Ana Serrano

President & Vice Chancellor

Ana Serrano (she/her) is the President & Vice Chancellor of OCAD University. She was formerly Chief Digital Officer of the Canadian Film Centre and Founder of the CFC Media Lab, the world-renowned institute for interactive storytelling. In 2012, she launched Canada’s first digital entertainment accelerator IDEABOOST and served as its Managing Director.

To date, Serrano has directed the development of over 130 digital media projects, mentored over 50 start-ups and has received numerous awards from the digital media, film and theatre industries in North America, including a Digital Media Trailblazing Award in 2021 from Women in Film and Television (WIFT) Toronto. In 2018, Serrano received the insignia of Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from the French government.

Alongside this deep experience in digital media and entertainment, Serrano currently sits as co-chair of the Open Democracy Project, co-director of the DemocracyXchange Summit and as a board member of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.

Miriam Kramer

Executive Director, Government & Community Relations, 
and Public Policy

Miriam Kramer (she/her) is a senior government and community relations professional. Miriam has more than 20 years’ experience working in policy, research, community relations and advocacy. She has a strong research background and is a professionally trained focus group facilitator.

As OCAD U’s Executive Director of Government & Community Relations, and Public Policy, Miriam is responsible for public and community relations, strategy, policy and funding, accumulatively, leading the university’s multi-tiered government relations portfolio.

Miriam is on the STEPS Board of Directors, was a CivicAction DiverseCity Fellow in 2014/15 and a Maytree Policy School Fellow in 2020/21.

Crystal Melville

Writer/Researcher Public Funding & Policy

Crystal Melville (she/her) has coordinated and led regional, provincial and national stakeholder initiatives across Canada’s cultural arenas and art service organizations, since 2009, and brings this insight and knowledge to the Cultural Policy Hub.

Crystal recently analyzed the visualization of intersecting urban, educational and cultural policies, during her graduate degree. She has received social sciences research training from York University (MA, social geography) and Dalhousie University (BA, social anthropology).

She has also worked in journalism, arts publishing, change management and research focused on program design and evaluation. While Crystal is formally employed by OCAD U as its Writer/Researcher in Public Funding and Policy, she reviews and edits Hub content and liaises with Hub partners, collaborators and funders.

Kelly

Head, Cultural Policy Hub

Kelly Wilhelm (she/her) is a bilingual consultant and strategist with more than 25 years’ experience leading policy and innovation in government, the arts, creative industries, and the not-for-profit sector. She is currently Head of the Cultural Policy Hub at OCAD University and consults for several other organizations.

Previous executive positions include Chief of Staff to the federal Minister of Sport and Economic Development Agency for the regions of Quebec, Chief Strategy Officer at the Canada Media Fund (CMF), Senior Policy Advisor to the Minister of Canadian Heritage, and Director of Policy, Planning and Strategic Foresight at the Canada Council for the Arts.

In each role, Kelly led national policy renewals that transformed the sector and brought significant new resources to its work. She is a passionate advocate for equity and inclusion, and a builder of diverse teams in which each member is supported to succeed and affect change. Kelly is a graduate of Queen's University in English literature and art history, and has a Master's degree in Museum Studies from the University of Toronto.

Samuel La France

Manager

Samuel La France (they/them) is an arts worker and writer based in Toronto, Canada. They currently work as the Manager, Cultural Policy Hub at OCAD University. Prior to joining OCADU, Samuel held the positions of Executive Director at Images Festival and Manager of TIFF Cinematheque.

They have served on several boards, working groups, and advisory committees, including with CFMDC, Pleasure Dome, Telefilm Canada, the Independent Media Arts Alliance, and the Ontario Arts Council. Their critical writing on film has been published by Cinema Scope, cléo: a feminist film journal, M.I.C.E., and Canyon Cinema, among other publications.

Alycia Shanika

Policy Advisor

Alycia Shanika MSc, BCom (she/her/they) is a cultural planner, strategist, engagement specialist and artist. Prior to joining the Hub, Alycia created a publication titled 'Future Diasporas: Culture, Art, Identity, & Space' and co-led an experiential learning program for secondary-school youth called Engage Design Build. She currently serves as a Steering Committee member of the Community & Cultural Space Trust (CCST) and previously held positions with Monumental Projects, the School of Cities, CP Planning, 8 80 Cities and Artscape.

Danielle Pierre

Graduate Research Assistant

Danielle Pierre, MDes, PGCert, BA (she/they), is an experienced research and policy advisor with a passion for enhancing public services through participatory and data-driven insights. Currently, Danielle contributes to the Hub’s Policy Watch Briefs, bringing expertise in information gathering, public policy, program evaluation and future studies.

Danielle applies their skills to enterprise-wide programs, projects and initiatives, having supported the monitoring of key performance indicators and organizational learning among Ontario’s colleges and universities, within York University’s Division of Students and now at Policy Horizons Canada. Danielle is a Master of Design candidate in the Strategic Foresight and Innovation program at OCAD University.

Beyond their professional work, Danielle is committed to community engagement, regularly volunteering to design and deliver professional development training and advice for various professional associations and committees.