SPEAKERS AND PANELISTS

Aengus Finnan

Executive Director Folk Alliance International

Aengus Finnan is an Irish-Canadian artist, educator, and arts administrator currently serving as the first non-US Executive Director of Folk Alliance International - a global nonprofit based in Kansas City. Previously he served as the Touring and Audience Development Officer for the Ontario Arts Council, Program Manager for Community Futures, founding Artistic Director of the Shelter Valley Folk Festival, and past-Board President of Folk Music Ontario. He spent a decade touring internationally as a singer-songwriter with 3 albums, and taught elementary school in Moosonee and Inuvik. A recipient of the Golden Jubilee Medal for humanitarian and cultural contributions to Canada.

Alan Greyeyes

Festival Director for the sākihiwē festival

Alan Greyeyes serves as the Festival Director for the sākihiwē festival and runs the artist and project management company, Ogichidaa Arts. He also volunteers with the Polaris Music Prize board of directors; the RBC Convention Centre board of directors; the Rap category committee at the JUNO Awards; the Mayor's Indigenous Advisory Circle for the City of Winnipeg; and the Indigenous committees at the National Music Centre and the Winnipeg Folk Festival. In 2020, Alan received the Arts Award of Distinction from the Manitoba Arts Council and the Kevin Walters Legacy Award from Manitoba Music. Alan is a member of the Peguis First Nation.

Alfredo Caxaj

Executive & Co-Artistic Director of Sunset - London Committee for Cross Cultural Arts Inc.

Since arriving in Canada in 1985 during the height of political repression in his native Guatemala, Alfredo Caxaj has truly made a difference in his adopted community of London, Ontario. With an intuitive understanding of the power of the arts, and of cultural diversity as the very essence of the human experience, his vision has remained tenacious and his organizing skills tireless. A familiar face to people from many walks of life, Alfredo has served for more than two decades as the Executive and Co-Artistic Director of the non-profit Sunfest-London Committee for Cross Cultural Arts Inc. Since debuting in July 1995, SUNFEST (the Committee’s signature free admission festival of music, dance, crafts and cuisine from around the globe) has grown into “Canada’s Premier Celebration of World Cultures” with an annual attendance of more than 110,000 unique visits (Voted by the Globe & Mail as one of the 100 best summer events in the country several years back) and highlighted for several consecutive years by the prestigious UK publication Songlines Magazine, as one of the best festivals overseas.

Amanda Rheaume

Artist / Director of Operations IIMS

Andres Mendoza

Vice President of CARAS

Andrés has the honour of leading a small yet mighty team of music loving professionals responsible for brand strategy at the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences. The “Brand Team” handles marketing, communications, creative, digital/social and partnerships for the JUNO Awards, The Canadian Music Hall of Fame, The Allan Slaight JUNO Master Class and year-round CARAS initiatives. His music career began in 1991 when he became an artist manager, promoter and agent with Antara Productions, a Montréal-based Latin Music company he co-founded with Edgardo Linares. His subsequent roles have included label executive, content developer and sponsorship leader. Prior to CARAS, Mendoza created music marketing and strategy consultancy, Cuto, worked at Virgin/EMI Music Canada, Ent! Marketing, Harbourfront Centre and has been a jury member for the Canada Council of the Arts, FACTOR, Ontario Creates, and counselor at AMP Camp, the predecessor of Indigenous Music Camp. In addition to amplifying and celebrating JUNO Nominees and Winners, some of the artists he has worked with over the years include Alex Cuba, Adam Cohen, Coldplay, Corinne Bailey Rae, Manu Chao, Jesse Cook, Sarah Brightman, Joss Stone, Ben Harper, Jarvis Church, Lhasa de Sela, Paulo Ramos and Papo Ross. Mendoza was born in Chile, grew up in Vancouver, lived in Montréal and has called Tkaronto home since 1997. He’s a progressive, cultural/political junkie and the proud dad of Isabella and Julian.

Ange Loft

Interdisciplinary performing artist

ANGE LOFT (Kanien'kehá:ka, from Kahnawà:ke, QC, Canada; lives in Toronto, ON, Canada) is an interdisciplinary performing artist. Her collaborations use arts based research, voice, wearable sculpture, theatrical co-creation and Haudenosaunee history to facilitate workshops and community-engaged spectacle. As a performer, Ange has graced international stages with musical act Yamantaka//Sonic Titan and as an interpreter of Indigenous lead theatrical narrative, experimental composition and performance.

