Our Team
LEAH HOUSTON
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Leah Houston is the Founder and Executive Director of MABELLEarts. Over her fifteen years of leadership, Leah has developed strong skills related to strategic growth, governance and partnership development. In that time, MABELLEarts has emerged as a powerful example of what's possible when people come together to make art and solve problems. With a team of compassionate, smart and imaginative colleagues, Leah and MABELLEarts are re-defining the role of the arts in low-income communities. Leadership development and civic engagement; public space transformation and design; grassroots tower renewal and local economic development are all integral to the work of MABELLEarts under Leah's leadership. Leah is a graduate of York University’s Environmental Studies Department and holds an M.A from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto. In 2021 she was awarded the inaugural Tim Jones Creative Placemaking Award for her work in the Mabelle neighbourhood.
ELIZABETH RUCKER
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Elizabeth Rucker is a performer and playwright with over 20 years of experience in community-engaged and devised arts. Her training, research and work in devised play creation, as a founding member of Number Eleven Theatre, strongly informs her approaches to making art and theatre with people. She has led numerous large-scale collaborations and projects in Toronto and across Canada, most notably as the Artistic Director of Arts4All, as Story Animator at Holland Bloorview Children’s Hospital’s Centre for the Arts’ Spiral Garden program, and as an Associate Artist at Jumblies Theatre.
ANNIE KATSURA ROLLINS
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Annie Katsura Rollins is an interdisciplinary artist, educator, and researcher, with over 15 years of exerience activating places and communities through interactive art, performance, and heritage. Annie was recently named valedictorian for her PhD dissertation on traditional forms of puppet performance and their role in building community (Concordia University) and teaches at the University of Connecticut's graduate puppetry certificate program. In Toronto, Annie co-founded the city's only experimental puppet collective, Concrete Cabaret, which seeks to cultivate a local community of material performers. She is thrilled to be working with MABELLEarts to connect Toronto's newcomers to engaged community arts practice in order to generate stronger communities and deeper belonging.
EMMA STEWART-SMALL
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wttncoordinator@mabellearts.ca
Dani is a multidisciplinary artist, performer, and educator. She was born and raised in Mexico (Cancun & Queretaro) where she studied performing arts and worked in theatre as a performer and coordinator. She has been an arts facilitator for 6 years and she holds a master's degree in Educational Technology. She is passionate about the learning process and applying the arts for the benefit of our daily lives and our development as human beings. She is a newcomer to Canada and recently graduated from the Arts Education and Community Engagement program at Centennial College.
As a personal project, she runs a YouTube channel where she shares theatre educational content for Spanish speakers.
Her artistic practices include drama, clown & physical comedy, puppetry, makeup artistry, and watercolor, but she is always willing to experiment and find something new to try.
She is very excited to be part of the team of the Welcome to the Neighbourhood program.
DANIELA GALAVIZ
Our Board
Sheila Devata-Chochinov
As a life-long resident of Etobicoke and an urban planner, Sheila has a passion for bringing people and groups together to transform our public spaces into places that connect, engage and inspire — all with the goal of demonstrating that everyone can play a part in building a better community.
Joanna Tam
Joanna Tam is a creative and empathetic researcher, with a passion for using data to empower local communities, and for using visual storytelling to effectively distil complex information. She is currently working with the Data Management Branch of Ontario's Ministry of Labour, Training, and Skills Development.
Ismail Ibrahim
Ismail Ibrahim is an Associate Lawyer at Robins Appleby Barristers and Solicitors. He brings a practical approach to the law using his experiences as an engineer, lawyer, and executive. Ismail has extensive experience in the housing sector through various roles, including as General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, at Toronto Community Housing where he provided strategic legal advice to the entire organization and its Board of Directors.
