President; Chair, Strategic Planning Committee
Nadia Laham, Ph.D.
Manager, Cultural Industries
Canadian Heritage
Nadia Laham has been quite active on the Ottawa arts scene for the past twenty years. Born in Ottawa, she pursued a Ph.D. Degree in Communications in France before joining the federal public service. Nadia has worked at the Canada Council for the Arts and currently manages the Support for Artistic and Literary Magazines at Canadian Heritage. She also oversees the Dennis Tourbin Fund for Emerging Artists which supports the creation of multi-disciplinary and performance works. Nadia enjoys photography and is thrilled to be able to fulfill a childhood dream by taking drawing courses at the OSA since the beginning of the year.
Vice-President
Heather Beaton
Counsel
Industry Canada Legal Services
Heather is a former student of the Ottawa School of Art and has been a member of the Board since 2006. Heather has been working as legal counsel with the federal government since 1999 and recently completed a MA in Transnational Communications and Global Media at the University of London. She is a keen supporter of the arts scene in Ottawa, including the Ottawa School of Art.
Treasurer
Karen Vinczeffy
Senior Manager
Welch LLP
Karen Vinczeffy is a chartered accountant and works as a manager at Welch LLP, a medium-sized public accounting firm. She has a lot of experience in auditing not-for-profit organizations, including arts-related organizations. She has always had an interest in art and enjoys taking in the various galleries in the Ottawa area. She likes to travel and enjoys the outdoors.
Secretary
Elizabeth McGuinness
Elizabeth McGuinness, BA, LLB served as Vice President, Secretary and Director of ARTSmart, a non-profit organization devoted to raising funds for art education for the youth of Santa Fe, NM. Her responsibilities included maintaining corporate books; establishing new fund raising activities; soliciting and training volunteers; developing new underwriters and donors; interfacing with local politicians and coordinating the establishment of endowment and scholarship funds. As a Partner with Heenan Blaikie, she specialized in financing film and television production. This involved private placements; traditional banking; venture capital funding; production and distribution contracting; and merchandising, additional responsibilities including being the chair of various firm management committees.
Community Members
Helen Sadler
Helen Sadler joined the Board of the Ottawa School of Art in January 2012. She is currently pursuing a PHD in Arts Based Research through the University of Ottawa’s Education Department. Helen worked as a visual artist and teacher in New York City for over 15 years. Her paintings have been exhibited throughout North America and Europe and reviewed in art journals including Art in America and Flash Art. Helen is excited to be a part of the art community in Ottawa and she is looking forward to participating through the Ottawa School of Art.
Stuart Lanctôt Kinmond
Architect (retired); Artist
Montreal native and long-time architect, Stuart Kinmond also lived in Yellowknife and Edmonton before moving to Ottawa in 1984. His career as a visual artist started in the late eighties when he began painting, while continuing to work as an architect part-time. He studied painting and printmaking at the Ottawa School of Art in the nineties and began exhibiting in 2000. He is now a full-time visual artist working in paint, mixed media and digital media out of his Ottawa studio.
Gregory Evanik
Partner Information
Ecosystems Group
Gregory Evanik has been extremely active in organizational development in the Ottawa community during the past 25 years. He has been on numerous boards and fund raising committees for local arts organizations, homes for the elderly, Boy Scouts and Girl Guides, community clubs, medical foundations, hockey associations, etc. He is a sculptor and water colourist, has been a student of OSA in the 80s, has participated in a number of exhibitions/showings of his sculptures and water colours, and has been highly active in obtaining support and funding for the new Shenkman Arts Centre. He was previously a Director General in the Federal Government of Canada. He holds an MBA from the University of Western Ontario and is a Certified Management Consultant in strategic planning.
Megan Lafrenière
Megan Lafrenière holds a BFA in Art History from Concordia University and is currently pursuing a Professional Specialization Certificate in Collections Management through the University of Victoria. For eleven years she served as Co-director of the Lafrenière & Pai Gallery, one of Canada’s foremost fine craft galleries. Most recently she was a Project Manager at the Ottawa Museum Network, a not-for-profit organization that works to promote and advance the interests of ten community museums. Megan was a long-time volunteer with the Ontario Crafts Council and has sat on the Board of Directors of the Ottawa School of Art since 2010. She has always enjoyed working creatively and has studied ceramics and mixed media art at the OSA.
Jessica Eden
Senior Consultant
Deloitte Inc.
Jessica Eden is an experienced organizational strategy consultant with a long history of involvement in the arts. Jessica is a Manager in Deloitte’s Consulting practice with a focus on customer service organizations, supported by skills in strategic planning, change management and communications. She has worked with not-for-profits on projects related to Board governance, organizational effectiveness and design, strategy implementation, and change management. Jessica first became involved with the OSA many years ago through March Break Camps, and most recently has been taking independent study courses in paper arts. She holds a BA in Drama, and was a founding member and co-Producer of the independent, student-owned Gnu Ground Theatre Company in Kingston (created to provide a venue for young practitioners to develop community-oriented theatre experience). She also holds an MBA from Carleton University.
Tania Lafrenière
Originally from Montreal, Tania moved to the Ottawa region in the early eighties. She is an accomplished professional with a diverse background in HR, Organizational Effectiveness, Strategy, Governance, and Board Management. Most recently she was the Director, Office of the Secretary General and Governance at the Canadian Red Cross where she managed and led Strategy, Governance and the overall priorities of the Society. Previously she spent eight years in the High Tech sector leading several functions within HR. Tania currently sits as a Board Director for the Ottawa Safety Council and serves on the National Governance Committee for the Girl Guides of Canada. She is also pursuing a BPA, Governance, Management & Law at Athabasca University. Tania has joined the Ottawa School of Art to help promote its brand, its message, and to help strengthen its presence. She is passionate about art and will be pursuing a painting and drawing course at the Ottawa School of Art.
Ex Officio Members
Past President (ex officio)
Diana Cantú
International Datacasting Corporation
Executive Director (ex officio)
Jeff Stellick
Ottawa School of Art
