Devon LeClair

Chair

Devon is a born and raised Calgarian. After spending many years living in cities around the world, she came back to YYC with one goal: to help make Calgary more livable and lovable.
With an extensive background in arts and culture, non-profit and government, Devon currently works as Chief of Staff for the Ward 9 City Councillor. She is a lifelong lover of theatre and has held several positions with different theatre companies.
Why Devon volunteers with The GRAND: “I am particularly interested in helping to move The GRAND towards a more inclusive, intersectional and accessible space for all Calgarians.”

Quinton Rafuse

Vice Chair

Renee Matthews

Secretary

Renee’s current roles with The Grand are as a Director and the acting Secretary of the Board.
Her day job as an energy lawyer, practicing at a boutique law firm in Calgary, coupled with her creative off-hours hobbies give her the perfect balance of left- and right-brain exercise! She has a LLB / MBA from the UBC, and prior to her role as a Director, she assisted a number of other Calgary arts and community organizations volunteering legal services on a pro bono basis.
Renée’s favourite GRAND space: “The Mezzanine Lounge is an intimate space that’s perfect for grabbing a cocktail, mingling with other guests and capturing a bird’s eye view of the bustle in the lobby area below!”

Akashdeep Gill

Treasurer

Akash Gill is a Treasurer at The GRAND with over 5 years of experience working in public practice. He currently works as an Assistant Controller at Hexagon's Autonomy & Positioning division. He graduated from Mount Royal University with a degree in Business Administration, Accounting, and holds a CPA designation. Akash uses his knowledge and skills to support The GRAND's accounting department and provides financial insight to the Board for decision making.

Jason McKay

Director

VICE PRESIDENT Modern Rentals
With a career spanning over two decades in the Events and Food & Beverage Hospitality industry, Jason has had the opportunity to work with every kind of client from celebrity athletes to corporate businesses. His passion and creative thinking ensure that every client and their guests have an experience like no other. He has worked with brands, clients, and companies from across the globe and has been committed to showcasing Canadian talent and all it offers through notable programs, including World Cup Snowboard, Freestyle, Bobsled, Alpine Canada, and the Hockey Canada Gala.
Through his dedication to giving back, Jason was the founder and producer of the Legacy Gala (2014 – 2018) which supported Canadian Olympic Athletes. And he has been an instrumental part of fundraising for a number of not-for-profit sports and charities over the years.

Kirsten Schrader

Director

Kirsten has spent 20 years in the municipal and non-profit arts and culture sector in key roles such as, the Executive Director of the Vancouver International Fringe Festival, the Arts Coordinator for the City of Richmond, and in Public Programs at the Vancouver Art Gallery.
In 2010, Kirsten was appointed Manager of a brand-new regional Arts and Culture Division for the Cowichan Valley Regional District on southern Vancouver Island. In this role, she was responsible for managing the Cowichan Performing Arts Centre- a 750 seat, professional theatre- and curating an annual presenting season of over 260 live performances. In addition, she was responsible for providing financial support and community development opportunities for five sub-regional arts councils and various non-profit arts organizations across 13 communities in the region. In 2016, she launched a new tax supporting the arts, which remains the only fully-regional tax for the arts in British Columbia.

Patrick Moskwa

Director

Patrick Moskwa is an artist, entrepreneur, educator, and designer. He has spent the past 2 decades embedded in cultural production and education working with various clients, firms and institutions around Calgary and the throughout North America. As part of his design and art career he has participated in and developed exhibitions and publications around Canada and the United States. He sees The Grand as one of Calgary’s most unique and provocative culture hubs and is proud to lend his expertise to the board. As a queer artist, Patrick is particularly interested in bringing more diverse voices to Calgary’s cultural scene.
Patrick is passionate about the diversity and strength of Calgary’s cultural scene. He has a Bachelor of Architecture from Carleton University and a Master of Fine Art in Craft Media from Alberta University of the Arts. Patrick has called Calgary home for the past 20 years and looks forward to seeing this wonderful city continue to blossom.
Patrick’s favourite thing about The GRAND:
“I am particularly proud of what The Grand has become over the past years since it’s redevelopment. The Grand is a space that promotes a diverse and explorative group of artists in many shapes of performance and visual art. It embraces and praises the emerging arts and culture community in Calgary and is poised to become a hub for the emerging arts landscape across Western Canada.”

Sam Fodor

Director

Samantha is the Director of Sustainability at XDI Energy Solutions, an oil and gas services company. She is responsible for people and performance, covering HR, HSE, and quality. The most energizing part of over 20 years of work is in finding unexpected paths to solve problems, growing meaningful engagement, and witnessing passion ignite toward shared goals.
Sam loves carefully curated experiences that inspire ideas and reflection (food, art, design, learning). She is most inspired when connecting with dreamers, creatives, and innovators--those motivated to design better systems and who think in possibilities. In her spare time, she loves exploring random curiosities, great food, and being around her people. She is finishing a capstone MBA project exploring behavioral design and sustainable performance.
Some memorable moments at The GRAND: the iconoclastic Compagnie Marie Chouinard (the bucket moment!), Chad VanGaalen (he homemade drum machine!), Untitled Feminist Show (what an unforgettable entrance!), the Sled Island poster show curated by Josh Ruck (screen-prints by local artists and all of the energy that Sled brings to the city).

Tazeem Weljie

Director

Tazeem Weljie (Taz) is a global strategy consultant and leadership coach with over 15 years of experience spanning six countries (Canada, China, Guyana, Japan, UK, and the US). With a passion for making organizations be as efficient as possible, Taz intersects her experience in the non-profit, public, and private sectors with her background in Change Management, Human Resources, Communications, Process Improvement, and Project Management. She employs both her left and right brain to analytically and creatively tackle any problem – big or small.