Board

Glenn Brown

Theatre Manager, Sanderson Centre for the Performing Arts (ON)

Glenn has been manager of the Sanderson Centre since 2006. His responsibilities include presenting a multi-disciplinary series for the historic century old vaudeville theatre as well as balancing an active rental demand of the theatre by amateur community users and professional promoters. Glenn is responsible for operating and capital budgets for the venue in addition to collective bargaining. Prior to becoming manager Glenn was the Technical Director of the Sanderson Centre with more than 15 years of experience in production. Glenn has served on the Board of Ontario Presents including as Treasurer (2017-2020, 2023) and President (2020-2023).

Gillian Reid

Event/Tour Producer, FeLIX Productions (NS)

Gillian brings over a decade of project management and special events production experience to her role as an Agent/Manager/Tour Producer. Wearing different hats for different clients on a variety of projects, she aims to support her artist clients in their quest to connect with audiences. She is located in Chester, NS.

Gillian’s professional background includes over a decade with a corporate performance marketing firm in Toronto where she designed and produced incentive programs for GM Canada, VW Canada, and BP Oil among others. Gillian also garnered experience as a production assistant with ShoCorp International on projects like The Cancun Jazz Festival, Volkswagen Trade Show and the EuroVan Launch. Gillian has a degree in Administrative and Commercial Studies from the University of Western Ontario.

She currently sits on both the CAPACOA International Market Development committee, and the Agents and Managers COVID committee. She was a board member of the Chester Playhouse from 2006-2012 and was Vice Commodore of the Chester Yacht Club from 2014 to 2015.

David Warburton

Artistic Executive Director, The Port Theatre Nanaimo, Nanaimo, BC

David Warburton (김모세) is the Artistic Executive Director of the Port Theatre, and the President of the Canadian Dance Assembly, a national arts service organization that provides a strong voice for Canadian dance and the development of resources for the dance sector.

He is the former Company Managing Director of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet (RWB) joining the organisation in 2013 first as Company Manager and before stepping into the role as the Director of Touring and Business Development and then Managing Director. He served an integral role in reshaping and rebuilding the ballet company.

Warburton co-created the national award-winning play SANGJA, that premiered in Seoul and toured multiple times throughout Korea and Canada. He has been invited to guest speak about his work in advocacy in Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, and Seoul. He was selected as one of nine emerging leaders for Dance/USA’s Institute for Leadership Training, a program supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, that focuses on shifting patterns of inequity in dance. He was an organizing member of the Korean Society of Manitoba from 2016 to 2022. His work in government advocacy and cultural diplomacy has meaningfully contributed to federal support for the arts and cultural sector during the COVID-19 pandemic. This has included crucial direct consultations with Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland and the Prime Minister’s Office.

Pam Patel

Artistic Director, MT Space / IMPACT Festival (ON)

Pam Patel performs with numerous Canadian companies, touring nationally and internationally. A graduate of Wilfrid Laurier University’s music program, Pam specialized in new music and improvisation, establishing a career as a multidisciplinary artist.

Pam is currently the Artistic Director of MT Space where she pursues her passion for centralizing racialized voices through theatre. Pam was formerly the President of local new music organization, NUMUS, and is currently the Chair of Arts Awards Waterloo Region. In line with efforts to advocate for the arts on a local level, Pam also sat on the Arts and Culture Advisory Committee for the City of Kitchener where she played an active role in voicing concerns on behalf of the larger arts community. In 2018, Pam was a recipient of Rotary International’s Paul Harris Fellowship for Service Above Self in Arts and Culture, which was given at the Mayor of Waterloo’s State of the City Address. Most recently, Pam received the Emerging Leader in Performing Arts Award from CAPACOA, and is a recipient of Zonta’s 2021 Women of Achievement Award.

Natalie Lue

Director, Vancouver Civic Theatre (BC)

Natalie Lue is the Director of the Vancouver Civic Theatres (the Orpheum, a 2,672 seat historic concert hall, Canada’s largest stage, the 2,765 seat Queen Elizabeth Theatre, the 668 seat Vancouver Playhouse, and the flexible 191 seat black box Annex Theatre) in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.  Until June 2019, she was the CEO of the Living Arts Centre (LAC), a multi-arts presentation centre in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. Prior to the LAC, Natalie was the Vice President, Production and Visitor Experience for the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) responsible for producing twelve of the annual September Festival.  She was also on the build team responsible for the construction, opening and operating of TIFF Bell Lightbox.  Prior to joining TIFF in 2005, Natalie held several senior positions at Harbourfront Centre, a ten acre performing arts complex in Toronto on the shores of Lake Ontario.

Angela Campbell

Executive Director, Imperial Theatre (NB)

Angela has over 18 years of experience in arts administration and professional fund development including coordination of large-scale events, donor development, organizational management, marketing & communications, human resources, artistic programming and curation, audience development, board governance, strategic planning and financial management.

Angela is the Executive Director of Imperial Theatre, one of Atlantic Canada’s largest and most active Performing Arts Centres.  Her leadership style is rooted in creating a creative and collaborative and equitable work culture to build a strong organization. She has worked to expand the Theatre’s networks locally, nationally and internationally, affirming Imperial Theatre’s role as a leader in performing arts with a mission to create a space dedicated to diversity, inclusivity and equity, while fulfilling a commitment to support artists and connect them and their work with audiences. Angela has served on multiple local and regional boards and committees and spent 10-years on the Board of the Atlantic Presenters Association.

Lesandra Dodson

Programs Manager, Fredericton Playhouse, Fredericton, NB

Lesandra Dodson is the Programs Manager at the Playhouse, a multi-disciplinary performance venue in the east coast of Canada - Fredericton, New Brunswick. She oversees six different education, residency, and outreach programs including the flagship multi-disciplinary Spotlight presenting series, curating international & national artists each season.