Banakonda Kennedy Kish Bell

Elder

Traditional Practitioner, Academic Coordinator/Curriculum Design/Teacher/FNTI/Ryerson,Elder/Advisor,PLAR Advisor Banakonda Kennedy-Kish (Bell) is the Elder in-Residence with the Lyle S. Hallman Faculty of Social Work, Indigenous Field of Study at Wilfred Laurier University. She is an Indigenous cultural advisor, teacher, and Traditional Practitioner, and has served Indigenous communities for over forty years.

Chef Johl

Chef Johl Whiteduck Ringuette

Chef Johl Whiteduck Ringuette is Anishnawbe and Algonquin. he was born in North Bay, Ontario and his grandmother is from Nippissing First Nation. His clan is Mink clan. Johl was raised on wild game, fishing and seasonal berry-picks and cooking over the fire. Chef Johl is the owner of NishDish Marketeria and Catering, which specializes in Anishnawbe cuisine since 2005. He is one of Tkaronto’s leading First Nations food sovereigntists and has dedicated his life to identifying, sourcing, relearning and reclaiming what the traditional Anishnawbe diet is. His unwavering commitment to this vision has broadened his work beyond NishDish. He is a public speaker on many topics related to food sovereignty and social entrepreneurship, and has taught countless food demos and traditional food skills workshops.

Clayson Benally

Artist

Clayson Benally is an internationally acclaimed multi talented performer, singer, hoop dancer, horse whisperer, educator, silversmith and traditional Navajo medicine practitioner amongst many other talents. Clayson performs drums, percussion and sings with his sister Jeneda Benally in their multi award winning duo Sihasin. Clayson has been featured on NPR, PBS, ARTE TV, National Geographic and countless documentaries, news stories, magazines, television and radio shows.

Cris Derksen

Artist

Juno nominated Cris Derksen is an Internationally respected Indigenous Cellist and Composer. In a world where almost everything — people, music, cultures — get labelled and slotted into simple categories, Cris Derksen represents a challenge. Originally from Northern Alberta she comes from a line of chiefs from NorthTall Cree Reserve on her father’s side and a line of strong Mennonite homesteaders on her mother’s. Derksen braids the traditional and contemporary, weaving her classical background and her Indigenous ancestry together with new school electronics to create genre-defying music.

Cynthia Lickers-Sage

Executive Indigenous Performing Arts Alliance

Cynthia Lickers-Sage is a Mohawk Nation, Turtle Clan visual artist from Six Nations of the Grand River. Following her graduation at the Ontario College of Art and Design she Co-Founded The Centre for Aboriginal Media, imagineNATIVE Film and Media Arts Festival, Clickers Productions and most recently the 50/50 Performing Arts Collective/Tkaronto Music Festival. She has spent the last 30 years working in the not-for-profit arts sector as the former General Manager of Kaha:wi Dance Theatre, Executive Director at the Association for Native Development in the Performing and Visual Arts, Executive Director of imagineNATIVE and currently as the Executive Director of the Indigenous Performing Arts Alliance. Cynthia is the proud recipient of the Governor General’s Meritorious Service Cross.

Denise Bolduc

Creative Director and Producer

Denise Bolduc is an established creative director and producer who programs to transform perspectives and activate change. Her career of three decades represents countless contributions and connections with numerous celebrated artists, creative thinkers and leading cultural institutions with an emphasis on elevating Indigenous voices. Denise is Anishinaabe and French, and is a member of the Batchewana First Nations with familial ties in Ketegaunseebee.

Derek Hoffman

Producer, Engineer, Musician, Composer

Derek Hoffman is a versatile JUNO nominated producer, engineer, musician, and composer from Toronto, Ontario. Derek began his production career in punk and rock; he cut his teeth on projects by local and international heavyweights like Silverstein (Rise Records/Dine Alone), Boys Night Out (Goodnight Entertainment), The Flatliners (Rise Records/Dine Alone) and Stick To Your Guns (Pure Noise Records).

Drezus

Artist

Featured in The Guardian, Vice Magazine, CBC, The FADER, CNN and the list goes on, Drezus is a multi-award winning Anishinaabe hip hop artist from the Muskowekwan and Cote First Nations.

