Boran Zaza
Instructor – Rimouski, QC
A committed lifelong learner who fluently communicates in several languages and dialects, Boran Zaza holds degrees in piano, music education, musicology, and web development from top institutions in Iraq, Lebanon and Canada, and was most recently graduated from the prestigious Schulich School of Music of McGill University. Before transitioning to Arts Administration, Boran’s professional musical engagements had led her to perform in prestigious venues in Canada, Iraq, Lebanon, Oman, Dubai, Italy and the USA. Her piano performances have been acclaimed by the press as “dramatic and full of vivid emotion” — (Arts and Culture Today).
Growing up in Iraq, Boran was a pianist and percussionist of the National Youth Orchestra of Iraq; she hosted her own classical music radio program called “Behind the Music”, the first radio program dedicated to classical music in the country.
Boran was the Executive and Artistic Director of the Oasis Musicale Concert Series and the Marketing Manager of the Orchestre classique de Montréal. She is currently Director of Communications and Development at Orchestras Canada and sits on the Board of Directors of Concerts aux Îles du Bic.
Boran is an award-winning videographer who has created social media content for various artists and cultural organizations in Quebec and abroad, and whose videos received hundreds of thousands of views. She also enjoys public speaking, giving conferences on social media for classical musicians, and recording and performing new arrangements of Kurdish and Middle Eastern music on piano.
Boran immigrated to Canada in 2016, and is currently based in Rimouski, Québec, a beautiful city located in the Lower St. Lawrence region, just on the border of the Gaspé Peninsula. Those regions are on unceded traditional lands of the Wolastoqiyik Wahsipekuk and Mi’gmaq First Nations.
Alyson Shane
Instructor – Winnipeg, MB
Alyson Shane is a writer who has been publishing content online since 2002. She holds a degree in Rhetoric, Writing & Communications and has been the President of Starling Social, a full-service digital marketing agency, for 10 years.
Alyson’s knowledge of digital marketing comes from a combination of hands-on experience, professional training, and “learning by doing”; she delivers dozens of talks and webinars focused on social media, content, and digital marketing strategy a year.
Anne Longmore
Instructor – Toronto, ON
Anne Longmore is an expert in strategic marketing communications for the cultural sector. She has a Masters in Arts Administration and over her career she has led marketing communications for the Royal Ontario Museum, the Ontario Science Centre, and the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir. She has also shared her knowledge through teaching and leading seminars and webinars. She taught Marketing at the Canadian University of Dubai and Strategic Communications Planning in the Humber College Post-graduate Public Relations program.
Like most arts marketing professionals, Anne had to teach herself many new online platforms. She brings a strategic approach to all online platforms combined with a practical focus on how to make these platforms useful and manageable for cultural organizations with limited financial and staff resources. She has shared this approach and knowledge through webinars and seminars, covering various aspects of developing an effective online communications strategy, for Chorus America, the Association of California Symphony Orchestras, Choral Canada, and Choirs Ontario.
Learn more and connect with Anne through LinkedIn.
Emily Jung
Instructor – Toronto, ON
Emily Jung (she/her) is an interdisciplinary artist & artsworker working with themes around labour (and rest), multilingual arts, social media, feminism, climate change, and aging. Most recently, she worked as Associate Technical Artist for Hypothetical Baby by Rachel Cairns.
She has worked in organizations such as the Toronto International Festival of Authors, Toronto International Film Festival, Theatre Passe Muraille, and is currently working as the Director of Communications at The Theatre Centre.
You can see her design on the covers of the first and second Unpublished City anthologies (book*hug), The Theatre Passe Muraille cat tote bag (2020), and on The Theatre Centre’s marketing campaigns (2023 onwards).
Kallee Lins
Instructor – Nelson, BC
Kallee is an avid supporter of the performing arts and nonprofit sectors across Canada. She has held management roles at the Dancer Transition Resource Centre, Imagine Canada and Dance Media Group. After a decade of working in the Toronto arts community, she recently returned to her home region of BC to support community cultural development as Executive Director of the West Kootenay Regional Arts Council.
