Board

Born and raised in Saskatoon, Terice currently works as a recruitment specialist in the HR department at the University of Saskatchewan. She has worked for the university for over 10 years in a variety of roles. Terice holds a Master of Education degree and Bachelor of Science degree from USask.

In her spare time, Terice loves to travel, eat good food, and give back to the Saskatoon community.

Dawn has unending appreciation and love for the arts, and Persephone Theatre in particular. Her first experience with Persephone was attending the musical Chelsea Hotel (2013) and she has been hooked ever since. She is looking forward to enthusiastically advocating for the theatre as a board member.

Dawn has also been involved with other aspects of the Persephone organization as a billet host for visiting performers. In her spare time, Dawn is a competitive Irish dancer and a novice potter. Dawn and her husband Bob share their home with two rescue dogs, Pluto & Zeke.

In May 2018, Marla retired from her role as Partner/Senior Vice President with Deloitte after 38 years in public accounting. Marla is a Chartered Professional Accountant and Licenced Insolvency Trustee with expertise in personal and corporate financial restructuring. She worked on a variety of special consulting assignments and restructuring engagements including assessing financial position, corporate governance, management and performance enhancement.

Marla held various leadership roles within Deloitte at the local and national level. Marla has served on numerous boards including the YWCA and the United Way of Saskatoon and Area. Marla currently sits on the Saskatoon Public School Foundation board and is the Treasurer of the Canadian Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Professionals.

A former teacher, Marla instructed at the post-secondary level, was a frequent seminar and conference presenter and in-house faculty for Deloitte partner leadership programs. Marla was honored with the Athena Award recognizing excellence in business and the professions, community service and leadership development of women. Marla is married and has two adult daughters.

Ross retired from the City of Saskatoon after 21 years of service, where he finished his career as Manager of the Facilities Branch, responsible for all maintenance and operational requirements for city owned facilities.

Ross has been on the Persephone Board since 2015 and has chaired the Building Committee for the past two years. Ross and the committee have focused on the development and implementation of a reserve and long-term plan for the funding of major repair and replacement expenditures. The reserve and long-term plan form part of Persephone Theatre’s comprehensive facility maintenance plan. Ross is married to Kim, a retired teacher, and a proud father of two grown sons.

Rangi Jeerakathil is a partner with MLT Aikins LLP and practices in the areas of environmental, energy, and indigenous law, including corporate social responsibility. Rangi grew up in Prince Albert and lives with his family in Saskatoon.

Gregory Power is the Chief Operating Officer for the College of Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan where he is responsible for the overall financial management, human resources, communications, information technology and strategic projects and administrative programs for our province’s medical school. Prior to this role, he was the Director of Information Technology at Dalhousie University’s Faculty of Medicine in Halifax, where he supported curricular renewal, the creation of a new campus site in New Brunswick, and transformed information technology services to enable distributed medical education across Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. Before moving into senior administrative roles in higher education, he led a consulting practice in Atlantic Canada that served a diverse array of public and private sector organizations across Canada and the United States.

I have been involved in professional theatre, one way or another, for the past forty years. My first job out of high school was running the box office at the fledgling Persephone Theatre. Since graduating from the UofS Drama Department I have performed, designed, produced; been a stage manager, a house manager, and a general manager.

Presently I am the Executive Director of On the Boards Staging Company in Saskatoon, SK. I cofounded On the Boards as a direct response to the limitations of the traditional model of theatre production. As a Shared Platform, On the Boards anchors the activities of self-producing artists and small organizations with practical administrative and production support.

When I am not busy with On the Boards, the occasional acting job, or walking my dogs, I advocate for the arts serving on various boards, most recently with the Saskatchewan Association of Theatre Professionals, the Association of Creative Industries of Saskatchewan, and The Saskatchewan Arts Alliance.

Persephone’s significant impact to Saskatoon’s arts sector is undeniable. I look forward to contributing to the theatre’s ongoing evolution to serve our dynamic city.

Charlene grew up in the northern community of Big River, Saskatchewan. She has four children and along with her partner Dave, have enjoyed the Persephone over the past two decades. She has been employed with Saskatoon Public Schools since 1994 and has been a teacher, school based administrator, superintendent and now Deputy Director. As an educator, Charlene has witnessed the impact that the arts have on the development of children and the important role it has on mental health and supporting the holistic individual. Although she would suggest that she has limited artistic ability she has strong passion for the arts and is an avid supporter of local artists of all genres. The Persephone is an important part of her community and she is looking forward to extending this support by sitting on the Board of Directors.