DRMNGNOW

Artist

From the Biyala woka -Redgum lands of Kaieltheban woka, Yorta Yorta woka DRMNGNOW is an inimitable force of custodial song and story as a Yiyirr from Moorooopna (Place of Deep Water ) with ancestral ties to lands that spread across coastal Worimi country North of Warrane (Sydney) down to the desert country of Wergaia lands south west of Narrm ( Melbourne ) DRMNGNOW is an artist with a grass roots ethic and big picture vision known striking pieces of work that provoke deeper engagement with the true depth of the critical societal role and rightful place of Indigenous peoples within so called Australia and globally.

Duke Redbird

Elder / Poet / Activist / Educator / Artist

Dr. Duke Redbird is an elder, poet, activist, educator, and artist. With a legacy stretching back to the 1960s, he is a pillar of First Nations literature in Canada and has practiced a number of art disciplines including poetry, painting, theatre, and film. He was a trailblazer throughout the 60s & 70s giving voice to Indigenous people at major institutions and folk festivals across the country. From 1994-2009, he was the arts & entertainment reporter for CITY-TV in Toronto. Dr. Redbird’s most recent collection of poems is titled POETRY. Several of his poems from the anthology have been set to music by The Sultans of String for the albums Refuge and Sanctuary and the soon to be released Walking Through the Fire.

Hill Kourkoutis

Artist, Songwriter, Producer

Hill Kourkoutis, a revered Canadian music contributor, is an accomplished producer, songwriter, composer, mixer, recording engineer, multi-instrumentalist, and artist. In March of 2023, Hill’s producer and mixer role with Digging Roots played a strong role in their winning a Juno for Contemporary Indigenous Album of the Year with their release, Zhawenim. In May of 2022, Hill made Canadian music history when she became the first woman to be nominated for and win a JUNO Award for Recording Engineer of the Year in the 46 years since that category was created.

Jeneda Benally

Artist

Jeneda Benally (She/Her) of the Diné Nation plays bass and sings with her brother Clayson Benally in the multi-award-winning duo “Sihasin”. She has had a long musical career that first began with her brothers in the Native American iconic punk band “Blackfire”. As half the duo, Sihasin, she tours throughout the world playing music, facilitating youth empowerment workshops and striving to build bridges of respect between communities, cultures, and our relationship with the environment. The siblings have won Native American Awards, Global Music Awards, Indian Summer Music Awards and a Grammy nomination for their collaboration with The Okee Dokee Brothers. Her music has been featured on the TV series “What’s New Scooby Doo?”, a Hyundai Car commercial, numerous documentaries and movies. The duo are currently Cultural Ambassadors for the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State and the Association of American Voices. She is also the creator of award winning teen/tween radio show Indigenous YOUth Nation. Jeneda performs in the internationally acclaimed family’s traditional Diné dance troupe, The Jones Benally Family. She is a traditional practitioner of Diné (Navajo) medicine and works alongside her father, Jones Benally, a Navajo medicine man. Through her knowledge of culture and advocacy she serves as a cultural consultant. Benally is also well-known for her work to protect human rights and sacred sites, youth empowerment, and environmental justice.

Jessica Deljouravesh

Ontario Arts Council

The Ontario Arts Council (OAC) provides grants that support a range of arts activities and disciplines to Ontario-based individual artists and arts professionals, ad hoc groups/collectives and organizations. Jessica Deljouravesh has worked at OAC since 2007. During this time, she has administered various granting programs in arts disciplines including, music, theatre, multi and inter-arts and multi-disciplinary, supporting a range of activity including creation, recording, production, touring, market development and organizational development. She has also stepped-in several times to serve as OAC’s Associate Director of Granting. Jessica holds a master’s degree in music from the University of Ottawa, and has sung and played viola in both jazz and classical styles.

Jorge Requena Ramos - Moderator

Executive Director of WECC

Jorge Requena Ramos is a multi-disciplinary artist who grew up in Mexico City and now calls Winnipeg Manitoba his home. He has done extensive work as a film director, playwright and television producer. He became the Artistic director of the WECC in 2019 after spending a decade amongst performers, travelling across Canada, the US and Europe with his band “The Mariachi Ghost”. In his tender at the WECC he has overseen the development and growth of Winterruption a festival that celebrates life in a winter city at -40 below. He has also helped the WECC transition into anAnti-racist, Anti-Oppressive strategic plan that will see their programming and practices reflect the truly diverse fabric of Canada.

