Staff & Directors

Aimée Ippersiel has grown audiences and deepened audience engagement for major Canadian cultural institutions including the CBC, The Walrus, the parliament of Canada, the Canadian Museum of History, the Robert Bateman Centre, and the Canadian Canoe Museum.

With a focus on programming, communications, fundraising, and strategic decision-making, Aimée helps cultural non-profits improve impact and build organizational resilience. She has an MBA, a diploma in Museum Management and Curatorship, and a BA in Cultural Anthropology. Current board positions include Harbourfront Centre, and the Chawkers Foundation.

Sam Woods (he/him) is an arts administrator, marketing manager, and personality hire living and working in Ottawa, ON. Sam's ultimate aspiration in life is to live comfortably without financial or emotional stressors, so he naturally gravitated towards a life in the arts, a field he has been deeply immersed in for over 10 years. He holds a BA from the Dan School of Drama and Music at Queens University, and strives to provide support and resources to theatre artists at both the local and national level. He hopes you are having a nice day.

Diane Blake, founder and lead sponsor of Myseum of Toronto, has been a proud Torontonian since 1986. Prior to becoming an archivist, she worked in information technology, and studied at University College London and the University of Toronto. Diane’s philanthropic interests include, Loran Scholars, Soulpepper Theatre, HotDocs and supporting the apprentices at the National Ballet. She is currently also serving on the boards of The Walrus and Necessary Angel Theatre.

For forty years, Micheline has had the good fortune of working across Canada and abroad as director, dramaturge, teacher and artistic director. She has directed at such theatres as the Shaw Festival, the National Arts Centre, Theatre Calgary, the Globe Theatre, Prairie Theatre Exchange, Canadian Stage, Young People’s Theatre, Theatre New Brunswick and BeMe Productions in Barcelona and Munich. In addition, she has been, over those same years, Associate Artistic Director at Theatre New Brunswick, Associate Dramaturge at Playwrights Workshop Montreal, Associate Artist at Canadian Stage in Toronto, Artistic Director of Ottawa’s Great Canadian Theatre Company and, from 2013 to 2022, Artistic and Executive Director of Imago Theatre in Montreal. She has also directed and taught at the National Theatre School, Concordia University, McGill University, York University, Dalhousie University and the University of Alberta.

Gillian is a Toronto-based philanthropist and a passionate advocate for mental health. She is a founding supporter of Jack.org., has served as the Chair of the Board, and is actively involved in many projects related to youth mental health in Canada.

She enjoys working with charitable organizations helping them develop professional strategy, governance, human capital and operational capacities with a bias to building and executing fundraising opportunities.

Gillian has extensive human resource experience with a focus on executive coaching, change management and organizational capacity building. She has recently become a Certified Professional Consultant on Aging. Current and past board positions include CAMH, Jack.org, Siminovitch Prize, Making Art Making Change, and the Badminton and Racquet Club of Toronto.

Briony is an actor, writer, and executive coach. Having worked in theatre, radio, and television in both the UK and Canada she now coaches public speaking and communication skills in Toronto. She has served on the Boards of the Gordon Foundation, Playwrights Workshop Montreal, and with many committees and boards of the Toronto District School Board. Briony reads more plays than novels and is honoured to be a part of this remarkable Foundation.

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Camilla Holland is the Executive Director of the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre (MTC). 

Prior to MTC, Camilla was the General Manager at Tarragon Theatre, and worked for a wide variety of professional theatres across Toronto, including large institutions (Canadian Stage), theatre for young audiences (Young People’s Theatre), new play developers (Factory Theatre), and creation-based companies (Volcano Theatre). She produced the SummerWorks Theatre Festival and has worked in education and outreach, marketing and fundraising, production and touring. 

Past Board and Steering Committee roles include Manitobans for the Arts, Canada’s National Theatre School, the Advisory Council for TRG Arts, Canadian Arts Coalition, Canadian Arts Summit, and the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres. She won the John Hobday Award from Canada Council for the Arts in 2018 and the Mallory Gilbert Leadership Award in 2019. Camilla is currently an MBA student at the University of Manitoba, and serves on the board of Culture Days Manitoba.

Colin Jackson currently serves as Co-Chair of Calgary on Purpose, Senior Scholar at the University of Calgary Graduate College, Board Secretary and Advancement Chair of the National Theatre School of Canada, and is a member of the Arizona State University New American Council for Art and Design, and the National Access Arts Centre. He is the recipient of the Queen’s Golden and Diamond Jubilee medals and a Canada Council Senior Arts Award. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, holds a BA from the University of Manitoba and a MPA from Harvard Kennedy School. The Colin Jackson Theatre in Winnipeg is named for him.

