Ralph C. Ellis, father of Stephen, was born July 11, 1924, in Milton, Nova Scotia. After serving in the Royal Canadian Air Force during the Second World War, he began his career at the National Film Board as a field representative working out of the Halifax, Ottawa, and New York offices. In 1956, he formed Fremantle of Canada with Paul Talbot and Saul Turell, distributing television programs for Freemantle International. In 1963, in partnership with filmmakers Gerry S. Kedey and Dan Gibson, Ellis established KEG Productions, a production company specializing in wildlife and environmental documentaries (including the series Audubon Wildlife Theatre, 1968-1974, for the CBC). The company became the largest producer of wildlife programming in Canada. In 1964, he founded Ellis Enterprises, which went on to become the most prominent distributor of British programs in Canada (including the series Coronation Street, Upstairs Downstairs, The Two Ronnies, Doctor in the House, The Jewel in the Crown, and Sherlock Holmes). In 1969, Ellis established Manitou Productions, with William Davidson, to produce dramas, resulting in children’s programs such as the Adventures in Rainbow Country (1970-71) for the CBC and Matt and Jenny (1979-1980) for Global Television. Ellis helped to organize the Canadian Television Program Distributors Association, served on the Children’s Broadcast Institute Board, and was a member of the Broadcast Executives Society. He was appointed to the Order of Canada and the Order of Ontario in 1997 and retired in 2002. Ellis died in 2016.

In 1973, Maclean-Hunter acquired a 50% stake in KEG Productions. By the 1990s, Ellis Entertainment Corporation had re-acquired 100% of the production group, re-branding its productions and distribution arms as Ellis Vision Inc. and Ellis Releasing. Ellis Enterprises had an early deal with Discovery Channel in 1986 and was a co-founder of the Outdoor Life Network in Canada in 1996. In 2009, Ellis Entertainment merged with Knightscove Media Corp., creating the Knightscove-Ellis International television division. In 2015, the 600-title library of material produced by Ralph and Stephen Ellis was acquired by Stellis Media Inc.

Stephen Ellis, Ralph’s son, began working for Ellis Enterprises as a shipping clerk in 1973 while he was in university. In 1983, Stephen became Managing Director of KEG after Ralph bought out the original partners. In 1986, Stephen became president of Ellis Enterprises. Stephen joined the CFTA board in 1980 (serving as president in 1984), was secretary-treasurer for the Canadian Film and Television Production Association, and in 1989 was founding president of the Canadian Retransmission Collective (CRC). In 2002, Stephen took over Ellis Entertainment upon his father’s retirement, and continued producing until 2011. In 2015, Stephen founded Stellis Media, naming his father chairman emeritus. As of 2020, Stephen Ellis is president of RocketFuel Media Inc. (launched in 2012 with Gina Lijoi), a principal with the consultancy Media Cattellist Solutions, chair of the CRC, and chair of ISAN Canada.

The first Staff association of UNESCO (STA) was established in 1947. For the first 35 years of UNESCO existence, this organisation was the only association officially recognized by the Administration as representative of the UNESCO's staff.
In 1981 another staff association emerged: the ISAU (International Staff Association of UNESCO). Both associations, the STA and ISAU represent all different groups of UNESCO Staff members and have the same functions and activities.
In 1995/96 the STA changed its name from UNESCO Staff Association into UNESCO Staff Union (STU) in order to respond to a demand of FICSA (Federation of International Civil Servants' Associations). Despite the change of name, the organisation and activities of the associations stayed the same.

Over the years, there have been several attempts to divide the existing two staff associations in order to create associations who would be responsible for only the General or Professional Staff. But none of these attempts have been successful or would have been recognized as representative for UNESCO Staff.

In 1991, a new kind of association emerged: the AFUS (Association of former UNESCO Staff) who deals with all kind of questions concerning the former Staff members of UNESCO.

Mr. Frank K. Vita, a U.S. national born in 1936, attended the University of Pittsburgh where he earned a Bachelor of Science (Economics) in 1964 and a Master in Public and International Affairs (MPIA) the following year. In 1966 he was a Ford Foundation Fellow at Harvard University.

Vita joined the World Bank in 1969 as a loan officer in the Eastern Africa Department (EAF). In 1972 he moved to the Latin America and Caribbean Vice Presidency (LCN) where he served in the same capacity. In June 1973 Vita took leave from the Bank to pursue studies at Harvard University.

Upon Vita's return in 1975, he joined the Development Finance Companies Department (DFC) as an Economist in the Financial Development Unit (DFCDR). The new Industrial Development and Finance Department (IDF) assumed DFC's responsibilities in 1977. Vita briefly served in the new IDF before being transferred to the Financial Division of the Western Africa Industrial Development and Finance Projects Department (WAPID) where he was promoted to Senior Operations Officer.

In 1980, Vita moved into the Bank's Finance Complex when he was named Senior Economist for Financial Operations in the Treasury Vice Presidency's Financial Operations Department (FOD). In this capacity he headed FOD's Capital Markets and Economic Studies Unit (CAMES). In June 1984 he was appointed to the position of Deputy Chief of Mission, Tokyo Office, and was the Bank's liaison with the Japanese government and financial community.

Vita joined the Bank's International Finance Corporation (IFC) in November 1985. He was located in the Office of the Executive Vice President (CEX) where he was a Manager in Corporate Development.

In 1990, Vita returned to the World Bank's Operations Complex when he was named Senior Country Officer in the Europe, Middle East, and North Africa Vice Presidency (EMENA). Vita was placed in Country Department 4 (EM4) which contained a number of former communist states that were in the process of transitioning to market economies; EM4 countries included Poland, Romania, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia. After the Bank-wide 1991 reorganization, Vita was named a Senior Operations Officer in the Europe and Central Asia Vice Presidency's (ECAVP) Country Department 2 (EC2) which was responsible for Albania, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, and Yugoslavia.

Vita retired from the World Bank in 1992. In 1993 he was named special advisor under the Executive Service agreement between the World Bank and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Vita worked out of USAID's Central Europe Department which was responsible for rendering advisory assistance in the areas of privatization of domestic financial institutions and commercial enterprises. It was also responsible for identifying potential projects for the World Bank Group or other financing in former communist countries.

In 1994 Vita was hired by Arthur Andersen LLP as Managing Director, Global Emerging Markets Services (GEMS). Vita's teams provided support for large-scale World Bank-financed financial institutions. Vita fulfilled contracts funded by recipient governments in Russia and the Central Asian republics. In 1997, Vita moved to PricewaterhouseCoopers (Asia) where he worked on project identification for possible World Bank funding primarily in the financial and energy sectors.