Kawennison Louise Lahache

Elder

Kawennison Louise Lahache is a Turtle clan woman from Kahnawake. She is a mother of four, grandmother of six, a wife, the eldest of nine siblings, and an auntie to dozens and dozens of nephews and nieces. Louise has spent most of her life working in education at the community level, on and off reserve. Most recently, Louise has retired from nearly 20 years as a college professor. Louise has also done much research and policy work in between teaching gigs, serving the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples , the Assembly of First Nations, and the National Association of Friendship Centres. Her special areas of expertise have been focused on culture, education, Indigenous languages, and Elders. Louise has a M.A. in Canadian Studies. But, she believes that the most important and sacred teachings she has acquired have come through life experiences and teachings from family, community, Elders and, of course, her many years of teaching and learning with youth.

Keziah Myers

Executive Director ADVANCE

Keziah Myers believes in the skills and uniqueness of this country and knows that there is so much talent yet to be discovered. Currently as the Executive Director of ADVANCE – Canada’s Black Music Business Collective, Keziah’s main role is to advocate for the betterment, upliftment, and retention of Black Talent within the music industry. Leading this organization, Keziah focuses on changing processes, creating opportunities, and providing resources to ADVANCE members, and music industry organizations. Prior to ADVANCE, Keziah led music licensing initiatives at Entandem, and the A&R Operations at SOCAN, where she was instrumental in ensuring diverse hiring, updating internal systems, improving operations, and enabling all offices to better serve 150 000 members.

Leela Gilday

Artist

If you’re from the North, Leela Gilday’s music is home. If you’ve never been, it will take you there. Born and raised in the Northwest Territories, she writes about the people and the land that created her. The power in her voice conveys the depth of her feelings of love and life in a rugged environment and vibrant culture, as if it comes straight from that earth. Leela’s family is from Délįne on the shore of Great Bear Lake and her rich vocals dance across the rhythmic beats of traditional Dene drumming as smoothly as a bass line onstage the largest venues in the country. And she has played them all.

Logan Staats

Singer/Songwriter/Land Defender

Mohawk singer-songwriter Logan Staats began as a diamond in the rough, and has become the gem of indigenous folk-rock. Staats grew up in Brantford, Ontario with no formal musical training, just a good ear and raw lyrical talent. He played the local circuit for years before his 2015 debut release ‘Goodbye Goldia’, an unvarnished yet hard hitting folk album. He went on to win CTV’s ‘The Launch’ in 2018, gaining commercial success and touring across North America and Europe. Since then, Staats has come home, deciding to re-root at Six Nations of the Grand River. “I wanted to bring my songwriting back to the medicine inside of music, to the medicine inside of reclamation,” he says. This is the philosophy behind his sophomore album ‘A Light In The Attic’. These songs are a healing salve, contemplatively composed and offered to listeners in need of comfort. His sound draws heavily from the rich blues and rock legacy of Six Nations. “My nation and my community are in every chord I play and every note I sing,” says Staats. “They’ve saved me.”

Maimouna Youssef

Artist

Among her most recent accomplishments is her contribution to creating and launching the Recording Academy’s historic trustee award entitled “Best Song For Social Change” which went live in 2023 at the 66th GRAMMY awards show and was presented by The First Lady, Jill Biden. The award was created by Mumu Fresh and her co chair Wayna, assisted by NY chapter’s Carlos Chirinos, and supported by the DC Chapter and ratied by the Recording Academy’s board of Trustees to bring awareness to social awareness justice themes that may have been under-represented or marginalized in the mainstream music scene in the past. It is their hope that this new award will foster a path to greater awareness, understanding, com- munication and empathetic action amongst communities worldwide.

Marek Tyler

Artist, Educator, Entrepreneur

Marek Tyler (nêhiyaw/Scottish) lives and works in amiskwacîy (Edmonton) on Treaty 6 territory. Marek is an educator, entrepreneur, project liaison, manager, facilitator, and touring musician. Marek earned a Masters of Business Administration from Simon Fraser University (MBA). He is a sessional instructor at Grant MacEwan University (Edmonton). He is known for his work with cultural, education, and entrepreneurial initiatives including, performing with nêhiyawak, The Witness Blanket – A National Monument to Residential School Survivors; project managing The Spirit Pole – North American Indigenous Games; and conducting Community-based research for the Indigenous non-profit sector. Currently, Marek is documenting his family’s cultural protocols in contemporary art.