His work history includes being the founding artistic director for Winnipeg’s Prairie Theater Exchange, a current affairs and drama producer for the CBC, on-air host for Global TV current affairs, Executive Director of the Confederation Centre of the Arts (Charlottetown), and President of The EPCOR Centre for the Performing Arts (Calgary).

Susan works in three capacities – as an educator, lawyer and writer/editor. She served as the Education Director at the National Judicial Institute, the educational organization which serves the Canadian judiciary. In 2011, Susan began working with the Ontario Court of Justice in Toronto, advising the Court on the design, development and delivery of their educational programming for justices of the peace and judges. In 2019, she moved to the Office of the Assistant Deputy Attorney General – Criminal Law Division, where she serves as Counsel, Education and Diversity Lead. Susan worked as a part-time professor at the Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa. Her work has included co-authoring several books and has appeared in an array of publications. Her most recent publication is Public Inquiries in Canada: Law and Practice which she co-authored with Ronda Bessner. From 1994 to 2015, she was a lawyer member of Ontario’s Consent and Capacity Board. An active volunteer, she has served on a wide variety of boards of directors over the years, including the Writers’ Trust of Canada, Project Bookmark Canada and Ottawa Salus.

Duncan is a director of theatre, opera and special events. He has directed and produced more than 300 plays, operas, and musicals in the last thirty-five years. He has been the Artistic Director of three of Canada’s largest theatres and regularly travels to and works in China. He has written 12 produced plays.

Duncan lives in West Covehead, PEI with his partner Wade MacLauchlan, the 32nd Premier of Prince Edward Island and their dogs Zorro and Hilario.

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After a thirty-year career in the not-for-profit sector, Alexandra relocated to Salt Spring Island, British Columbia.

Alexandra is a collaborative strategic thinker and change agent. As Director and CEO of Vancouver’s Bill Reid Gallery, she worked with Indigenous and community leaders to develop the expanded programming vision and create the infrastructure required for operational resilience.

As Executive Director of Toronto’s Gardiner Museum, she worked with the Board and other stakeholders to broaden the collections mandate and transform the Museum’s facilities in order to diversity revenues.

As a consultant, Alexandra worked with numerous organizations to develop strategic plans and build fundraising capacity. Current and past Board positions include the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies, the Banff Heritage Corporation, and PuSh International Performing Arts Festival.

Eric Savoie is a values-led and purpose-driven leader who believes in the power of human experience. Having worked in Australia, New Zealand, USA and Canada, Eric has dedicated his professional career to connecting good people and organizations with the capital (financial and human) they need to build a brighter future for all.

With a focus on creating more resilient and sustainable communities, Eric helps government, non-government, and private sector organizations establish trusted partnerships through person-centred and community-led social innovation that brings together emerging technology and future-thinking to create shared value.  He has an MBA, BBA in Human Resources from the University of New Brunswick, and certificates in Digital Transformation from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Tools of Innovation from Sanford University, Executive Consequence Management from the Barrington Centre, and is a Certified Management Consultant with the Canadian Association of Management Consultants.

Eric is an Executive in the Government and Public Sector Practice of EY Canada and serves as the Global Account Lead for the Province of New Brunswick and the Canadian Human Services market Leader. His current board positions include Symphony New Brunswick, Business Community Anti-Poverty Initiative, and Pride Saint John.

George began his career as a law professor before becoming a judge of the Ontario Provincial Court. Subsequently, he was a Deputy Minister at four Ontario Ministries, including Deputy Attorney General, before becoming Deputy Minister of Justice for Canada. He was also Executive Director of the National Judicial Institute and chaired Ontario’s Citizens’ Assembly on Electoral Reform.

Marcus is a playwright, actor, educator and artistic director. His fifteen or so plays have been produced in more than 20 countries across North America, Europe and Asia. He is a recipient of the Siminovitch Prize for Theatre (Playwrighting), the Vancouver Mayor’s Arts Award, Berlin Germany’s Ikarus Prize, the Alcan Performing Arts Award, and the Vancouver Critics Innovation award (three times). Marcus is Senior Artist at Neworld Theatre, International Associate Artist at Farnham Maltings (UK), and a Playwright in Residence at Tarragon Theatre. Marcus also co-founded the East Vancouver artist-run production studio PL1422, and was the inaugural chair of Vancouver’s Arts and Culture Policy Council.