Bo Bennett, PhD, DTM
Founder & Developer
Bo joined Toastmasters in 2003 after a painfully embarrassing speech to a roomful of his contractors. Determined to fix that, he completed all 40 speeches in a record six months and earned his DTM in just over a year. In 2004 he created FreeToastHost — the platform that today serves over 10,000 Toastmasters clubs worldwide. In 2008 he started the Toastmasters Podcast, which transferred to Toastmasters International in 2010 to become the organisation's first official podcast. He continues to co-host it, alongside his friend and business partner Ryan Levesque, for an audience that now includes more than a quarter of a million members. Bo holds a Bachelor's in Marketing, a Master's in general psychology, and a PhD in social psychology.
Brian McDonald, DTM, PDD
Lead Technical Advisor · Eastern Ontario, Canada
With more than 40 years in the IT industry, Brian works as an Internet consultant supporting web servers — and leads the FreeToastHost support team. He is a Past District Director for Toastmasters District 61 (2016–2017), serving Eastern Ontario, Quebec, and Northern New York. Brian works with GreenTreeHosting as a project manager supporting their hosting customers, and is one of the people behind the scenes at eBookIt.com, DoWellWebTools.com, and yourwebempire.com.
Jane Atkinson, DTM
Ambassador · Auckland, New Zealand
Jane is a member of a club in Auckland, New Zealand, and has been a Toastmaster since 2006. In her own words, she's "still trying to figure out how come she was asked to be an Ambassador." (We are very glad she said yes.)
Steve James, DTM
Ambassador & Developer · Los Angeles, USA
Steve has participated in Toastmasters off and on since 2003 and is a strong believer in lifelong learning, growth, and development. Trained as a chemical engineer and working in process automation, he has dabbled in software throughout his career — occasionally winning awards along the way — guided by the conviction that technology should work for people, not the other way around. Steve enjoys outdoor activities, music, and personal-growth seminars, and is honoured to support the website needs of Toastmasters worldwide as both an Ambassador and a Developer.
Pam Holley, DTM
Ambassador · Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Pam has been a Toastmaster since 2012, took on her club's Webmaster role soon after joining, and now spends rather too much of her free time tinkering with her club's FTH site. She has served as VPE and President of her club, and has lived on four continents. She hopes that being an FTH Ambassador will help her become an armchair adventurer — though she keeps ending up in real-life ones: gasping for air at the top of Mt Kinabalu, weathering 75-knot winds on a sinking trimaran, cartwheeling down the slopes at Whistler, falling out of a hot-air balloon, sailing backwards up the Inside Passage in Alaska, rescuing a buddy on a 42-metre dive, stepping on a night-adder, and being held up on her way to school by a herd of buffalo.
Richard Taylor
Ambassador · United States
A US Navy veteran, Richard joined Toastmasters in 2017. A late-night maintenance project on an aircraft carrier in 1985 inadvertently set him on a civilian career as a journeyman tool & die maker; a shift to design and engineering led to his current focus on project and engineering management in the metal-stamping industry. His interests include reading (especially science fiction and World War II history), hiking, tennis, astronomy, sailing, music, soccer, languages, genealogy, and a slightly zealous addiction to making accent and decorative lighting do fascinating things. Working on his club's website led him to the support forums, where he learned about FTH features and tips and decided to give back as an Ambassador.
Marc has been using FreeToastHost since he joined Toastmasters in 2011. He maintains two club sites and trains clubs all around the world on how to use FTH. His love of public speaking extends into his community: he volunteers at local schools and hospitals, and has hosted three Youth Leadership Programs because he believes the art of communication should be taught from an early age.
Arthur Farnsworth, DTM
Ambassador · District 38, USA
Art is an embedded firmware engineer and musician who started speaking in public while running for political office and joined Toastmasters in 2003 to get even better at it. He serves as the District 38 FreeToastHost technical-support person and was honoured to become an Ambassador in 2021. He currently serves as an officer (and FTH administrator) of two clubs and as Area Director, and has held every officer position at some point. Among many awards: 2015–2016 Area 73 Director; 2016–2017 President's Distinguished Division G Director; Triple Crown for ACB, CL, and ALB in 2016, for CL, ACS, and ALS in 2017, and for ACG, DTM, and CC in 2019. Art still enjoys hand-coding websites and hopes one day to be as talented at it as Steve James.
Lukas Calafell
Ambassador · Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA
While serving as his club's VPPR during 2020–2021, Lukas took a deep dive into FreeToastHost — both as an effective communication tool and as a way to help clubs operate more effectively. He has remained passionate about helping and training Toastmasters on how to get the most from their club websites. A Toastmaster since 2019, Lukas has served as VPPR, Treasurer, and President of his club, and has been a successful club coach and Area Director. He is from Miami originally and his current goal is to become a DTM.
