Board Members

Cheryl Hickman is the General and Artistic Director of Opera on the Avalon, which she founded in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, in 2009. A highly regarded and critically acclaimed soprano, she has performed with leading opera companies, including the New York City Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Vancouver Opera, Calgary Opera and the Canadian Opera Company.

She is the recipient of numerous national and regional honours, including the ArtsNL Artist Achievement Award, the Premier’s Medal for Excellence in the Arts and awards from the Metropolitan Opera, the George & Nora London Foundation and the Sullivan Foundation. She was named one of Atlantic Business Magazine’s Top 50 CEOs five times and was inducted into the Atlantic Business Hall of Fame in 2023.

A graduate of the Juilliard School and the University of Toronto, Cheryl serves on the Board of The Rooms and is the Honorary Patron of the Atlantic Boychoir.

She served for eight years on the Board of the Canada Council for the Arts, beginning in April 2017, and has been appointed Chair of the Board for a five-year term, from July 28, 2025, to July 27, 2030.

Photo: David Howells

As an active member of the family business, Germain Hôtels, Marie Pier Germain began her career in Calgary during the construction phase of the business’s first real estate complex in Western Canada. She then took the helm of Alt Hotel Montreal, where she leveraged her human approach, which is focussed on inter-team collaboration.

Today, as vice-president of sales and marketing for Germain Hôtels, she puts to good use the entrepreneurial values passed down by her family, which has been in business for several generations. Her determination, her desire to innovate and her focus on Canadian talent are the focal point of her results-oriented approach.

Marie Pier Germain holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Queen’s University and a master’s degree from the McGill HEC Montréal Executive MBA program. Fueled by a desire to contribute to her community, she is involved with various organizations like the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, Tourisme Montréal, the LAB-École and La Dauphinelle. She also regularly takes part in conferences and training sessions dealing with customer experience and entrepreneurial succession.

Marie Pier Germain was appointed Vice-Chair of the Board of the Canada Council for the Arts for a four-year term effective December 17, 2021, to December 16, 2025.

Photo: Marie H Rainville

Ingrid began her career with PwC, working with both local Canadian companies and international ones in London (United Kingdom), New York, Washington, D.C., and Boston (United States). Since leaving PwC, she has worked with numerous families and ultra-high net worth individuals, leading the family office function and providing critical expertise in the areas of philanthropy, wealth management, asset allocation, tax planning and compliance.

Complementing her work in the family office space, Ingrid serves as a director on a number of boards and is particularly focused on those that are advancing women’s access to capital and other equity-based outcomes. In her professional board work, Ingrid previously served on the inaugural Board of InBC, a $500M strategic investment fund with the stated goal of achieving a triple bottom line mandate; Ingrid currently serves on a number of limited partner advisory committees for various private equity and venture capital funds.  

Ingrid is deeply committed to community, having served as Chair of The Forum, an organization dedicated to the advancement of women entrepreneurs, as well as serving as a director on the Board of Ballet BC. Currently, Ingrid is involved with a number of grassroots arts organizations for the performing arts.

Ingrid Leong was appointed to the Board of the Canada Council for the Arts for a four-year term effective from December 13, 2021, to December 12, 2025. She was reappointed for a four-year term from December 13, 2025, to December 12, 2029.

Stephane Moraille is an intellectual creative. She is an entertainment attorney and an international recording artist. She holds a master’s degree in Intellectual Property Law from Osgoode Hall Law School (York University), and her practice has covered the areas of music, film, television, museum, and technology law since 2006.

Stephane was the Director of Legal and Business Affairs at the prestigious institution PHI. She has worked in audiovisual properties development at VICE and in film and TV clearance at Lussier & Khouzam.

As a founding member of the collective Bran Van 3000, which was nominated in 2015 and 2022 for the Slaight Family Polaris Heritage Prize, she received numerous distinctions in the music industry (Much Music Video Awards, a Juno Award, a Canadian Radio Award, a Félix award, a Gold record, and a SOCAN Award).

A proven communicator dedicated to training the new generation of creative professionals, she actively participates in programs lead by the Minister of Culture and Communications of Quebec and has taught at the Phoenix Music Executive Development Program and at l’INIS. 

Stephane cumulates more than a decade of experience in governance and strategic management of cultural and art institutions, including the Songwriters Association of Canada, the Urban Music Association of Canada, MuchFACT, and Main Film. She collaborates with ADVANCE Music Canada. She has also served on the board of directors of the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (CALQ).

Stephane Moraille was appointed to the Board of the Canada Council for the Arts for a four-year term, effective October 20, 2022, to October 19, 2026.

Photo: Geneviève Charbonneau

Driven by an entrepreneurial flame, passionate about public affairs, arts and culture, Jan-Fryderyk Pleszczynski has been involved for more than 20 years in the business community, mainly in the creative industries.