Kallee is a board member with the Dance West Network and volunteers in support of the national arts research network Mass Culture. She is a past board chair of Dance Umbrella of Ontario. Throughout her work in the cultural sector, Kallee has developed a passion for systems-level change and advocating for stronger arts policy.
Recognizing that many arts organizations have undergone extensive change in recent years, Kallee now provides consulting services to small nonprofits with a focus on communications development, operational planning, and digital adaptation. Her approach to working with organizations is grounded in principles of design thinking. She is a big believer in the power of experimentation, iteration, and constant learning.
Kallee started her career as a one-woman communications department in a small arts nonprofit and knows what it feels like to juggle email, social media, digital ads and more. She relied on Google to teach herself the ins and outs of digital platforms; she’s thrilled to see high-quality resources like ArtsBoost courses on the market to support a new generation of arts marketer.
Through her participation in ArtsBoost, she hopes to empower arts administrators to find their own style of communicating online and to have fun exploring the powerful tools available to them.
Kallee holds an MA in Theatre & Performance Studies from York University. To learn more about her work, find her on LinkedIn or thrivebydesign.net.
Michael Morreale
Instructor – Toronto, ON
Michael Morreale is a digital marketer, consultant and video producer with over a decade of experience in the performing arts. He has worked with high-profile organizations, including the CBC, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Royal Conservatory, Orchestras Canada and The Banff Centre, and equally enjoys working with grassroots arts companies across Canada.
Michael’s work has appeared in leading publications, such as The Guardian, Maclean’s Magazine, The Globe and Mail and PBS. He brings a wealth of experience to his consulting work, having led successful digital transformation projects such as the launch of CBC Music online, project lead for TSO’s $10 million Canada Mosaic project, and over a dozen Canada Council Digital Strategy Fund projects with Canadian non-profit arts organizations. In 2019, Michael led the development of ArtsBoost, an online learning platform aimed at equipping Canadian arts professionals with the skills and knowledge they need to succeed.
He brings a unique blend of marketing skills, technical expertise, and a performing background to his work, creating robust strategies for engaging audiences with digital content. Michael lives in Toronto and holds certifications in drone operations and Neapolitan pizza-making, reflecting his commitment to excellence and continuous learning.
Tanya Rumble
Instructor – Toronto, ON
Tanya Rumble is a racialized settler of multi-ethnic origins living in Tkaronto. She is a fundraising leader who has raised millions for some of Canada’s largest charities including Heart and Stroke Foundation, the Canadian Cancer Society, McMaster University and now the Faculty of Arts and Yellowhead Institute at Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson). As a racialized philanthropy professional Tanya is honoured to share her influence and insights with students, emerging professionals and peers in the sector. Tanya regularly writes articles on the topics of inclusion, equity, and access; and power, privilege and fundraising for industry publications and speaks to professional audiences at learning events regularly.
She graduated with an Hons. B.A. Political Science from McMaster University, earned a Graduate Certificate at NYU in Marketing Communications, and is currently enrolled in the Master Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership (MPNL) at Carleton University. She has also completed numerous professional certificates including Not-For-Profit Governance Essentials (Rotman School of Management, Institute of Corporate Directors) and Truth and Reconciliation Through Right Relations (Banff Centre). Tanya is a Certified Fundraising Executive (CFRE) and Master Financial Advisor – Philanthropy (MFA-P™).
Additionally, she is an active leadership volunteer in the philanthropy and non-profit sector: Member of the Advisory Committee on the Charitable Sector with the Government of Canada; Board Director with the Association of Fundraising Professionals Canada; executive volunteer with the Canadian Association of Gift Planners; and Co-Chair of the Board with FindHelp Information Services – operators of 211 Toronto. In addition to sharing her knowledge, she is committed to lifelong learning – she is a graduate of the 2017 Association of Fundraising Professionals Inclusion and Philanthropy Fellowship, and 2010 DiverseCity Fellowship. Tanya gratefully acknowledges the Anishinaabe, Mississauga and Haudenosaunee nations, whose traditional territory she is a settler and responsible steward of.
