Umair Jaffar is the CEO of Small World Music, one of Toronto’s leading presenters of culturally diverse music. He brings over two decades of experience in the arts, heritage, and culture sector. Since immigrating to Canada in 2014, he has held curatorial and leadership roles at the Aga Khan Museum and Harbourfront Centre. 

Umair currently serves on the City of Toronto’s Music Advisory Council, and is an advisor to Humber College’s Music Program, Toronto Metropolitan University’s Creative School, and the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS)/The JUNO Awards. 

He is also a board member for several non-profit arts organizations, including CAPACOA (Canadian Arts Presenting Association), Folk Canada (formerly Folk Music Ontario), Qissa, Bhutan’s Hidden Kingdom Music Festival, and MusiConnect Asia / Asia Music Summit. 

Umair holds an MBA in Strategy & Finance from the University of Adelaide, and an MSc in Cultural Anthropology from the University of Oxford. 

Kim Lineus is a passionate marketing and partnerships strategist whose career has always bridged creativity, community, and business. With a foundation in public affairs and art history, Kim has spent over a decade building thoughtful sponsorships, strategic initiatives, and audience engagement programs that champion diverse voices and broaden access to the arts. 

From leading digital campaigns to nurturing corporate partnerships, she brings a collaborative, community-centered approach to every project. Outside of work, Kim is an active supporter of Toronto’s vibrant arts ecosystem, serving on multiple boards and championing opportunities for emerging artists. 

Michael Sinclair, is the General Manager of Obsidian Theatre Company, Canada’s largest culturally specific theatre company.  Prior to assuming the position at Obsidian, he was very active in the theatre community, as a professional stage manager for over 20 years, a job which took him across the country from PEI to Vancouver and internationally to Barbados. In that time, he worked in commercial, festival, large regional and local theatres, he has toured internationally, nationally, regionally and to schools but working mainly in the Toronto area.  

A graduate from Concordia University majoring in Accounting, Michael worked for a Chartered Accounting firm before branching out into the wild world of professional theatre.  He the President of the TAPA (Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts) board and a board member for Stage Managing the Arts (SMArts), Michael is chair of TAC’s Theatre Committee which makes him a member of the TAC board. 

Tania Senewiratne worked for a Broadway producer in NYC for 10 years. In that capacity she worked on over 30 theatrical productions on Broadway, off-Broadway, on tour in North America, in London, on tour in the UK, in Canada, in Australia and throughout Asia. In Canada, she was the General Manager/Producer at Obsidian Theatre, the Executive Producer at Soulpepper Theatre, and an instructor at the School of Performance at Toronto Metropolitan University.  Currently, she is the Associate Dean for the Visual and Performing Arts Program at Sheridan College.

Robin Sokoloski (she/her) has been working in the arts and culture sector for eighteen years. Currently, as the Director of Organizational Development of Mass Culture, Robin is working with academics, funders and arts practitioners to support a thriving arts community by mobilizing the creation, amplification and community-informed analysis of research. 

For 10+ years, Robin was the Executive Director of Playwrights Guild of Canada. Last fall, Robin co-taught a course at Centennial College entitled, Arts Policy, Equity and Activism. Robin is currently developing a fourth-year university course on Cultural Entrepreneurship for MacEwan University. A cultural entrepreneur herself, Robin has assisted in growing Mass Culture from an idea into a thriving national charitable arts organization within a five-year period. Her experience in governance, financial management, and network mobilization greatly contributes to all of her work and volunteerism in the arts. 

Celia Smith is the CEO of Luminato Festival Toronto, Canada’s leading international festival of arts, culture and creativity. Luminato is a catalyst for big, bold contemporary works of art grounded in accessibility, equity and inclusion that connects communities across the GTA and around the world through exceptional works of art.  

Since 2007 Luminato has launched the summer in Toronto with a big, bold, contemporary arts festival that has welcomed over 10 million locals and visitors, shared the work of over 17,000 artists, and commissioned 100+ new works across artistic disciplines.  

In these challenging times, we believe that art is our tool, our method, and our opportunity. Art starts conversations. Art changes minds. Art opens hearts. Art is powerful.   

Celia is a savvy and strategic leader with 25 plus years’ experience in leadership and city-building in Toronto, with proven expertise in directing significant organizational growth of mission-led organizations and executive management of complex, multi-stakeholder environments. With depth of experience leading nonprofit and private sector organizations, she is known for her effective management style and has mentored hundreds of individuals who now work in leadership roles across diverse sectors.  
 

