Director’s Message – January 2020
Guy Rodgers presenting at State of the Arts Activation Conference. Still from video by Daybi.
A new year is always an occasion for self-examination, and the beginning of a decade offers a heightened occasion for new perspectives and beginnings. This numerically evocative year – 2020 – invites particular clarity of vision.
ELAN has grown rapidly over the past few years, expanding our full-time staff from two to six, who work with a growing team of project managers and freelance project staff. The size and complexity of our projects has also grown, from ARTS2U, which is highly technical, and Québec Relations, which is ambitious, to our ArtEd Initiatives projects (ACE and ArtistsInspire Grants), which involve hundreds of artists, educators and schools, as well as thousands of students.
The challenge of clearly communicating what ELAN is working on, and how it benefits members, falls to our Communications Coordinator. I would like to pay tribute to the excellent work of Lital Khaikin, who began as Membership and Communications Assistant in 2018 under an Emploi Québec program, and has assumed responsibilities as Interim Communications Coordinator during Sufia Duez’s maternity leave. Our 15th anniversary, and the roll-out of two large projects, on top of regular activities presented prodigious communication challenges, which Lital took in stride (including revamping ELANews and adding pages to our website). We enter 2020 with a clarity of message to match our vision.
Guy Rodgers
Executive Director