Five Lives: What We Do – SUMMER 2025

Each issue Foundation Magazine provides a mini-profile of five people whose work and commitment make Canada a more liveable country. We thank them for their service.

COLLEEN A. SMITH

CEO of FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre (PAC)

 

FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre (PAC) in St. Catharines, Ontario recently launched their 10th anniversary season of year-round programming, hailed by the press as the most ambitious and diverse in the PAC’s history.

The 25/26 program builds on the PAC’s decade-long success as a home for both local artists and visiting artists from across the country and around the world, featuring innovative work that inspires, unites, and drives urgent cultural conversation. Smith’s vision is to make the arts an essential part of life in the Niagara region, through the creation and curation of exceptional experiences for and within her community.

Under her leadership since 2020, The PAC has experienced incredible growth, becoming a cultural beacon, and a hub of community and arts through building trust with artists and audiences. The PAC now programs 1,000 events a year reaching over 100,000 people, including programs that give back, such as the new Art in Action: Climate Festival, Youth Film Club, and the imPACt Education Series. One of the PAC’s most defining priorities is accessibility, which is reflected in its newcomer markets, youth programs, and barrier-free entry events.

A passionate supporter of the community, Smith personally gives back through volunteer board service with the Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce (GNCC) and as a mentor through Business/Arts. She also serves on the Board of Culture Days Canada and the Board of The International Society of the Performing Arts (ISPA).

SPENCER PREECE TITTLEY

Fundraising Consultant, Parkdale Food Centre

For his whole working life, Spencer has been working in the restaurant and food industry. From dishwasher, line cook, server, bartender, delivery driver, farm hand, and event coordinator, he has spent the past 10 years falling in love with food. The power of food is more than just nourishment, it is the universal connector. Everybody eats, and sharing a meal with someone is intrinsic to our humanity. It crosses cultural, regional, and linguistic boundaries. That’s why he jumped at the opportunity to work as a fundraising consultant with the Parkdale Food Centre — it’s an organization that embodies these values.

Spencer is a firm believer that radical hospitality & storytelling go hand-in-hand with fundraising. It forms the basis of creating unique and individualized experiences with donors. Hospitality makes them feel like a part of a community, not an ATM. Shame is not a part of the equation.

Although new to fundraising, Spencer learned the ins and outs of donor relations as a child from watching his mother, Lisa, start and open the Mark Preece Family House in Hamilton, Ontario. She remains his model for telling compelling, hopeful stories that emotionally connect powerful causes with donors looking to support their community.

In his free time Spencer is an avid sports fan. You can probably find him at any local gym playing pickup basketball. With lots still to learn, he hopes to adopt AI & data analytics to drive his work.

MIMOSA KABIR

Director of Advancement, University of Toronto Libraries

With over 15 years of experience in the nonprofit and cultural sectors, she has helped raise funds to advance knowledge, access, and equity through the power of philanthropy.

She previously held fundraising roles at Hot Docs, CIFAR, War Child, Soulpepper Theatre, and Toronto Public Library Foundation, and is passionate about connecting donors with causes that shape society. At the heart of her work is a belief in the transformative role of libraries, not just as repositories of knowledge, but as living ecosystems for curiosity and community.

Mimosa is also committed to making the philanthropic sector more inclusive and serves on the planning committee of the Asian Fundraisers Collective. Her work ensures that libraries continue to thrive and evolve, meeting the needs of future generations.

DANIEL TESSIER-YOUNG

Senior Consultant and Strategic Planning Specialist, BNP Inspire

Daniel brings to BNP Inspire a wealth of experience in association management, public affairs, advocacy and event organization. A bilingual, results-oriented practitioner, Daniel is a strategic thinker who doesn’t lose sight of the operational details. He excels at developing, managing and executing high-impact advocacy and partnership initiatives. His expertise includes problem-solving, consensus-building, conflict resolution and facilitation using a collaborative approach to achieve strategic objectives.

Analytical, Daniel has a thorough understanding of the federal and provincial political process, and how decisions are influenced by the intersection of political, bureaucratic, public and stakeholder interests.

Over the years, Daniel has supported the efforts of some 90 nonprofit associations and organizations, including: the Canadian Abbeyfield Homes Society, the Canadian Hearing Health Alliance, the Canadian Hearing Aid Society, the Mining Association of Canada, the Canadian Automobile Association, the Insurance Brokers Association of Canada and the Insurance Bureau of Canada.

He is passionate about community and charitable involvement, with a particular interest in social housing, suicide prevention and community support for young adults.

LUKE STOCKING

Director of Public Engagement, Development & Peace – Caritas Canada

These days it’s rare for someone to spend their entire career with one organization. But this is the case for Luke Stocking. In 2006 he joined the staff of the official international solidarity organization of the Catholic Church in Canada shortly after completing a Master of Arts in Theology at the University of Toronto. Over the course of eighteen years, Luke has taken on an increasing number of leadership roles at DPCC, including serving as the interim executive director since September 2024 to cover a medical absence.

“I am blessed to have found an organization that has allowed me to live my vocation while supporting my family,” he says. At DPCC this means inspiring Canadians to give their time, talent, and treasure to support the mission of the organization: addressing the root causes of poverty, oppression, and inequality by working with partners in the Global South and by mobilizing Canadians in the common struggle for justice and dignity.

Quoting Henri Nouwen on the importance of fundraising to this work, Luke says, “Fundraising is proclaiming what you believe in, and proclaiming it in such a way that you offer the other person an opportunity to participate in your vision. It’s asking people to enter into communion with you.”

Thanks to the generosity of Canadians, last year alone more than 11.2 million people were helped by DPCC through 79 projects in 34 different countries throughout the world.