In addition to leading Luminato Festival Toronto as CEO, she is chair of the Toronto Arts Council, a co-founder of The League of Toronto Festivals, faculty at Schulich School of Business, and co-founder of LEAN (Leadership Emergency Arts Network), a national pro-bono response to help arts organizations across the country during COVID.    
 

Celia was formerly the Chief Operating Officer of TAS, a community-focused mixed-use private developer; President of Artscape, a non-profit housing and community hub creator; and General Manager of the Canadian Stage Company.  

Brad Bradford is City Councillor for Ward 19, Beaches-East York 

Elected in 2018 as one of the youngest members of Council, Brad is bringing fresh ideas and positive politics to City Hall. He ran a grass-roots, non-partisan campaign and brings the same values as Councillor, working with residents, community groups, businesses, and government leaders of all backgrounds to build a better Beaches-East York and Toronto. bradbradford.ca 

Alejandra Bravo was elected as the City Councillor for Ward 9—Davenport in 2022. A Ward 9 resident for over two decades, she first became active in her children’s school in 2000, becoming the Chair of the Davenport TDSB Ward Council. 

Alejandra has a 25-year history of leadership with civil society organizations, including extensive governance experience with boards ranging from Art Starts, a community arts organization operating in under-serviced neighbourhoods, to serving on the Toronto Board of Health. 

An adult educator and facilitator by profession, Alejandra’s work has been focused on helping communities understand and influence the government decisions that impact them. She was the Director of Leadership and Training at the Broadbent Institute, where she built training capacity across Canada and led the Institute’s work on democratic renewal. She was also the Director of the Power Lab, a leadership learning initiative co-created with the Atkinson Foundation that is focused on local organizing for a more fair economy. 

Alejandra was also previously the Manager of Leadership and Learning at Maytree, where for a decade she designed and delivered innovative political and civic training for emerging and diverse leaders. 

Alejandra is a graduate of the University of Toronto and the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. Born in Chile, Alejandra moved to Canada with her family as a refugee when she was a child. In addition to English she is fluent in Spanish, French, and Portuguese. 

Toronto-based pianist Cheryl Duvall has established herself as one of Canada’s foremost contemporary music interpreters, immersing herself in a wide variety of compositional aesthetics and collaborative endeavours. She co-founded the “adventurous and smartly programmed” (Musicworks Magazine) chamber group Thin Edge New Music Collective alongside Ilana Waniuk in 2011. Since their inception, they’ve commissioned over 80+ works, mounting lavish multidisciplinary productions while collaborating with leading performers. TENMC was awarded the 2020 Friends of Canadian Music Award from the Canadian League of Composers and the Canadian Music Centre for being ‘an important musical innovator, working creatively across disciplines with an unwavering commitment to diverse and equitable programming’. Their 2023 release, Dark Flower, featuring the chamber works of Canadian composer Linda Catlin Smith has recently been featured on the BBC and CBC radio and was listed in the top 10 Modern Classical releases of 2023 by UK’s ‘The Wire’ Magazine. Her 2020 debut solo piano album Harbour, featuring the music of Canadian composer, Anna Hostman has been featured on the CBC radio and was chosen as the #1 Modern Composition Recording of 2020 by UK’s ‘The Wire’ Magazine and was nominated for a Juno for Classical Composition of the Year. Her 2nd solo album, Intimes exubérances, featuring an hour-long piano solo by Québécois composer, Patrick Giguère was released in April 2024. Cheryl is also the Artistic Director for The Chamber Music Society of Mississauga, the collaborative pianist for Durham Region’s Resound Choir and is a passionate music educator. She is the current Chair of the Music Committee for the Toronto Arts Council. 

Susan Wortzman is a partner in the Toronto offices of McCarthy Tétrault and leads the firm’s e-Discovery and information management division, MT>3. One of Canada’s most respected e-Discovery lawyers, Susan’s creativity, legal and business acumen, and commitment to innovation and technology ensure that her clients receive cutting edge services. Susan is an active writer, speaker and educator in the legal community.  

   

In her free time she is a lover of visual arts and theatre. Susan was formerly on the boards of Tarragon Theatre, Canadian Stage, and the Toronto Biennial of Art.  Susan served as the Co-Chair and a committee member of the Art Toronto Opening Night Committee and was also a member of the AGO’s Curator’s Circle Committee. She is currently a Board Member of the Toronto Arts Council, the Toronto Arts Foundation, and the Art Canada Institute.