Currently acting as an interim executive and as a strategic business advisor, Jan-Fryderyk puts his experience as a lawyer, entrepreneur and manager to help various companies navigate through a growth period, a transaction or a reorganization. Part of the executive team of Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group as CEO of its multimedia company until May 2020, he is behind the production of major events, live shows and immersive experiences around the globe. He previously acted as president and executive producer of Digital Dimension, a multi-award-winning animation studio creating content for the film, television and interactive entertainment industry. Jan-Fryderyk also has significant experience in mergers and acquisitions, governance and financing, having practiced corporate law at the Montréal office of Fasken Martineau.

Very involved in the community, Jan-Fryderyk sits on various boards and was chair of the Conseil des arts de Montréal from 2013 to 2021. In 2015, he was the recipient of the Arnold Edinborough Prize awarded by Business for the arts, recognizing exemplary leadership and volunteerism in the non-profit arts sector in Canada. A law graduate from McGill University, Jan-Fryderyk is a member of the Barreau du Québec and the New York Bar.

Jan-Fryderyk Pleszczynski was appointed to the Board of the Canada Council for the Arts for a four-year term effective August 4, 2023, to August 3, 2027.

Photo: Laurence Labat

Irfhan Rawji is a Managing Partner at Relay Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm with offices in Toronto, San Francisco and Calgary. He is also the founder and Executive Chair of MobSquad, an innovative Canadian start-up that focuses on bringing technology talent from around the world to Canada.

Irfhan is Board Chair of The Logic, a digital media publication focused on the innovation economy, Board Chair of The Organic Box, Alberta’s largest organic food hub, and sits on the Board of the Canadian Western Bank.

Irfhan is actively involved in civic affairs, volunteering in governance roles with Glenbow Museum, the Institute for Canadian Citizenship, Business and the Arts, Venture for Canada, the Aga Khan Museum and CIFAR. Previously, Irfhan has served on the boards of the Harbourfront Centre, imagiNation150, the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Canada, and Creative Calgary. He was also part of the Calgary 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Bid Exploration Committee. 

Irfhan holds an MBA with High Honors from Harvard Business School, where he was a Baker Scholar, and a BCom with Honours from the University of British Columbia, where he was a Wesbrook Scholar. He is a recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal and Business and the Arts’ Arnold Edinborough Award. 

Irfhan Rawji was appointed to the Board of the Canada Council for the Arts for a four-year term effective April 29, 2022.

Photo: René Michaud

Albertan Karl Schwonik has had an extensive career in the arts, education and entrepreneurial sectors. In 2008, he founded the Wetaskiwin Jazz Society (WJS), a nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing arts education to rural Alberta. While he served as President and Artistic Director, the WJS’s programs reached nearly 20,000 rural students and collaborated with stakeholders ranging from local small businesses to international banks and multinational energy companies.

Karl has served on a plethora of boards, including appointments to the Government of Alberta’s Alberta Foundation for the Arts, the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Arts Awards Foundation, and Travel Alberta. He currently serves as member of the Premier’s Council on the Status of Persons with Disabilities within the Government of Alberta. In addition to teaching and working at several prominent post-secondary institutions, Karl has completed studies in music, business and arts leadership at Cambridge University, the University of Toronto, McGill University and the University of Calgary.

Karl has also received numerous awards and honours, including a Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Arts Award, a Queen’s Jubilee Award, and grants from both the Canada Council for the Arts and SSHRC. He was also named one of Calgary’s top 40 under 40 by Avenue Magazine.

Karl Schwonik was appointed to the Board of the Canada Council for the Arts for a four-year term effective June 14, 2018, to June 13, 2022. Karl Schwonik was reappointed for a four-year term from June 14, 2022 to June 13, 2026.

Photo: Martin Lipman

Celebrated among Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women and awarded the King Charles III Coronation Medal, Dr. Charlie Wall-Andrews is an accomplished executive, composer and academic whose work bridges the worlds of creativity, leadership and innovation. As Executive Director of the SOCAN Foundation, she has championed initiatives that empower music creators and strengthen Canada’s cultural ecosystem.

Dr. Wall-Andrews serves as an Assistant Professor at Toronto Metropolitan University, where her teaching and research explore strategy, innovation and entrepreneurship within the creative industries. She completed her PhD in Management at the Ted Rogers School of Management, earning the gold medal for academic and research excellence. A former Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation Scholar, she also serves as the inaugural Vice-Chair of Music Canada’s Advisory Council.

Appointed a Legacy Fellow with the Ariane de Rothschild Fellowship and an Associate Composer at the Canadian Music Centre, Dr. Wall-Andrews continues to advance the creative economy through research, mentorship and cross-sector collaboration—dedicated to fostering innovation and inclusion in the arts both in Canada and globally.

Charlie Wall-Andrews was appointed to the Board of the Canada Council for the Arts for a four-year term, effective from October 30, 2022, to October 29, 2026.

Photo: @fleenormality.ca