Governance
2009-2010 Board of Directors
PRESIDENT – Sita Kumar
After studying at Laval, Edinburgh and McGill, Sita recently graduated from Emily Carr in photography. She has worked freelance and with the Vancouver Art Gallery, The Centre for Innovation in Culture and the Arts in Canada, had a residency at the Banff Centre for the Arts and worked with Video In and the New Forms Festival. As an artist she has shown her work in numerous shows and has a number of publications to her name.
From 1995-97, Sita was the administrator for the Women of Colour Collective in Calgary.
She currently works part time for the Vancouver Public Library. Sita lives in Mount Pleasant.
VICE-PRESIDENT – Michael Clague
Michael has been executive director of three voluntary agencies, the Britannia Community Services Centre, the Community Services Centre, the Community Social Planning Council of Greater Victoria, and the Social Planning and Research Council of BC. From 1996 to 2005 he was director of a City of Vancouver facility, the Carnegie Community Centre in Vancouver. In this capacity he was an eager supporter and advocate for the community arts in the Downtown Eastside. From 1998 through 2000 he was the coordinator for the Legacies Project (a retrospective journey into twentieth century politics and society as portrayed through the arts). Currently he is President of the Carold Institute for the Advancement of Citizenship in Social Change and a director of the Fraser Basin Council. He has served for three years on the Board of the CACV.
SECRETARY – Susan Gordon
From Montreal, Susan studied English Literature before moving west in the late 60’s. She taught for several years in Chemainus, Burnaby and Vancouver. In the mid 70’s she travelled in South America and homesteaded in the Cariboo.
Back in Vancouver in 1979, Susan moved to Cordova Street on Oppenheimer Park and worked at the Carnegie when it opened in 1980. She was Co-ordinator of Arts and Culture for the Park Board in 1991, bringing in an Arts Policy for the Board focused on Community Cultural Development. Retiring in 2007, she is now finding the balance between volunteer work and exploring interests left on the shelf during her working life. She has served on the CACV Board for 2 years as secretary.
TREASURER – Ashley Hardill
Ashley is a chartered accountant with Manning Elliott LLP, a Vancouver based firm. She graduated from Wilfred Laurier University with an honors degree in Economics and Accounting and after she completed her studies she worked at a chartered accounting firm in Toronto for two years. In 2007, she decided to move to Vancouver and began working at Manning Elliott. Her main focus at work is with not-for-profit organizations in the Greater Vancouver area. She has a great interest in the Downtown Eastside and the local art scene in Vancouver, which has directed her interest in the CACV.
MEMBERS AT LARGE
Sabrina Cordeiro
Sabrina Cordeiro has a Masters in Public Policy and Administration from Ryerson and a B.A. from the University of Victoria. She works in Business Development including developing marketing schemes, expanding branding strategies and seeking out opportunities for expansion. Prior to that she worked for the City of Toronto – Culture and Economic Development Division as a Researcher. She has been a Board Member with the Victoria Immigrant and Refugee Centre Society – Board Member. She’s been active on the CACV Communications Committee. Sabrina’s an avid snowboarder and an accomplished pianist. She’s bilingual in French and English with some knowledge of Spanish.
Nathan Edelson
Nathan is a Senior Partner with 42nd Street Consulting which supports inclusive planning for diverse communities. He has worked on projects linking government and community organizations in a variety of settings in Canada, the U.S., Brazil and South Africa. He is Adjunct Professor with the UBC’s School of Community and Regional Planning and a Bousfield Distinguished Visiting Scholar at the University of Toronto.
A Planner with the City of Vancouver from 1983 to 2008, he focused for 15 years on the many challenging issues facing the Downtown Eastside. This included work on an Arts and Culture Strategic Investment Plan as well as a variety of public realm improvements and a plan for community based programming of local public spaces. Prior to working for the City he was the founding Executive Director of Little Mountain Neighbourhood House.
Richard Evans
Architect, and engaged DTES community participant, Richard worked with his firm Marceau Evans Johnson Architects for eight years from his offices on Victory Square Park. As Chair of the Friends of Victory Square, Richard was instrumental in raising $1.1 million dollars toward Victory Square improvements, and, has lobbied for the ongoing park programs and events.