Mario Tuki

Artist

Mario Amahiro Tuki is a Rapanui singer-songwriter from an extensive family of artists, prominent practitioners of sculpture and knowledge holders of rapanui oral tradition. He followed the path of music inspired by the artistic influence of his elders and fore parents, the conditions of his background environment and a deep desire to express his mind and soul. His formal musical experience began in 2005 while setting up a music group with relatives and friends, creating the fused traditional – contemporary band band Ohiro hiro, with whom they’ve produced the album Taiko in 2006.

Matt Maw

Director & Lead Artist Manager Red Music Rising

Matt Maw (Chippewas of the Thames First Nation) is the Director & Lead Artist Manager at Red Music Rising. Matt brings over 10 years of multi-faceted music industry experience to RMR, along with a passion for artist development and a mission to amplify Canada's Indigenous artists on the global stage. Throughout his career, Matt has worked with some of Canada's most celebrated artists, Indigenous and otherwise, including Tanya Tagaq, William Prince, Riit, Jeremy Dutcher, Broken Social Scene, and BANNERS, among others. A graduate of the Harris Institute for the Arts, Matt has previously worked alongside organizations including Arts & Crafts Productions, Six Shooter Records and New Constellations.

Meeka Morgan

Artist, Artistic Director of 2 Rivers Remix Festival

Meeka Noelle Morgan, M.A. (SFU) was born and raised within Secwepemc and Nuu-Chah-Nulth lands, traditions and culture, but is also part St’atimc, and N’lakapamux. Surrounded by great orators and storytellers from both sides of her desert/rainforest family, as well as into a kaleidoscope of land defenders, activists, artists and musicians, she has been writing from as early as she could remember, and spent much time throughout her life listening to stories and music shared with her family. This invoked an immensely curious nature about the significance of stories, music and creativity, and how they can transform and rebuild relationships. She wrote her Master’s thesis (SFU) on the impacts her father’s people and generation experienced: “Making Connections with Secwepemc Family Through Storytelling: A Journey in Transformative Rebuilding”, which further developed her work, focused on retelling history, and processing this experience through creativity. She founded an Indigenous music and arts collective, The Melawmen Collective, which is now a performing musical group, and is also Artistic Director of 2 Rivers Remix Festival, an All Indigenous Contemporary Music and Arts Festival as well as the CEO of Meeka Noelle Consulting. She currently lives in in Secwepemculucw, with her husband, daughter and dog, close to her adult son, who she also works on projects with.

Mizzy Mejia

Creative BC

Mizzy Mejia is a Filipino-Canadian that comes from Kampampangan and Ilocanos bloodlines. He joined the Creative BC team as a Music Program Coordinator in August 2021 and has previously worked within several sectors of the music industry; as a performing artist; event & festival production, booking agent and artist manager.

Nigel Pahl

Artist

Mic (Mike) North is a trailblazing rapper who has taken the music industry by storm with his exceptional talent, lyrical prowess, and thought-provoking content. Hailing from a humble background, Mic North has risen through the ranks, carving a niche for himself in the highly competitive rap scene. With his raw energy, distinctive flow, and fearless approach to storytelling, he has captivated audiences and garnered a dedicated following.

Noel Habel

Canada Council for the Arts

Noel Habel is a member of the Sioux Valley Dakota First Nation with a degree in music and arts administration from the University of Ottawa. He has played in several bands as a drummer and percussionist in the Ottawa area before settling down and starting a family. His artistic career was put on hiatus for 14 years while he worked as a program officer for the Canada Council for the Arts travelling to many communities and events to help Indigenous artists in the pursuit of their project and career goals. Noel moved to Quebec City in July of 2018 to experience more personal and professional challenges and in addition to crafting his artistic persona William C. Wikcemna Yamni Ake Wanzi and releasing his first 2 singles, he also narrated a governor general award-winning book Mamaskatch by author Darryl McLoed. He helped the Franco-Ontarian pop group LGS promote their #1 single On Perds La Tête throughout Ontario and Quebec, performing live with the group at several radio station. In the summer of 2019, he travelled to Switzerland with Indigenous troupe Kwaweyih to present a 2-hour DJ set at the Paleo music festival. He also worked as a consultant for the literary committee of Canada FBM2020 which had the responsibility of organizing the Canadian representation as the guest of honor at the Frankfort Book fair in 2021. He is still employed by the Canada Council for the Arts and working on releasing his first solo album in his spare time.

