STAFF

Fiona Kerr (she/her)
Interim Operations Manager
fiona@halifaxpride.com

Fiona began working with Halifax Pride in 2017 as Logistics Coordinator, eventually moving into the Operations Manager role, before her departure in 2022. She spent her time away from Pride working with Events East Group. Fiona grew up on Cape Breton Island, before moving to Halifax in 2014, where she began working in events as a student at Saint Mary’s University. She is enthusiastic about creating events that are community based and accessible. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her orange cat Gildy and making friendship bracelets.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Adam Reid (he/him)
Board Chair
adam@halifaxpride.com

Adam is a community organizer, proud queer east coaster, and the former Executive Director of the Halifax Pride Society. He has a Bachelor's Degree in Theatre Studies from Acadia University and a Diploma in Cultural Administration from HEC Montreal. As Festival Director of the Queer Acts Theatre Festival, he presented local and national queer identified performing artists in the HRM. With fifteen years experience as a cultural administrator, he worked with such organizations as the FIN Atlantic International Film Festival, the 2011 Canada Winter Games, and Eastern Front Theatre. He is passionate about employing culture and event celebration to create and build 2SLGBTQIA+ community cohesion. Currently Adam works for the Nova Scotia Department of Labour, Skills and Immigration supporting the planning of international and domestic recruitment events, and he has recently returned to Halifax Pride, now serving as Board Chair.

Carmel Farahbakhsh (they/them)
Board Vice Chair
carmel@halifaxpride.com

Carmel Farahbakhsh is a community educator, arts maker, and youth worker. They have collaborated on the Khyber Centre for the Arts board for five years, and hold a position as co-director of local music festival EVERYSEEKER. In 2020, they transitioned from a five-year term coordinating South House Sexual and Gender Resource Centre to working as the Executive Director at the Youth Project, seeing a direct link between this community work and access to creative spaces and the arts community. As the Executive Director of the Youth Project, Carmel holds a youth-centric approach to organizational movement and support. Carmel builds their vision from their community education background and aims to apply an anti-racist and trauma-informed framework to their work. They also collaborate and organize with local initiatives, artist-run-centres, and community partners with an aim to create wider 2SQTBIPOC community and support systems within the province.

Hayden O’Malley (they/them)
Board Secretary, Sponsorship Manager
hayden@halifaxpride.com

Hayden is a queer/trans deaf & disabled person hailing from Spryfield, Nova Scotia/Etu'panuek, Mi’kma’ki. They work at the NS Youth Project as their Gender Affirming Items Coordinator. They previously worked for three summers at Halifax Pride, and are excited to transition into a board role at the organization and help it grow further. In their personal life, they love bad horror movies, sharks, and drinking a little too much coffee.

Connor McKiggan (he/they)
Board Treasurer
treasurer@halifaxpride.com

Ignited by their passion for the queer community, Connor has worked to create safer spaces for 2SLGBTQI+ people and support queer entrepreneurs through his work as the Business Development Manager for Rainbow Registered at the Canadian 2SLGBTQI+ Chamber of Commerce. Connor lives in Kjipuktuk, loves chocolate chip cookies and is
obsessed with Selling Sunsets and Tabitha Takes Over.

Sara Graham (she/they)

Sara is a deaf and disabled comedian, activist, improviser, and Executive Director of the Halifax Fringe Festival. Sara uses her work to advocate for wholeness in accessibility. Sara’s goal is to create art and spaces that acknowledge and address the need for inclusivity and accessibility for all. Sara graduated from Dalhousie University with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and minor in Gender and Women’s studies. Sara has worked with several theatre companies throughout Kjipuktuk, and has facilitated and presented on the subjects of Accessibility and Inclusion with local non-profits. Sara takes an intersectional approach to their advocacy. Through her work Sara hopes to create theatre, art, and creative spaces that are radically accessible.

Mark Monk (he/him)

Active in the Pride Movement locally, nationally, and internationally along with serving in other community-minded initiatives that focus on inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility (IDEA)

Mo Phung (they/them)

Mo is a queer and trans artist based in Kjipuktuk (Halifax). Born in Kespukwitk (Yarmouth), they hold a complex institutional and creative background in Marine Biology, Ocean Technology, visual arts, and photography. They currently work as an Alchemist of Ancestral Services at Future Ancestors Services Inc., a professional services social enterprise that advances climate justice and systemic barrier removal with lenses of anti-racism and ancestral accountability. Their creative work processes extend into documentary portraiture, archival exploration, underwater realms and dreamscapes.

Kay Macdonald (they/them)

Kay Macdonald was born and raised in Halifax, NS. Kay is proudly African Nova Scotian. They studied Performance Acting at Ryerson University in Toronto, ON. Out of their desire to make a change they Founded and Co Created The Magic Project, which focuses on bringing marginalized brilliance to the forefront of social media using the arts. Kay is also a Community Facilitator and Youth Programmer. They hopes to continue creating workshops, holding space for community discussions and empowering youth through celebration.

Jenn Waugh (they/them)

Jenn is a settler who moved to Canada in 2018 after growing up in Brunei and the UAE. Since moving, Jenn has been heavily involved with the HRM's queer community, particularly in arts-based (and hopefully fun!) programming for youth. Jenn is also completing a degree in Social Justice and Community Studies at Saint Mary's University. Their academic and personal interests concern the role(s) that volunteerism plays in the non-profit context, and how we can use that knowledge to build safer, kinder spaces for queer folks in Halifax. Jenn loves Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022) and believes that knitting socks toe-up (with a wool-nylon blend) is the way forward in this world.

Scott Gillard (he/him)

Scott is a proud LGBTQI+ business owner based in Halifax, he is originally from Cape Breton. He has had a varied career including non-profit work with youth at risk and on environmental issues and in communications and marketing for over 20 years. Scott is politically inclined with activist roots and both work and volunteer experience in government and with political parties.

Tova Cranford (she/her)