Celia Smith is a strategic leader in the Toronto arts and culture community with proven expertise in directing significant organizational growth, social enterprise and charitable expansion, and executive management of complex, multi-stakeholder environments. She is known for her effective management style and has mentored hundreds of individuals who now work in leadership roles across diverse sectors. Her entire career has been in the arts and culture sector, leading significant non-profit organizations, or in the private sector creating social enterprises.

She is the CEO of Luminato Festival Toronto. Career highlights in the arts & culture sector include the recent co-founding of LEAN (Leadership Emergency Arts Network) in response to the COVID-19 impact on the national arts community; developing 11 arts and culture community hubs or affordable housing projects for artists as President of Artscape; directing marketing and development at Canadian Stage Company over many years leading to becoming General Manager; and offering volunteer leadership as the former Board Chair for TAPA (Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts) and Work in Culture, in addition to previous board roles with Luminato and Creative Trust. Celia currently sits on the board of the Toronto Arts Council and the Musical Stage Company.

Born in Toronto, Naomi grew up in Sackville, New Brunswick and Ottawa, and has called Toronto home for the last 35 years. She has a degree in Political Science from the University of Toronto and over 30 years of programming, touring, and producing experience both nationally and internationally. She has worked with a range of performing arts companies including Nightswimming, Mammalian Diving Reflex, DVxT Theatre, the late Paul Bettis’ Civilized Theatre, VideoCabaret and numerous independent artists. She’s also worked at festivals throughout her career including Bread and Butter (Guelph, 1989), World Stage (1994 -2000), and as curator for Buddies in Bad Times’ Rhubarb! (2003) and Magnetic North Theatre Festival’s Industry Series (2008-10).

Naomi joined Luminato as Company Manager in 2011 and subsequently produced large-scale productions for the festival including The Life and Death of Marina Abramović and Apocalypsis. In 2013 she was appointed Luminato’s first-ever Director of Artistic Development, commissioning, developing and producing works for the festival. She was appointed Deputy Artistic Director in 2017 and Artistic Director in 2018.

Peter A. Herrndorf CC O.Ont, served as President and CEO of Canada’s National Arts Centre (NAC) from 1999–2018. Among the many accomplishments during his tenure, he was instrumental in establishing the National Arts Centre Foundation, the NAC’s Indigenous Theatre Department and leading Canada’s largest performing arts organization through a $225.4M architectural and production renewal project that modernized the NAC’s 49-year-old building. Prior to joining the NAC, Herrndorf was Chairman and CEO of TVOntario and held various programming and executive-level roles including Head of TV Current Affairs Programming, Vice President of Corporate Planning and Vice President and General Manager at CBC’s English Language Radio and Television Networks. He also served as Publisher of Toronto Life.

In 1992, he and his colleague Brian Robertson created the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards (GGPAA). His other awards and distinctions include the inaugural Peter Herrndorf Arts Leadership Award (Business for the Arts); Diplôme d’honneur (Canadian Conference of the Arts) for outstanding service to the arts in Canada; William Kilbourn Award (Toronto Arts Awards Foundation); John Drainie Award (Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television); and honorary degrees from 10 Canadian universities and colleges.

maxine bailey (she/her) is a dynamic member of Toronto’s arts community, her passion for diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility for all runs deeply in everything she does. She currently serves as Executive Director of the Canadian Film Centre (CFC). Previously, maxine served as the Vice-President of Advancement at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) where she founded Share Her Journey, a five-year fundraising commitment to achieving gender parity both on and off-screen.

She also co-founded the Black Artists Network in Dialogue (BAND), which showcases Black cultural contributions nationally and internationally, and currently participates on the advisory boards and steering committees for the Toronto Arts Council/Foundation Advocacy Committee, the Canadian Academy, Luminato Festival Toronto and the Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund. maxine was named one of NOW Toronto’s Local Heroes and as a voracious reader, she sat on the juries of the Scotiabank Giller Prize as well as the Trillium Book Award.