishing industry. In this new role, Sarah leads BCFI’s communications strategy, supporting outreach to volunteers, partners, publishers, authors, funders, and the broader public
Rev. Dr. Carol Finlay
O.Ont., M.S.M.
Carol Finlay is the Founder of Book Clubs for Inmates, now in its fourteenth year. She is also an Anglican priest and former high school and university professor.
Our Volunteers
Book Clubs for Inmates (BCFI) is supported by over 150 volunteers who generously donate their time as book club facilitators, parolee support, readers, and others who have found various ways to share their talents with BCFI.
Honourary
Members
Our honourary members are distinguished leaders in literature and law who champion our mission to foster literacy and empathy. Through their advocacy and dedicated support, they help amplify the transformative impact of our programs across Canada’s federal institutions.
Margaret Atwood, CC, O.Ont
Honorary Patron
Canada’s preeminent writer. Her novels are dearly loved by BCFI’s book club members. As well, she has been an outspoken advocate of the prison farms, and has written about prison conditions for women in her 1996 novel, Alias Grace, and about performing Shakespeare in prison in her 2016 novel, Hag-Seed, currently being adapted for performance by Prison Performing Arts in St. Louis, Missouri.
Ian Binnie, CC, Q.C.
Honorary Chair
Eminent retired Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada. Ian has been a supporter of BCFI since its beginning.
Board of Directors
Max Binnie, Board Chairperson
A Department of Justice litigator and former political staffer living in Ottawa.
Joanie McEwan, Board Secretary
Writer, labour mediator/arbitrator in Vancouver, and author of Innocence on Trial: The Framing of Ivan Henry (2014).
Stephanie Sinclair
Publisher, McClelland & Stewart and Hazlitt, Vice President, Penguin Random House Canada
Elamin Abdelmahmoud
Canadian writer, culture and politics commentator, and broadcaster in Toronto, Ontario. He is best known as the host of Commotion on CBC.
Stephanie Domet
Author, co-founder and co-executive director of the AfterWords Literary Festival in Halifax, NS.
Jake Brunt
Marketing professional at Labatt Canada and former program coordinator of Book Clubs for Inmates
Anne Mahon
Author and Former Chancellor of the University of Manitoba
