Humour With Heart

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2016 - Here On The Flight Path - Jamie Williams & Melanie Janzen

Board of Directors - 2020 - 2021

The Foster Festival is honoured to be supported by highly engaged Board of Directors – and we thank each of them for their commitment to bringing humour to the heart of Niagara!

Chair | Robin McPherson

Robin is a the other half of Janice and Robin Digital Communications. Many people also know her on Instagram as @uglyshirt where she shares her photos of downtown St. Catharines. You’ll also often see her selling 50/50 tickets at The Foster Festival shows.

 

Vice-Chair | Deborah Slade

Deborah is the former director of the Brock University Centre for the Arts. Deborah joined the Centre for the Arts in 1984 and became its director in 1987, transforming it into an internationally respected cultural institution. Over the years, Deborah programmed more than 1,400 shows for an estimated one million patrons.

 

Treasurer | Jennifer Wallace

An independent financial planner since 2006, Jennifer Wallace works with individuals, small business owners, and their families to achieve sustainable financial independence. In 2011, Jennifer expanded her business services to include small business planning for entrepreneurs, and supports the success of entrepreneurs by presenting professional development and local experts through a side project called Growing Women Entrepreneurs (GWEn). Passionate about her community, Jennifer dedicates her time outside of working with her clients to supporting not-for-profits such as Gillian’s Place where she currently serves as President of the Board, and has been volunteering with the performing arts in St. Catharines for over a decade.

 

Secretary | TBD

 

Past-Chair | Glen McCann

Glen is a retired Lawyer and Partner at Sullivan Mahoney LLP. Glen’s practice specialties were corporate and commercial law and taxation. Currently, Glen and his wife Cathy run Cellar Door Wine Experience. Additionally, Glen is a frequent actor in local stage productions.

 

Tom Arkell

 

Rhiannon Barry

Rhiannon has joined our Board and will be contributing on our marketing, fundraising and events committees. She brings strong creative planning and organizing skills. She has experience creating communications and marketing plans, developing fundraisers, and planning special events. With a unique focus on providing calming and mindful experiences, Rhiannon shares on-line painting tutorials and in-person classes. Currently, a full-time student studying psychology, Rhiannon is pursuing certification as an art therapist and counselor. Rhiannon has been working and volunteering in the social services industry in Niagara for 9 years.  In that time, she has applied her skills and knowledge as a support worker to a variety of opportunities including providing crisis support for victims of abuse and program facilitation in rec-bases therapeutic activities for children. In addition to frontline social work, Rhiannon also continues to make contributions by applying her skills as a grant writer, creative consultation, communications and marketing developer, and in volunteer and project coordination.  

 

Alison Buchanan

After a career in corporate training and human resources, Alison moved to St. Catharines and immersed herself in a variety of community activities.  A long-time patron of the arts, she enjoys supporting the Foster Festival as a member of the Board.

 

Brandon Currie

Born and raised in Niagara, Brandon lives in St. Catharines, ON with his wife Kristen and his two children, Daughter Hartley and Son Braxton. Brandon has travelled around the world including 3 years in Australia. Brandon is an advisor at C.R. Smith Financial Services and holds one of the highest designations in his  field, The Chartered Life Underwriting® (CLU) designation.  He also has obtained his Registered Retirement Consultant® (RRC) and his Chartered Health Insurance Specialist™ (CHS) designations.  In his spare time, he is a committee member of the Wise Guys Charity Fund and loves to cycle in the spring/summer and play pick-up hockey in the fall/winter.

 

David Hulley

David has served as the Director of Customer Experience at Vineland Estates Winery for the last 11 years.  He has worked in the Ontario wine industry for over 30 years as a winemaker, international lecturer, manager, writer, radio and TV personality and consultant.  David is a graduate of the University of California at Davis and McMaster University.  David is also the author of two wine/culinary books, It’s Just a Matter of Wine and Italian Sensibility.

 

 

Lorrie Littleton

Lori Littleton grew up in London and attended Carleton University in Ottawa, earning a B. Journ and MA in English. She spent 12 years as a reporter in newsrooms in Niagara Falls, Brantford and St. Catharines, before leaving journalism to become self-employed in the financial services industry. A married mother of three, she’s serving her first term as a St. Catharines City Councillor and finishing her first novel. Since the pandemic Lori has been learning Spanish and also speaks passable French.

 

Debbie MacGregor

 

Annalisa Medina

 

James O’Brien

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