CoastArts Board of Directors
The Board of Directors is the governing body of the CoastArts Association, an umbrella organization that includes both the Ross Creek Centre for the Arts and Two Planks and a Passion Theatre. The Board provides leadership and strategic direction while delegating our trust and confidence in operating the organization to
the senior officers (Artistic Director, Executive Director and Managing Director). The board also includes two standing committees (Finance and Governance) which offer focussed oversight and specific advice to management.
The board is governed by our mission, giving voice through the arts, and operates according to this statement of principle:
CoastArts is the umbrella for both The Ross Creek Centre for the Arts and Two Planks and a Passion Theatre, and is dedicated to life-long learning in and through the arts.
We affirm that as a board and membership dedicated to this Organization, which seeks to unite people and communities through cultural expression, creativity, and education, we have a heightened responsibility to hold ourselves accountable to our community.
We commit to listening, learning, and acting for reconciliation, equity, justice, and freedom in our work as stewards of the CoastArts Association. This includes a specific commitment (but is not limited to) to anti-racism, Indigenous reconciliation, and climate action.
Further, we commit to engaging our community and each other with a joyful spirit of collaboration to continue to build and maintain a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive organization.
Our decisions and actions as a board and membership will be guided by and made in reference to this statement.
Accepted at the AGM, 2021
Current Board Members (listed alphabetically)

Lakishma Bailey
Lakishma is a career banker in the financial industry for over 15 years with experience in the Caribbean and Canada. Lakishma’s experience spans across industries including Not-For-Profit. She is currently employed to RBC in the position of Regional Enablement Coach, Business Markets -Atlantic. Prior to this role she was a Commercial Account Manager managing Retail and Not-For-Profit portfolios. Lakishma also has people leadership experience from her time in the Caribbean holding roles such as Branch Manager and General Manager. Community engagement is very important to her and so Lakishma also volunteers with Immigrant Services Nova Scotia providing career mentorship to newcomers. As it relates to her education background, she has an MBA from Warwick Business School in the UK. Based on her diverse background she is able to provide a unique perspective drawing references to life experience personal and professional. Family is very important to Lakishma and so when not working, her time is spent primarily with her family and friends. She also loves the outdoors and enjoys capturing precious memories through her camera lens.

Andrew Barnard
Andrew is a long-time supporter of the arts and has had ties to Ross Creek and Two Planks and a Passion Theatre for over ten years. Since graduating with a Bachelor of Business Administration from Acadia University in 2014, Andrew obtained his Chartered Professional Accountant in 2017 and has over 6 years of professional experience. Andrew enthusiastically joined the board in May 2021 and is keen to assist in all aspects of the organization, from fundraising, corporate governance, and furthering the community impact of all programs. Andrew currently resides in Halifax.

Brenda J. Gainer

Sheri Hancock Tomek

Peter Hicklenton

Christina V. Macdonald
Christina joined the board as secretary in April 2019. Christina is a partner at Kimball Law in Wolfville, where she has practiced primarily civil litigation since being called to the Nova Scotia bar in 2018. She is a graduate of the University of King’s College and Dalhousie University’s Schulich School of Law. While in law school, she coordinated the Weldon Literary Moot, a theatrical annual fundraiser for Halifax Humanities 101 in which students and lawyers stage a mock trial based on a book or play. Before law school, Christina worked in fund development and academic administration, and enjoyed supporting Halifax’s vibrant community of emerging theatre artists as a stage manager for several productions. She previously served on the board of the Bus Stop Theatre Co-op in Halifax. Originally from Fall River, she’s now pleased to call the Annapolis Valley home. She enjoys visiting the region’s excellent cideries and singing in a local choir, though not always in that order.

Chaiti Seth
Chaiti Seth is a mother, farmer, researcher, and experiential educator from India currently living in Mi’kma’ki (Nova Scotia). She is a faculty member with the Department of Community Development at Acadia University and learns, writes, and teaches about sustainable food systems and the inner work and community practice of healing for equity and social change. Chaiti has a Masters in Community Development from Acadia University as well a Bachelor’s of Geography and Environment from the London School of Economics which she completed remotely while living and learning from incredible grassroots organizations doing ecological conservation, educational, social justice, and advocacy work including the Gurukula Botanical Sanctuary and the Centre for Learning in southern India and Maati Sangathan and Himal Prakriti in the Indian Himalaya. She currently lives with her partner and two wild and incredible children as part of Lorax Woodlands, an intentional community on south mountain above Sikunme’katik (the Gaspereau river).

Elisha Sidlar-Monroe