A former professional dancer from Vancouver, Lesandra is an independent contemporary choreographer/director with over 25 years of experience in arts administration - before the Playhouse she was Executive Director of the Charlotte Street Arts Centre, an educator in the Fine Arts Department at Saint Thomas University, and co-artistic director of the coop. Throughout her cross-country career she has been committed to creating key initiatives and opportunities that support, and mentor emerging artists.

Jayson Duggan

Performing Arts Manager, Arts & Culture Services, Kingston Grand Theatre, City of Kingston, ON

Jayson Duggan is currently the Performing Arts Manager for the City of Kingston’s Arts and Culture Services Department, where his primary responsibility over the last ten years has been the curation and delivery of the Grand OnStage multi-disciplinary performing arts series at the Kingston Grand Theatre.

Jayson’s presenting career has spanned over 30 years encompassing various arts programming roles at Queen’s University, McMaster University and Hamilton Place Theatre. Jayson has been a member of Canadian Presenter delegations attending the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Performing Arts Network New Zealand, British Dance Edition in Cardiff, Wales and the Yirramboi Festival, Australia’s First Nation’s Arts Festival. Jayson served on the Ontario Presents board of directors in a variety of capacities including President and was the recipient of the 2016 Ontario Presenter of the Year award.

Michele Emslie 

Community Programming Director, Yukon Arts Centre (YK)

Michele Emslie is currently the Community Programming Director at Yukon Arts Centre in Whitehorse, Yukon. Ms Emslie is passionate about serving the needs of the Northern arts community and is currently working on developing a Northern Presenting Network. Over the past 20 years she has worked with a variety of performing and visual arts events and organizations including the Yukon International Storytelling Festival; Whitehorse Concerts and was a key organizer of the Pan-Northern contingent at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. She has also been involved with many ground-breaking initiatives for Northern artists and cultural workers alike including Co-Chair of the 2007 Canada Winter Games Cultural Festival, Chair of the 2011 BreakOut West Host and co-founded and is President of ArtsNet, Yukon’s arts alliance organization.

Kennedy Jenson

Executive Director, Arts Touring Alliance of Alberta (AB)

Kennedy Jenson, Executive Director for the Arts Touring Alliance of Alberta, has a background not only in arts association management and concert/festival production, but many years’ experience as a performer and recording artist. Her performance career covers just about every medium of the entertainment business, from stage to studio, radio to television host, to singer and dancer.

Since 2005 Kennedy has been working on the other side of the industry passing her knowledge onto budding performers and community arts councils through her work for arts organizations and festival production. In her seven years as Executive Director for the Alberta Music Industry Association, Kennedy was instrumental in establishing that organization as a go-to destination for professional music biz guidance. Jenson brings that same passion and hard work to the Arts Touring Alliance of Alberta dedicated to providing relevant programs and services and strengthening infrastructure.

Kennedy’s work as a volunteer in the arts and cultural sector has spanned as many years as her professional work. Currently she chairs a music historical society in Edmonton whose mandate is to document the entire music history of Edmonton going back to 1892. A partnership with the Edmonton Public library has resulted in a website specifically designed to house hundreds of profiles not only of artists, but venues, festivals, and industry workers.

Viviane Paradis

Director of Programming, Le Diamant, Quebec City, QC

For over twenty years, Viviane Paradis worked in the arts fields as cultural manager, artistic director, programmer or writer for various organizations in Quebec City (Canada). From 2011 to 2015, she was artistic director of the Mois Multi, an international festival dedicated to digital and interdisciplinary arts. Since 2015, she is production manager for Ex Machina, the company of stage director Robert Lepage. In 2019, she joined the team of Theatre Le Diamant, a new venue in Quebec City founded by Robert Lepage where she is in charge of programming since 2021.

Le Diamant is dedicated to performing arts – mainly theatre and circus – with a six hundred seats venue, and presents local, national and international works.

Andrea Vincent

Creative Director, Sappyfest (NB)

Andrea Vincent is a professional artistic director and arts administrator with significant experience in artist relations and DIY events. Andrea’s career began in the early 2000s as a teen with a festival travel enterprise, and in 2011 following a formal education in Interdisciplinary Art, Andrea co-founded Lawnya Vawnya, an independent music festival in St. John’s Newfoundland and Labrador with a group of friends. Since 2016, Andrea has served as the Executive Director of the Dawson City Music Festival Association in Dawson City, Yukon. In early 2022, Andrea headed home to the east coast to join Sappyfest as their new Creative Director.

Charlie Wu

Managing Director, Asian-Canadian Special Events Association & General Manager of the Society of We Are Canadians Too (VC)

Charlie Wu is a dedicated community builder in the arts and culture sector, bringing over 25 years of experience to his work. Currently, he holds key roles as the Managing Director of the Asian-Canadian Special Events Association and the General Manager of the Society of We Are Canadians Too in Vancouver. In these capacities, he oversees events including TAIWANfest and LunarFest in BC and ON, as well as the launch of the Jade Music Festival in 2022, with the aim of establishing Vancouver as the North American hub for Chinese-language music.

Charlie is recognized for his ability to foster partnerships between arts organizations and cultural communities, collaborating with institutions such as Harbourfront Centre in Toronto, the PuSh Festival, and the Museum of Vancouver. As a presenter, he advocates for underrepresented artists locally and internationally. Thanks to his extensive connections in Taiwan and other Asian countries, Charlie facilitates meaningful exchanges and partnerships between Canada and Asia, enhancing cultural connections and diversity in the arts and culture sector.