For his community work Richard has been awarded: the Volunteer of the Year Award in 2003, by the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation; and, the Barbara Dalrymple Award for Community Service in 2004, by the Architectural Institute of British Columbia.
Richard’s professional interest in architecture is in community building through a participatory design process, which leads to successful community and education facilities. Richard’s architectural practice has brought him into many working relationships with First Nation community groups throughout BC.
David Lee
David is a business consultant who has developed and led programs within and across the private, public and non-profit sectors in Canada and Australia. His passion is finding connections between people and organizations to create new relationships and opportunities. His focus over the last 4 years has been in local economic development, cross-sector stakeholder engagement and capacity-building of arts organizations and other non-profits, primarily in the Downtown Eastside. He also serves as the Treasurer on the board of the VIVO Media Arts Centre and as a consultant with Building Opportunities with Business (BOB).
Juan Gabriel Solorzano
Born and raised in one of the largest metropolises in the world, Juan has always enjoyed travelling, immersing in other cultures and seeing things from new perspectives. He started his postsecondary training at the Faculty of Medicine in the National University of Mexico where he studied for three years. His interest in systems change and community-level interventions drew him to pursue additional studies in Geography and later in Planning, both of them at UBC. Today, Juan works for Vancouver Coastal Health as the Leader for Chronic Disease Services where in addition to his health planner role he supervises a team of clinical staff. He is passionate about designing, implementing and evaluating programs that address health inequities, as well as managing change in complex organizations. Juan is a strong advocate of the Arts, and has enjoyed managing and evaluating community-engaged art projects that have left important legacies for participants and their communities.
PAST PRESIDENT – Leslie Kemp
One of Leslie’s passions is in building community and she tries to incorporate this into all of her work (both paid and volunteer). In her professional life, Leslie works for Langara College Continuing Studies as a community development educator. Her deep interest in social justice is reflected in her long-time work with the Social Justice Committee at the Unitarian Church of Vancouver and with the Faithful Fools Street Ministry. Leslie’s interest in the arts (theatre, music and dance, etc.) has led to her participation in community arts projects and to her work on the CACV board for the past 4 years. Leslie has been honoured to serve as CACV’s President this past year and has enjoyed working with the board in building a strong and vital community arts council and in strengthening our relationships with our key partners.
Election Process
Board members are elected at our Annual General Meeting. The nominating committee presents their recommendations. Nominations are permitted from the floor for officers and members-at-large. All members joining up to the AGM are entitled to vote, nominate or stand for election. Organizational members are entitled to two voting delegates.
If a vacancy exists, the board may appoint someone to hold that position until the next Annual General Meeting.
Our bylaws require nominations for the four officer positions of President, Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer and between 2-6 members at large. The Past President is a voting member of the board.
Board of Directors 2008-09
Michael Clague – Vice-President
Michael has been executive director of three voluntary agencies, the Britannia Community Services Centre, the Community Social Planning Council of Greater Victoria, and the Social Planning and Research Council of BC.
From 1996 to 2005 he was director of a City of Vancouver facility, the Carnegie Community Centre in Vancouver. Currently he is a private consultant, a member of the advisory board of the Columbia Institute for Civic Governance, an Associate of the Institute for the Humanities at Simon Fraser University, and President of the Carold Institute for the Advancement of Citizenship in Social Change (Toronto), He is a past-president of the Canadian Council on Social Development. He has served for two years on the Board of CACV.
Nathan Edelson – Member-at-large
Nathan is a Senior Partner with 42nd Street Consulting which supports inclusive planning for diverse communities. He has worked on projects linking government and community organizations in a variety of settings in Canada, the U.S., Brazil and South Africa. He is Adjunct Professor with the UBC’s School of Community and Regional Planning and a Bousfield Distinguished Visiting Scholar at the University of Toronto. A Planner with the City of Vancouver from 1983 to 2008, he focused for 15 years on the many challenging issues facing the Downtown Eastside. This included work on an Arts and Culture Strategic Investment Plan as well as a variety of public realm improvements and a plan for community based programming of local public spaces. Prior to working for the City he was the founding Executive Director of Little Mountain Neighbourhood House.
