PERSEPHONE’S VIRTUAL COMMUNITY TOWN HALLS

PERSEPHONE’S VIRTUAL COMMUNITY TOWN HALLS

We want to hear from you

August 25 and 26  – 7:00 to 8:30pm
September 1  – 5:00 to 6:30pm

Attendance is by RSVP only.
Anyone may participate in one or more of these conversations.

Persephone Theatre is hosting a series of open and transparent Town Halls to hear your experiences with Persephone. We are striving to make Persephone a more inclusive and welcoming environment for the whole community. We would greatly value your feedback and ideas on how we can better engage with the community in the future.

With the intent to create a safe space without fear of reprisal, Persephone board and executive staff will not be in attendance at any of the Town Halls. Town Halls will be independently Co-Moderated by Dr. Taiwo Afolabi and Parker Johnson, with added facilitation from Anti-Oppressive Educator Shannon Fitzsimmons. Town Halls will be transcribed by Megan Zong and personal identifying details will be redacted. These transcriptions will be shared with Persephone executive staff and board members with the intention of listening to community feedback and responding appropriately.

In the interest of creating a safe, welcoming, and transparent environment, we are asking individuals to pre-register for these Town Hall Zoom sessions. To RSVP, please email [email protected] as soon as possible, with your name and the Town Hall date(s) you will be attending. The Zoom link will be sent to all participants prior to the meeting. Support people are welcome; please include the individual’s name in your RSVP email. In advance of each Town Hall, a list of the participant names will be posted on this page to ensure transparency regarding who will be in these virtual rooms. These sessions will included closed captioning.

TOWN HALL MODERATION AND FACILITATION TEAM BIOS

Shannon Fitzsimmons
Shannon Fitzsimmons (she/her) is a white settler, anti-oppressive educator in adult education. She completed her B. Ed. and M. Ed at the University of Saskatchewan, and is the recipient of a Graduate Teaching Fellowship Award, under the mentorship of Dr. Verna St. Denis. Her thesis is a Narrative Inquiry into the Experiences of Anti-oppressive Educators in Secondary Education, supervised by Dr. Marie Battiste. She has also completed a performing arts diploma from the Randolph Academy of Performing Arts in Toronto, ON. Currently she is an instructor at Saskatchewan Polytechnic, and working on a Ph.D. in Education at the University of Alberta.

Dr. Taiwo Afolabi, Facilitator/Moderator
Formerly Manager of Community and Artist Connections at the Belfry Theatre, Victoria. Taiwo Afolabi is an Assistant Professor in Socially-engaged practice at the University of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. He is an applied theatre practitioner with a decade of experience working across a variety of creative and community contexts in over a dozen countries across four continents. He is the founding artistic director of Theatre Emissary International, Nigeria. His practice is rooted in the community and believes in facilitating and harnessing voices for an equitable society and fostering community relationships.

Parker Johnson, Facilitator/Moderator
Founder of This is Table Talk, a community platform dedicated to supporting Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour, in business, schools, arts, and sports. He consults in these sectors and holds thematic meetings discussing the effects of racism within our communities and facilitates the sharing of these stories. He is an advocate for change and direct action, speaking at various demonstrations and guest speaking at communal events. He also sits on the board of the Harambee Cultural Society, holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with a focus on social psychology and education. He also brings 6 years of frontline experience, as an ex-Youth Support worker. Understanding crisis management, anti-oppressive language practices, and trauma-informed de-escalation strategy.

Megan Zong, Scribe
Megan Zong is a Chinese-Canadian theatre artist born and raised in Saskatoon on Treaty 6 Territory homeland of the Metis. Having graduated from the University of Saskatchewan with her BFA in Acting, she has continued to perform and create all over the province. She will be debuting her show Unmasked in the fall of 2021 as an emerging playwright and producer. Select acting credits include: Pride & Prejudice, Boeing Boeing (Persephone Theatre); Mamma Mia, The Hobbit, Chicago (Globe Theatre); Earth Diver, Queen Seraphina and the Land of Vertebraat, The Young Ones (Sum Theatre); Short Cuts Festival 2017 (Hardly Art Theatre).

PARTICIPANTS LISTS
August 25

Yvonne Addai
Alyssa Billingsley
Jaron Francis
Lauren Allen
Torien Cafferata
Ron McDonald
Johanna Arnott
Laura Andreas
Jeremy Smith
Nathan Coppens
Angela Kemp
Will Brooks
Kristi Friday
Evie Sawatzky
Kent Allen
William Hales
Elizabeth Nepjuk
Andrew Taylor

August 26
Yvonne Addai
Alyssa Billingsley
Lauren Allen
Carla Orosz
Charlie Peters
Kathleen Maclean
Anna Mazurik
Logan Martin-Arcand
S.E. Grummett
Torien Cafferata
Will Brooks
Laura Andreas
Evie Sawatzky
William Hales
Natercia Napoleao
Tim Hildebrand
Mark Claxton
Miki Mappin
Cynthia Dyck
Jim Arthur
Malvina Rapko
Mackenzie Dawson

September 1
Moira Day
Lauren Allen
Carla Orosz
Danielle Richardson
Colin Wolf
Yulissa Campos
Logan Martin-Arcand
Jennifer Rathie-Wright
Evie Sawatzky
Shelby Lyn Lowe
Robert Grier
Andrew Taylor
Natercia Napoleao
Yvonne Addai
Jaron Francis
Robbie Townsend
Tim Hildebrand
Louise Seidel
Kathleen Maclean
Mackenzie Dawson
Mark Claxton
Daniel Macdonald
Jeremy Smith
Cynthia Dyck

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