The Board
As a registered charity and a national arts service organization, Diaspora Dialogues is governed by a dedicated volunteer board of directors.
Board of Directors
Paula Menzes
Chair
Pratap Reddy
Treasurer
An underwriter by day and a writer by night, Pratap Reddy immigrated from India in 2002. An economist by education, he had worked as an executive in many leading companies in India. His abiding love of reading fiction resulted in a perverse desire to become an author. His dream, which remained little more than a pipedream for decades, became a reality in Canada thanks to the assistance and guidance from Diaspora Dialogues. His has published a collection and a novel on the theme of immigrant experience. He has another collection in the works, which includes the story selected for publication in the recent well-received anthology ‘Changing the Face of Canadian Literature.’ He is also currently working on a novel tentatively tilted Praful’s Errands. He lives with his wife and son in Mississauga.
Peter Smiley
Director
Peter is a civil litigator, and an avid reader and writer. He grew up on a farm in rural Tasmania, graduated from the University of Tasmania, and has since lived in Tokyo, London, Melbourne, Istanbul, New York and Fort McMurray. A graduate of the University of Toronto Faculty of Law, he now lives in Toronto with his family. His non-fiction has been published in the Guardian and the Toronto Review of Books, and his short fiction has been longlisted for the CBC Short Story Prize. When he’s not reading, writing, parenting, or preparing for trial, Pete trains in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and works on his pollinator-friendly garden.
Sarah Miniaci
Director
Sarah Miniaci has over a decade of experience in book marketing and publicity. Specializing in both fiction and non-fiction promotion, she has designed and executed book launch campaigns for publishers and authors across North America and the UK, including a range of New York Times and Globe & Mail bestsellers. Based in Toronto, she attended the University of Toronto and Ryerson University, where she studied philosophy and English. In her spare time she enjoys trying new recipes, studying Italian, and reading everything from sci-fi to memoir.