Karen Choi
Instructor – Toronto, ON
With her trademark enthusiasm and values-centred approach to collaboration, Karen Choi (she/her) is committed to helping arts organizations connect with audiences in two ways:
In coaching, Karen helps arts administrators and performing artists energize their work and lives. Trained as a professional coach at Adler, she specializes in creating clarity, breaking through inner barriers, and burnout recovery. Recent clients include the Association for Opera in Canada and Women in Musical Leadership, led by Tapestry Opera.
Through content strategy and marketing, Karen creates fun and meaningful experiences that boost engagement and brand awareness. Recent clients include Loose Tea Music Theatre and SweetWater Music Festival.
After roles in communications at the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and The New Classical 96.3FM, Karen’s spent the past decade walking the entrepreneurial path. Based in Toronto, you might find Karen exploring the Bluffs with her husband, Usic, their two daughters, and Arlo, the dog.
Amy Melmock
Instructor – Great Village, NS
Amy Melmock works with cultural and community-based arts organizations throughout Canada to help them hone in on their strategic and business aspirations and turn these aspirations into action. Through three decades of experience working in the public sector, community development and arts administration, she has helped arts organizations large and small see the connecting fabric between their needs and the broader goals of their community.
Her arts background includes a five-year term as General Manager of Neptune Theatre in Halifax and working as the Festival Coordinator of the inaugural Stan Rogers Folk Festival in Canso, Nova Scotia. As a community economic development manager in Hants County, Nova Scotia and in the Cowichan Valley region of Vancouver Island, she assisted heritage and cultural organizations and municipalities with finding the resources to pursue new professional arts facilities and community-based initiatives. As a wordsmith, she has held Senior Communications and Marketing positions with the former ministry of Culture, Heritage and Tourism in British Columbia and with the Ontario Office of the Premier. She has also written more than a dozen original works of children’s musical theatre that were produced professionally.
Stephen Bell
Instructor – Toronto, ON
Founder and Creative Director of the film and web design studio, Coffeeshop Film & Creative, Stephen Bell is a UX/UI Designer and Director of Photography based in Toronto, Ontario. Upon studying at the Ontario College of Design, Stephen and a team of a designers and creatives founded Coffeeshop Film & Creative which quickly grew into a leading Toronto media studio with over 100 clients in industries ranging from the arts to construction and finance. With an approach to minimalist and clean design, Stephen has created over 75 custom desktop and mobile web and web app builds, while receiving recognition and award honours.
Stephen is also an accomplished operatic tenor, and was a member of the Calgary Opera Young Artist Program, he has performed with companies across Canada, US and Europe. Stephen has performed with the Canadian Opera Company in over 85 productions as a member of the chorus, small roles and understudies.
Tim Crouch
Instructor – Toronto, ON
My name is Tim Crouch, and I’ll be your instructor and guide throughout this surveying course. I have a background in the performing arts, having received my Bachelors and Masters of Music in Flute performance. Rather than entering a career path of performance, however, early on I discovered that my true passion lies in arts administration, and increasing the accessibility of arts and culture in Canada. I’ve held senior-level marketing positions at Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Chamber Choir and Soundstreams, and have now moved into general management. I have been on the Board for Musicworks Magazine and Guild Festival Theatre, and have sat on various committees, including the Juno Awards Classical Nominations Committee, the Orchestras Canada Digital Committee, and the Kawartha Lakes Arts Council Communications Committee. Learn more or contact Tim on LinkedIn.
Michelle Yeung
Instructor – Toronto, ON
Michelle Yeung has 20 years of experience in working in the arts, a successful track record in arts management with a commitment to volunteerism and a culture of philanthropy. She has been a professional fundraiser for 15 years and is also a Certified Fundraising Executive. Her career includes working at such organizations as The School of Toronto Dance Theatre, Toronto Arts Foundation, Tafelmusik, and Factory Theatre, to name a few. She has also served on boards including Prologue Performing Arts, Mass Culture and Cahoots Theatre Company. Learn more or contact Michelle on LinkedIn.
