Equity Town Hall: Climate Change Art

Ashley Bodiguel (she/her)

I am a collaborator who focuses on expressions of connectedness, health and justice within communities through the arts and archiving (archivism is activism!) My theatre performance BFA is from Simon Fraser University, where I later taught theatre-making and worked with a community of artists over the years in creative partnerships and performances that ranged from Shakespeare to barbershop quartets to contemporary dance. I went on to the University of Toronto’s iSchool to hone my systems design knowlege, which has led to exciting cross-over opportunities between science and art — and leaves me with more questions than I started with. 

You’ll usually find me working at Pembina Institute, an organization that advocates for strong, effective policies with a multi-faceted and highly collaborative approach to support Canada’s clean energy transition. I’m also thrilled to continue my work as an independent artist and archivist. And, I love to weave. If you weave, please reach out.

Elsha Yeyesuswork

Elsha Yeyesuswork

Elsha Yeyesuswork is a multidisciplinary artist and administrator based in Moh’kins’tsis/Calgary, AB. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations and utilizes a systems-focused approach in her creative practice and community-building work. Originally from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Elsha’s personal and professional outlook is shaped by her lived experience as a diasporic Black woman. As a ceramicist, she draws inspiration from ancestral creation methods, exploring the intersection of cultural heritage and contemporary expression. 

Elsha has previously served as Community Programs Director at Downstage Theatre and Research & Program Development Lead at M:ST Performative Art Society, where she championed initiatives that platformed emerging artists and BIPOC communities. In her role as Editor-in-Chief of ISSAY! Magazine, she has worked to amplify global voices from across North America, Europe, Africa and Asia. 

Mark Hopkins

Mark Hopkins

Mark Hopkins (he/him) is the Co-Artistic Director of Swallow-a-Bicycle Theatre, which generates productive discomfort through art-making, and an Associate with Human Venture Leadership, which seeks to build our collective capacities to reduce ignorance, error, waste, suffering and injustice. 

Mark is on the board of Kawalease Arab Canadian Theatre, is an Ambassador of the Energy Futures Lab, and founded We Should Know Each Other, a community-bridging initiative. He was proud to contribute a chapter to Reimagining Fire: The Future of Energy, an anthology edited by Eveline Kolijn and published in 2023.