Board

Colin Hughes – Chair

Colin Hughes is a Community Worker with the Children’s Aid Society of Toronto, Scarborough Branch. He has worked with and on behalf of many disadvantaged and challenged communities over the past 30 years. He is a founding and active member of Campaign 2000 to End Child Poverty, active in the Coalition for Better Child Care, and is a board member with the Better Child Care Education Foundation. He has had numerous reports and articles published on these issues. His interest with SAC is in developing child welfare linkages with the arts community. He is a member of the collaborative that developed the Scarborough CARES initiative. He holds a diploma in Social Services (1977), a B.A. degree (With Distinction) in psychology (1985), and a Master of Social Work degree (1987). He has also taught several courses in community work at the Faculty of Social Work, York University.

Christine Harris – Vice-Chair

Christine N. Harris, a multidisciplined theatre artist, has been working as a professional actor/director/writer for the last 5 years. She currently has a script in development for a full length play. Her dedicated practice also includes arts administration as well as marketing communications for the not-for-profit arts sector. In this capacity, Christine has been particularly involved in public relations and community outreach strategies for Toronto-based theatre companies.

Ravinder Shawe – Vice-Chair

Ravinder Shawe is a lawyer at a mid-sized firm in Toronto, whose practice emphasizes advising on corporate, not-for-profit, and entertainment law matters. A proud Scarborough native with extensive volunteer experience, Ravinder joined SAC hoping to share her experience and love of the arts, and to help the SAC continue to flourish.

Daniel Broome – Treasurer

Daniel Broome is a media, arts and entertainment consultant and educator. Specializing in the Canadian music industry, he is the former VP Operations & Administration for True North Records, Canada’s oldest and one of its’ largest independent record labels. In his thirteen years at True North Records, Daniel was involved in the delivery and release of over 400 titles to the marketplace and has supervised the production of eight Juno award-winning and eighteen Juno nominated albums. He also played an active role in the Finkelstein Management Company where he assisted Canadian Music Industry veteran Bernie Finkelstein in guiding the professional careers of Bruce Cockburn, Stephen Fearing and Blackie & the Rodeo Kings. Now a media and entertainment business consultant, Daniel is also an instructor at private post secondary school, Harris Institute, in Toronto where he is the Director of the Recording Arts Management Program.

Carolyn Kim - Secretary

Carolyn Kim is a transportation planner at a transportation engineering & planning consulting firm. She has a Bachelor in Urban and Regional Planning from Ryerson University and is a Provisional Member of OPPI/CIP. Carolyn is a Scarborough native with a strong interest in the arts as well as sustaining and nurturing the culture and heritage that lies within communities. In addition to understanding the framework in which city planning exists, she has experience in asset and facility management, specifically working with local governments and agencies and nonprofit organizations. Her interest with the SAC is in program development, building awareness of SAC programs and services, and building community participation in the arts.

Christine Amendola

Christine Amendola has a broad range of experience in communications, marketing and media relations that spans publishing, television and film, and the non-profit sector. She was Media Relations Manager at Global Television where she was responsible for developing and executing media relations and publicity plans for the network’s Canadian and U.S. programs. She has been Director of Communications and Business Development at Women in Film and Television-Toronto, an internationally affiliated industry organization that provides year-round training programs, events and awards for women and men in Canadian screen-based media, overseeing communications, marketing, media and member relations, and new business development. She has also helped promote awareness of national and local initiatives for Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada. Recently, she was Senior Project Co-ordinator at MusiCounts, the music education charity of The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, developing new and existing fundraising and partnership opportunities, and marketing and publicity strategy for programs, third party events and special initiatives. Christine has also worked as a writer and editor at The Globe and Mail, Maclean Hunter, and Southam Inc.

Adrian Heaps

Councillor Adrian Heaps was elected the city councillor for Ward 35, Scarborough-Southwest in November 2006. Prior to his election, Adrian managed his own consulting company to work with different municipalities and organizations on tourism and economic development strategy. During the 1980s, Adrian was the vice president of one of Canada’s most vibrant independent music companies, Duke Street Records, where he worked with artists on the domestic and international stage. Adrian has a background in cultural, community and economic development, which has taken him to southeast Asia, Europe, Guyana, Colombia and First Nation communities in Ontario on different consulting projects.

Hanifa Kassam
Hanifa Kassam, a recent graduate from York University, has been dedicated to working and volunteering in and with residents in Scarborough and Toronto at large. She is one of four daughters of immigrant parents from Dar Es Salam, Tanzania and has lived and worked in Scarborough for 25 years. Currently, she works as the Manager of Fund Development at Agincourt Community Services Association; a non-profit, multi-service agency at the heart of Agincourt addressing needs and empowering children, youth, newcomers, homeless and underserved communities to build a better tomorrow. Hanifa excels at developing partnerships and securing resources to support the ongoing and developing needs of community members in both traditional and innovative ways. She is a Committee Member of the Community Social Planning Council of Toronto’s Governance Committee and is an active member of Ontario Youth Matter, a campaign for developing better youth policies (a network of community organizations calling on the Ontario government to implement a Provincial Youth Policy Framework). She has served on the Birchmount Bluffs Neighbourhood Centre’s Youth Advisory Committee and the 2007 City of Toronto Identify n’ Impact Grant review committee dedicated to funding youth-led initiatives amongst Toronto’s 13 priority neighborhoods.

Sergei Petrov

Sergei Petrov has directed, written and produced feature length documentaries, short dramatic films, music videos, commercials, and theatrical events.  Sergei graduated from Centennial College in Toronto from a Film and Television Production program, while operating his own production company, SVP Films.  His work has won numerous awards at film and television festivals in Canada, USA, Europe and Russia, where he is originally from.

Serge has directed and produced for CBC, Ontario Film Review Board, Service Canada, Fashion Television, NFB, Portrait Society of Canada and more.  He has also worked as Media and Public Relations Coordinator for “Russian Hockey Place Inc.”, organizing events for Hockey Hall of Fame and Hockey Legends Classic tours.   Currently, he holds the position of Team Manager at the marketing department of TD Waterhouse (Insurance Division).

Sergei has resided in Scarborough since the day his family immigrated to Canada, 14 years ago, and is dedicated in bringing the best of his knowledge and experience to Scarborough Arts Council.