TEAM
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Sydney Cabioc | Chair
Sydney Cabioc works as the Programming Coordinator for the Department of Arts, Culture and Media at the University of Toronto Scarborough. She’s worked on numerous festivals, in Toronto and abroad, including National Canadian Film Day, the Edinburgh Fringe, and 150 Neighbours at UTSC. Sydney graduated with a Masters in Festival and Event Management from Edinburgh Napier. She has her own artist management service – Porchfront Collective – where she works with Iranian-Australian opera singer, Shirin Majd, and Canadian Indie R&B artist, Nattra.
Contact Sydney at Chair@yorkregionartscouncil.com.
Leni Brem | Secretary
Leni Brem is a tourism consultant heading up her own company, Brem Consulting Inc. She is currently working with the Tourism Industry Association of Ontario and has previously worked as the Director of Operations for Indigenous Tourism Ontario, with Ontario Restaurant Hotel and Motel Association, and ON Culture Days. Leni has worked in tourism, hospitality, culinary, agri-food, and events across Ontario for over 20 years. She brings a values-driven approach to helping organizations achieve their goals.
Sophia Sun
Sophia Sun is the founder and President of Phoenix Financial, a prominent mortgage provider within Toronto and the GTA, with over 20 years of experience in the industry. An avid philanthropist, she keeps herself busy with active involvement in several organizations, including SickKids Foundation, The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation, Markham Stouffville Hospital. For the latter, she joined a team of non-professional mountaineers in 2018 to raise $750,000 as they scaled to Mount Everest Base Camp, Seas Foundation and Toronto Elegant Lions Club as well
Sophia has always been invested in the arts and in her 20s, won a national photography competition in China. She continues to show strong support for her local arts community as a Board member of the Flato Markham Theatre, ensuring artists have a platform to continuously nurture their talents.
Dan Shorrocks
Dan Shorrocks is a dynamic and accomplished professional with a passion for the world of fine wine and the arts. With a diverse background in the wine industry, Dan has played a pivotal role in curating exceptional selections at Select Wines, where he is partner. His commitment to promoting and advancing the beverage sector extends to his involvement with Drinks Ontario, where he actively contributes to shaping the industry landscape as Chair with the Government Relations Committee.
Beyond his dedication to fine wines, Dan is deeply connected to the cultural and artistic realm. As a driving force behind the scenes, he supports the Kindred Spirits Orchestra, an ensemble that beautifully blends his love for music and community engagement. Dan Shorrocks’ multifaceted expertise in both the beverage and arts spheres showcases his commitment to creating enriching experiences for enthusiasts and fostering a vibrant cultural landscape.
Leonora Buskin
Leonora Buskin is an experienced arts educator with formal training in cultural administration. Her aspiration in life is to share her passion for arts and culture heritage with others. Leonora is passionate about bringing together diverse communities to celebrate arts and cultural heritage. She is the former Festival Assistant of three notable Toronto-based festivals: Harbourfront Centre’s Ashkenaz Festival, along with Mel Lastman Square’s Cultura Festival and Sunday Serenades.
Leonora is also responsible for leading and supporting audience research and program evaluation processes for arts service organizations such as the Toronto Arts Council and East End Arts. She has delivered educational arts programming to various age groups and her art workshops have taken place in various formal and informal educational settings. Her education in Arts and Cultural Management has equipped her to support community arts programming.
Jenn Shelton
Jenn Shelton (she/her) is a strategy, innovation, product management, and marketing professional based in Vaughan, Ontario. She has worked in these capacities for technology organizations such as Dell Technologies, IBI Group, Motorola Solutions, and Microsoft Canada. Jenn has also taken leadership roles on YRDSB School Councils as well the Boards of Directors for the York Region Children’s Aid Society and Humewood House Foundation in Toronto. She is currently a Member of Corporation for Trinity College at the University of Toronto. Jenn holds a B.A., M.B.A., and M.Ed. from the University of Toronto.
Francesca D'Amico-Cuthbert
Francesca D’Amico-Cuthbert is an award-winning historian and educator of American and Canadian Hip Hop culture, the creative industries, and the music marketplace, and she currently serves as the chief research officer at the Hip Hop Education Center. She holds a Ph.D. in History from York University (2019) and has served as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Toronto (2020-2022) and the University of Calgary (2022-2023). Her doctoral research traced how American emcees in the era of mass incarceration constructed complex ethnographies of urban spaces, transformed dispositions of power, and unmasked the modes and mechanisms of a persistent and haunting coloniality in the afterlives of American slavery. Her postdoctoral research explored Canadian Hip Hop’s relationship to national mythmaking, commerce, anti-Black market segmentation and the availability of state revenue streams and marketplace exposure. Her research has been published in: #HipHopEd: The Compilation on Hip Hop Education, The Journal of Canadian Historical Association, Canadian Journal of History, Musicworks, and The Dance Current.
Since 2018, she has also served as a consultant, curriculum strategist, and DEI analyst (in both the private and public sector) with expertise in anti-oppression, anti-racism, unconscious bias and the sectors of culture and education. In addition to being a multi-disciplinary creative with training in vocal and instrumental music, dance, and the dramatic arts, Francesca is also the creator of Artefacts By Francesca (@artefactsbyfrancesca) – a collection of wearable clay art pieces inspired by classic Hip Hop albums that pay homage to the fashion of 1980s medallions and Hip Hop’s fifth element (knowledge of self).