Phyllis Sinclair

Artist

Canadian Folk Music Award nominated Singer-songwriter is known as "A Lady of Conviction”, Sinclair is a deceivingly quiet and amiable diplomatist. Her passion and advocacy are evident in her nurtured prose, humour, and congeniality.

Quanah Style

Artist

Quanah Style is Canada’s most infamous two-spirit trans artist. Hailing from the cree nation. Star of "Quanah TransOp" on wow presents and season 2 of Canada's a Drag on CBC. She recently shot her first feature film role in a movie called “Broken Angel” and is in production on a few new TV projects slated for later this year. One part fearless ClubKid and another part powerhouse musician. Ms. Style has blazed a train from coast to coast. From Vancouver to Toronto & LA. She has garnered attention and there are few dance floors who haven't felt her presence. From her outfits and makeup, to her music and show stopping performances, Quanah has proven she is a force to be reckoned with as a groundbreaking artist. She has opened for Snotty nose rez kids, Hallucination, Peaches, Buffy St.Marie, Bif Naked and more+

Rachel Barreca

Educator/Community Builder/Musician

Rachel Barreca (she/her) is a settler Canadian with European ancestry who grew up and currently lives as a guest on lands governed by the Dish With One Spoon wampum treaty between the Haudenosaunee and Anishnaabe peoples. She is a community builder, musician, and educator with a passion for transformative learning through the arts. She is connected to music as a performer, producer, academic, administrator, broadcaster, and volunteer. She is a trained KAIROS Blanket Exercise facilitator, served a term as President on the Folk Music Ontario Board of Directors, and currently co-creates spaces for transformative learning for and with students at Toronto Metropolitan University.

Raven Kanatakta Polson-Lahache

Artist, Producer

Raven Kanatakta is a musician, songwriter, producer, engineer, film scorer, music entrepreneur and a Rez kid at heart. Raven’s lineage is Anishinabe Algonquin from Winneway and Onkwehón:we Mohawk from Kahnawà:ke. Raised up in a tiny isolated reserve in northern Quebec, in his teenage years Raven moved to the city to pursue his musical aspirations. He received a BMus in Performance and Jazz Composition from Berklee in Boston and later partnered in a recording studio cutting his producing chops. Raven’s main musical sights are primarily focused with his wife and musician ShoShona Kish with whom they created the musical group ‘Digging Roots’. "It’s an amazing collaboration that constantly pushes us forward with a momentum that continually expands our growth as artists.”

Rosalyn Dennett

Executive Director Folk Music Ontario

Rosalyn is Executive Director of Folk Music Ontario / Musique Folk de l'Ontario, a member-driven music industry association that hosts Canada's largest Folk Music Conference. Her experience working in the music industry includes pivotal roles at MusicOntario, Canadian Independent Music Association, Music Canada, and the Canadian Federation of Musicians, and is serving her second term as an elected director on the executive board of Folk Alliance International. Rosalyn is co-founder of Stump Media and Smiths Falls Music, as well as a founding member of the highly-acclaimed band Oh My Darling. As a freelance artist she has had the pleasure of performing & recording with Ken Whiteley, Fred Penner, Donovan Woods, Kaia Kater, and many more amazing artists.

Sandy Scofield

Arist

Sandy Scofield is a multi-award winning composer, musician, musical director, singer. songwriter and performer and educator. She has studied classical, jazz, African, Indonesian gamelan and electro-acoustic music. A Métis, she hails from four generations of fiddlers, singers and musicians. Among her six recordings to date, she has won five Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards, a Canadian Folk Music Award, an Indian Summer Music Award (U.S.A.), a Western Canadian Music Award and received three consecutive Juno nominations. Over the years, she has mentored innumerable First Nations singers and songwriters in the way of rudimentary music theory, vocal techniques, songwriting craft and music-industry protocol. She has toured to festivals on five continents and holds an undergraduate degree in music composition.

