Glenbow Museum Diversifies Board with Appointment of New Governors
Board appointments are part of a multi-year effort to ensure diverse perspectives are represented
CALGARY, AB, April 26, 2021 /CNW/ - Glenbow Museum is pleased to announce the nomination of five new Governors who have been recruited to join its Board – Daniel J. Brant, Dr. Catherine Odora Hoppers, Dr. Leroy Little Bear, Charles Officer, and Jean Teillet. The nomination of these Governors comes in light of Glenbow's efforts to build a more consciously diverse and equitable museum. The nominees are expected to be formally confirmed as Governors in September at Glenbow's Annual General Meeting.
"We are actively working to expand the expertise of our organization and ensure greater community representation by incorporating diverse perspectives into everything we do. We are energized by the impressive individuals who will be joining us to serve as new Governors," says Irfhan Rawji, Chair of Glenbow's Board of Governors.
Nicholas R. Bell, President and CEO adds, "As part of our journey to re-imagine the museum, we are looking at every aspect of the Glenbow experience from internal and external perspectives, to uncover and address bias, discrimination, and exclusion. This work is ongoing, and our Board of Governors is leading the charge."
Over the last five years, Glenbow has undergone an extensive process of internal reorganization, Board rejuvenation, planning and fundraising to support the re-imagining and physical renovation of the museum, including:
- 2017: Conducted a Board effectiveness survey that identified a need to improve Board diversity, and resulted in the appointment of a POC Board Chair.
- 2018-19: Recruited four new Indigenous and POC Governors representing Indigenous and national arts communities.
- 2019: Hired Nicholas R. Bell – formerly of the Smithsonian – to lead Glenbow.
- 2020: Established an Anti-Racism and Equity Committee to foster a safe space for employees to collaborate and recommend actionable ways to prioritize anti-racism, diversity, accessibility, equity, and inclusion in all Glenbow's work.
- 2020: Engaged an executive search firm to find qualified Board candidates with a desired balance of experience, skills, community engagement and diversity.
- 2021: Formed a National Indigenous Advisory Group to consult and advise on Glenbow's building renovations, collections accessibility and future programming.
- 2021: Actively recruiting for a newly created staff position of Director, Indigenous Engagement and Reconciliation.
Once the new Governors are officially confirmed in September, Glenbow will be proud to have greater representation from a diversity of voices across Canada and internationally. The Board will include 10 BIPOC members, increasing the percentage of BIPOC Governors from 22% to 42%
- Daniel J. Brant is a member of the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte in southern Ontario. He lives and works in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory, the ninth largest First Nation in Canada. He was formerly CEO of the Assembly of First Nations, the National Aboriginal Capital Corporations Association (NACCA), and the Dreamcatcher Charitable Foundation. He has been involved in both government and private sector in the area of Indigenous governance, policy and development and has a long history of working with First Nations and has been in over 300 First Nations communities over his career. He has worked with Indigenous youth issues and co-founded the Young Entrepreneurs Symposium, (YES) an annual event that is dedicated to supporting leadership development for Indigenous youth. Similarly, he is supporting a youth oriented non-profit, Outside Looking In, participating as a Board member. He is a patron of Indigenous arts and has supported Indigenous expression in a number of cultural forms.
- Dr. Catherine Odora Hoppers is a Ugandan scholar and policy specialist on international development, education, disarmament, peace, and human security. She led the task team that drafted the Indigenous knowledge systems policy that impacted sector ministries, science councils and universities in post-Apartheid South Africa. She is founder and director of Global Institute for Applied Governance in Science, Knowledge Systems and Innovations and an expert for UNESCO, UN Department of Disarmament Affairs, World Economic Forum, and World Intellectual Property Organization.
- Dr. Leroy Little Bear is an Elder of the Blood Tribe (Kainai First Nation) in Lethbridge, Alberta where he was born and raised and currently lives. He is a lawyer and educator interested in the advancement of North American Indigenous knowledge as an academic discipline. He founded the Native American Studies Program at Harvard University, and is the longtime leader of the Native American Studies Program at the University of Lethbridge. His work with the United Nations helped to establish a working group on Indigenous populations that originated the concept and initial draft of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. He previously served on the board of the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity.
- Charles Officer is a Jamaican-Canadian writer, director and producer with a slate of award-winning films that premiered at international film festivals around the world. His latest feature Akilla's Escape will have a wide release in the U.S. and Canada spring 2021. He is founder and creative director of Canesugar Mediaworks and has directed multiple episodes of Coroner, 21 Thunder, and Ransom. Charles is currently executive producer and director on the dramatic series The Porter in partnership with the CBC and BET+.
- Jean Teillet is a member of the Métis Nation and the great grandniece of Louis Riel. She is a lawyer, author and lecturer who has focused her career on changing and influencing Indigenous rights, women's rights and human rights. She has appeared in landmark Indigenous rights cases before the Supreme Court of Canada and was Vice Chair and Treasurer of the Indigenous Bar Association of Canada. Jean's early career was deeply rooted in the arts – acting, choreographing, dancing, producing, and directing for theatre. Her book The North-West is Our Mother was on the Globe & Mail's top 100 books of 2019 and won the Carol Shield's Winnipeg Book Award and the Manitoba Day Award.
About Glenbow
Founded in 1966 as an independent, non-profit museum, archive and gallery, Glenbow museum holds an extraordinary collection of more than 236,000 works of art and historical objects, representing western Canada and cultures from around the world. Glenbow is embarking on an extensive renovation that will transform the institution into one of the most vibrant, inclusive art museums in North America. This revitalization includes creating more space for galleries and exhibitions, enabling new opportunities for education and public programming, and prioritizing unprecedented access for the communities we serve.
SOURCE Glenbow Museum
Media Contact : Jenny Conway Fisher, [email protected], 403 918 0736
Share this article