After moving to Canada in 2013 from Pakistan, I completed my undergrad in 2015 from the University of Windsor. Right after, I moved to Saskatoon to take up an accounting role with a dealership group that owns multiple dealerships throughout SK and AB. My position entailed working with numerous individuals who had extensive experience in corporate accounting. This gave me the opportunity to gain a better understanding on how internal accounting standards work. To pursue my professional goals of completing the CPA designation, I enrolled in a CPA accredited MBA program in 2017. After completing my educational requirements for CPA, I started working for a global accounting firm in Ontario. Shortly after, I moved to Saskatoon in 2019 and started working in public accounting as an external auditor. Over the years, I have worked with several local and national NPOs’ as an external auditor. Understanding internal controls, government policies for NPOs and applying applicable accounting frameworks has been an integral part of my experience over the years. I intend to bring this experience and educational background to the table a board member for Persephone Theatre. My interest in the theatre stems from promoting diversity in a way that I rarely see in my generation. To me, this is a way to give back and get involved in the local community.

On a personal level, I enjoy working on my car and travelling. I have owned and worked on various vehicles including motorcycles as a hobby. Me and my wife do road trips to places which are hard to access and this also gives me opportunity to do some off roading.

I am currently a producer, author, and comedian from Saskatoon. Right now I am executive producer for the online satirical news website called The Feather News, which is a fake news website that has featured on APTN InFocus, CTV, and CBC. This body of work has had the opportunity to have been funded by the Saskatchewan Arts Board, PAVED Arts, Indigenous Screen Office, Bell Fund, and most recently Creative Saskatchewan.

The body of work done with The Feather has led to opportunities such as winning the web series pitch competition for the ImagiNATIVE/APTN festival. The web series “The Feather News” will be streaming on APTN Lumi in November of 2022. We are just wrapping up post-production for the series. I also wrote a sci-fi novel called “Suicide Empire” that was featured on CBC Radio, APTN, and Eagle Feather News. It can be found on Amazon and wherever fringe books are sold near you. I have also written a Christmas screenplay for the Gordon Tootoosis Nikaniwin Theatre Company.

Recently, I was selected to take part in the National Screen Institute – Art of Business Management course, in partnership with the Indigenous Screen Office. After taking part in the NSI – Art of Business Management course, I hope to obtain a stronger understanding of TV & Film financing, manage the day-to-day operations of a young company, budgeting and financial forecasting, and how to operate a small creative team with a large project in mind.

Working in the arts has taught me about the value of community and how organizations can facilitate this connection. As producer and owner of the company, The Feather Entertainment Inc., I wish to continue this work in my community.

My name is Isabella Thomas and I have lived in Saskatoon for majority of my life. After graduating from the University with a bachelor in Commerce, majoring in Human Resources, I moved to North Battleford for 6 years to work at a Co-op retail in both an HR Advisor and HR Manager roles. In 2020, I moved back to Saskatoon and was successful in obtaining a position with the University of Saskatchewan as a Human Resources Strategic Business Partner. In August of this year, I was successful in obtaining a career with HSAS in a Labour Relations Officer role. In my spare time, I am involved in different leagues, I like to bake, I volunteer with Big Brothers Big Sisters Saskatoon and I like to travel. It’s so wonderful to be here and potentially be able to give my time to the Persephone Theatre as performing arts has played an important role in my life and has inspired me in the creative ways I have done and carried out things. 

Emily is an associate lawyer at MLT Aikins in Saskatoon and practices in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, commercial leasing and corporate governance. Emily holds a Master of Business Administration and a Bachelor of Arts with high honours (Public Administration) from the University of Saskatchewan. 

 During her university career, Emily competed on the Huskies Track and Field team and was involved in the campus community through serving as an executive of the Law Student Association and Legal Follies Board.

 Emily is excited about the opportunity to serve on the Persephone Theatre Board and be involved in the vibrant arts community of Saskatoon.

James is currently the Director, Finance at Affinity Credit Union where he leads the finance & treasury functions. Over the past twelve years, he has held various leadership roles encompassing finance, accounting, financial reporting, budgeting & taxation. James holds a Bachelor of Commerce in accounting from the University of Saskatchewan and is a Chartered Professional Accountant.

James is an avid jogger, enjoys gardening & cooking, and loves to spend time at the lake with family and friends. Looking ahead, James remains dedicated to continuous professional growth and is passionate about contributing to the Saskatoon community.