M.L. Ellen Percival

When Ellen Percival co-founded Calgary’s Child Magazine in 1994 with her friend, the late Sherry Kerr, they distributed the publication by hand from the back of their family cars. Back then it was a labour of love, but as Calgary’s parents embraced this much-needed free resource, it quickly became one of the city’s greatest publishing success stories. Today, the magazine is read bimonthly by 150,000 Albertans who find it in hundreds of locations on stands and online.

Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Ellen Percival’s talent for keeping the magazine relevant and timely has maintained its popularity from generation to generation. Her editorial sixth sense is also the reason her advertisers consider Calgary’s Child Magazine a consistently worthwhile investment, and Percival a wise and generous collaborator

Thanks to Percival’s commitment to forming positive partnerships with local organizations, the Calgary’s Child brand has become more than a magazine — it’s an engine for community building, recognized as a Community Partner by the City of Calgary and a Promise Builder Partner by Alberta’s Promise with the Government of Alberta. Over the past 25 years, Percival has sponsored a range of popular family events with organizations from the Calgary Zoo and TELUS Spark to the Calgary Police Service. For more than 20 years, she has reached her audience with regular parenting segments on Global Calgary News.

Percival has always found ways to share her success with the community. Calgary’s Child Magazine has also supported hundreds of organizations over the years, especially those that support children and families with limited means, through donated advertising, PR opportunities, editorial space, sponsorship and fundraising support. Percival also shares her time and expertise to champion the magazine industry and has served as an AMPA director since 2017. Put simply, she cares. She engages with those around her and the issues that matter to our industry and enthusiastically shares her experience and passion by mentoring novice publishers. Calgary’s Child Magazine remains a labour of love — and an example of the enormous positive impact a talented publisher can have on her community.