Sara Curruchich

Mayan Kaqchikel singer and songwriter

Sara Curruchich was born in 1993 in San Juan Comalapa, Chimaltenango, in a Mayan Kaqchikel community, in the central highlands of Guatemala. Her people have a long tradition of art and knowledge, as well as a history of resistance and struggle. Her music is thus born from her people’s collective and individual feelings, history, memory, culture, languages and struggles, as well as her own, personal stance as an artist. Sara Curruchich is the first Indigenous Guatemalan singer and songwriter to sing in Kaqchikel (her mother tongue), as well as Spanish, for an international audience. Her voice and message of love, awareness, respect and defense of life in all its forms, have led many people to regard her as a beacon of light and hope.

Sarah Burke

INDIE 88 Host

Sarah Burke is a Canadian broadcaster, podcaster and producer based in Toronto. She is a host for Indie88 (CIND-FM) in Toronto, the Women in Media Podcast, the Jann Arden Radio Show and Podcast, and formerly SiriusXM. Sarah recently launched The Sunday Show on Indie88 where she hopes to create a better home for great Canadian singer-songwriters amongst an international playlist featuring roots, blues, soul & Americana music you don’t always hear on commercial radio. Sarah is also the Executive Producer of Don Amero’s Through the Fire Podcast, BETTER with Mark Brand, and the just launched Trust Me…I’m a Decorator podcast hosted by renowned Television Hosts Debbie Travis and Tommy Smythe.

Sebastian Gaskin

Artist, Producer

Sebastian Gaskin is a multi-instrumentalist R&B singer-songwriter based in Toronto, Canada, who grew up in Tataskweyak Cree Nation, or Split Lake Manitoba as it’s better known. Sebastian writes and self produces music that is anything but formulaic, thanks to eclectic musical tastes in R&B, Hip Hop, Metal,and Punk. The Winnipeg Free Press says: “...think Post Malone mixed with Frank Ocean, all swag and smooth vocals, hits of hip-hop and rap, rounded out with emotive thoughtful lyrics.”. Gaskin is the recipient of the 2021 Western Canadian Music Award for R&B Artist of the Year, the 2021 Kevin Walters Song Writing Award, and was also chosen to attend the 2021 Allan Slaight Juno Masterclass.

ShoShona Kish

Artist / Executive Director IIMS

Susan Aglukark

Artist, Founder of Arctic Rose Foundation

Susan Aglukark is Canada’s first Inuk artist to win a Juno (4), a Governor General’s Performing Arts Award for lifetime artistic achievement, and she is an officer of the Order of Canada. Susan holds several Honourary Doctorate degrees and has held command performances. During a career that has spanned more than 25 years, Susan’s journey as a singer-songwriter has led her to reflect on who she is, where she comes from and the importance of discovery – discovery of history, culture and self, this time of reflection, writing and songwriting has Susan coming back to one area of profound knowing, the Inuit are an extraordinary people deeply grounded in a culture forged by their Ancestors, their journey is what shaped them.

Tao-Ming Lau

Agent

Tao-Ming Lau is an agent at Paquin Artists Agency and founder of Blue Crane Agency (@bluecraneagency), a music booking agency seeking to prioritize female, BIPOC, and LGBTQ2S+ artists. The roster was founded with and includes artists like Priyanka, Zaki Ibrahim, Shay Lia, Clerel, DJ NDN (Co-Founder of A Tribe Called Red), Vivek Shraya, BAMBII, and more. The agency has programmed festivals such as Pride Toronto and curated events for Nuit Blanche, Royal Ontario Museum, TIFF, and more. Tao is a board director at Polaris Music Prize, and was chosen as a Rising Star in Toronto Life Magazine's 50 Most Influential Torontonians of 2018. Previously, she was at Chicago-based touring agency Billions, Universal Music Canada, and got her start with Carly Rae Jepsen's management and label in Vancouver, on the traditional and unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations, where she was born and raised. Tao is a queer woman of colour seeking to open more doors and establish better infrastructure for equity deserving and under-represented artist communities.

Vai a Tare Paoa

Artist

Rapa Nui woman, publicist, event producer, singer and entrepreneur. Born in Rapa Nui, she was educated on the continent, having access to a wide range of opportunities that characterize her professional experience and her skills in different work environments. She has experience in television, media, and organization of musical tours, among others. She returned to her homeland of hers 12 years ago, becoming part of the artistic and cultural management scene through her different facets and skills.