Richard Evans – Member-at-large
Architect, and engaged DTES community participant, Richard worked with his firm Marceau Evans Johnson Architects for eight years from his offices on Victory Square Park. As Chair of the Friends of Victory Square, Richard was instrumental in raising $1.1 million dollars toward Victory Square improvements, and, has lobbied for the ongoing park programs and events. For his community work Richard has been awarded: the Volunteer of the Year Award in 2003, by the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation; and, the Barbara Dalrymple Award for Community Service in 2004, by the Architectural Institute of British Columbia.Richard’s professional interest in architecture is in community building through a participatory design process, which leads to successful community and education facilities. Richard’s architectural practice has brought him into many working relationships with First Nation community groups throughout BC.
Susan Gordon – Secretary
Originally from Montreal, Susan studied English Literature before moving west in the late 60’s. After attending SFU, she became a teacher for several years and worked in Chemainus, Burnaby and Vancouver. In the mid 70’s she travelled in South America and homesteaded in the Cariboo. Coming back to Vancouver in 1979, Susan moved to Cordova Street in the DTES and started working at the Carnegie when it opened in 1980. She worked in a number of locations for the City eventually taking the position as Co-ordinator of Arts and Culture for the Park Board in 1991. Retiring in 2007, she is now finding the balance between volunteer work and exploring interests left on the shelf during a busy working life.
Leslie Kemp – President
One of Leslie’s passions is in building community and she tries to incorporate this into all of her work (both paid and volunteer). In her professional life, Leslie works for Langara College Continuing Studies as a community development educator. Her deep interest in social justice is reflected in her long-time work with the Social Justice Committee at the Unitarian Church of Vancouver and with the Faithful Fools Street Ministry. Leslie’s interest in the arts (theatre, music and dance, etc.) has led to her participation in community arts projects and to her work on the CACV board for the past 4 years. Leslie has been honoured to serve as CACV’s President this past year and has enjoyed working with the board in building a strong and vital community arts council and in strengthening our relationships with our key partners.
Sita Kumar – Member-at-large
After studying at Laval, Edinburgh and McGill, Sita recently graduated from Emily Carr in photography. She has worked freelance and with the Vancouver Art Gallery, The Centre for Innovation in Culture and the Arts in Canada, had a residency at the Banff Centre for the Arts and worked with Video In and the New Forms Festival.
As an artist she has shown her work in numerous shows and has a number of publications to her name. From 1995-97, Sita was the administrator for the Women of Colour Collective in Calgary.She currently works part time for the Vancouver Public Library. Sita lives in Mount Pleasant.
David Lee – Treasurer
David is a business consultant who has developed and led programs within and across the private, public and non-profit sectors in Canada and Australia. His passion is finding connections between people and organizations to create new relationships and opportunities.
His focus over the last 3 years has been in local economic development, cross-sector stakeholder engagement and capacity-building of arts organizations. He has served as the Treasurer on the board of VIVO (a Vancouver-based media arts organization).
Elizabeth Murdoch – Member-at-large
Elizabeth worked for 30 years in federal employment program administration in north-western and lower mainland B.C., working with immigrant, First Nations, special needs and many other groups. Her introduction to community arts was the Dr. Peter Aids tapestry project in the 1990’s. As a tapestry weaver, she was surprised and delighted by the layers of community art: involvement of community, history, engagement, spontaneous storytelling, skill sharing and development.Volunteering with Vancouver Moving Theatre for the “Heart of the City” play and subsequent productions, she gained appreciation of the DTES, learned skills and got to know her neighbours.
A resident of Strathcona, she has developed love and respect for the history, diversity, creativity and gumption of the Downtown Eastside. As a Vancouverite, she considers public art and access to the arts and art-making to be important for maintaining community.
Nominating Committee: Susan Gordon, Sita Kumar & Elizabeth Murdoch
To nominate someone, contact any of the committee members or send an email to nominating@cacv.ca
Members of the Board of Directors 2007-2008
Leslie Kemp – President
Dennis Brown – Member at large
Roger Chilton – Member at large
Michael Clague – Vice-President
Susan Gordon – Secretary
Sharon Kravitz – Past-President
Carolyn Wong – Member at large
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