Citing a restructuring at its parent company, Corus Entertainment, Canadian children’s book publisher Kids Can Press has made significant changes in its senior leadership team. As a result of the restructuring, president and publisher Lisa Lyons Johnston is leaving the company and Lara Caplan, Naseem Hrab, and Sarah Labrie have been given expanded roles.
Caplan remains associate publisher, operations and business development and will continue to oversee operations and contract negotiations. Hrab, who is also an author, will head the editorial and design direction of the publishing list as associate publisher, creative. Labrie, director of sales and marketing, will continue to run those departments following a recent reorganization she implemented to increase audience reach, which included broadening the trade and commercial footprint of the business.
With the restructuring, Kids Can said it will look to expand on additional opportunities with Nelvana, a producer and distributor of children’s animated and live-action content, which is also owned by Corus. The new executive team will report to Nelvana, as Johnston had.
Johnston was named president of Kids Can 15 years ago and added the title of publisher in 2018. She will act as consultant for Kids Can Press until May 19.
