JOB DESCRIPTION
Zee Zee’s role in the theatre community is to bridge the gap between queer and mainstream theatre and to cross-pollinate with non-theatre communities by engaging them in non-theatre settings. This becomes a platform to discuss the kind of work we do and usher in a new generation of theatre patron.
In our second decade, we are in need of supportive, passionate arts advocates who believe in and value the work we do at Zee Zee and can thereby offer advice as well as assistance with publicity, outreach for new audience members and finally fundraising outreach to new donor/ sponsorship opportunities. Given Zee Zee’s stage of development, with a small, part time paid staff, we are a working board with members contributing actively with their skills and time. The ideal board member would have the time and be willing to be a part of building the society both at the logistical as well as ideological levels.
Though Zee Zee has achieved some limited but stable government funding, we need to rely on the support of our community to keep us growing and developing both artistically as well as structurally.
- Attend a minimum of 4 board meetings a year and actively contribute to virtual work of the board in between meetings
- Actively contribute to the work of at least one committee and attend committee meetings
- Attend main stage show min. twice: opening night & 1 other performance with 1 new audience member
- If comfortable, give one pre-show introduction during run of main stage show
- Attend readings and special events, (max 3 per year), bringing 1 new audience member
- Offer advice and support via email with Artistic and Executive Director
- General promotional support in so far as social media & email reminders to personal networks
- Soliciting donations & sponsorship through personal networks with guidance from fundraising committee
- Donate to Zee Zee with a financial gift that is in your top 3 annual gifts and significant within your means
- A maximum of two, three-year terms of service
- Annual self evaluation with President and Artistic and Executive Director prior to AGM
- Fulfill the job descriptions of the positions they hold on the board
- Bring forth 3 candidates over the course of your term with the goal of replacing yourself
Board members will receive four complimentary tickets to all Zee Zee productions for you and your guests. As well as acknowledgement in show programs and on our website.
Please email us at info@zeezeetheatre.ca to express your interest.
BOARD MEMBERS
Amina Chergui (she/her)
Amina Cherguiis a queer settler of Kabyle Algerian and Portuguese descent, born and raised on the unceded territories of the lək̓ʷəŋən and W̱SÁNEĆ peoples. She currently serves as the Education Coordinator at the Museum of Anthropology at UBC, where her role encompasses the development and delivery of school programming, public programming, and the museum’s mobile app. Amina holds a Master’s degree in Museum Education from the University of British Columbia. Her graduating project explored the pedagogical potential of engaging youth in virtual reality-based storytelling with digital museum assets. Amina firmly believes in the transformative power of art and is passionate about connecting folks of all ages to arts and culture.
Derek Brown (he/him)
Derek Brown is a communications professional-slash-actor who freelanced for DailyXtra during the peak of Black Lives Matter activity in Canada, and was honoured to lead the publication’s editorial mission of learning from the marginalized people who ultimately shifted the dialogue that continues to evolve around inclusivity in 2SLGBTQIA+ Pride celebrations in Vancouver, across Canada, and the world. He now works for BC Housing where he is a member of the Pride Employee Resource Group, focuses on voice acting for creative fulfilment, and volunteers with the Health Initiative for Men. Derek was a “Mean Teen Queen” performer at Apocalypstick – as his drag persona, Betty Swallows – and has previously volunteered with Out on Screen, the Queer Arts Festival, Out for Laughs, A Loving Spoonful, and others.
Chris Seymour (he/him)
Chris is a gay software developer and film buff, who has recently returned to Vancouver after a decade in the US. Previously he dj’d queer events around town under the moniker DJ Robo Santa, including regular performances at Apocalypstick and Queer Bash. He also volunteered for years at Out on Screen. Chris has a lifelong love of theatre, instilled by trips to musicals with family and community theatre performances at school.
Isaac Eamer (he/ him)
Isaac identifies as a biracial (Ojibwe/White) gay male. He has spent years of his life working as a Flight Attendant, exploring the world and other cultures. He has been lucky enough to experience moments of joy and hardships with people from all over the globe. Educating himself and growing from the wisdom learnt from various customs and traditions he’s had the pleasure of taking a part in. He has always been passionate about the arts and while resisting at first, he eventually found a path that led him to attending and graduating from Toronto Film School. Isaac is stoked to be part of Zee Zee Theatre as it offers him another opportunity to join the world of art, something that has been missing over the last few years.
Issaku Inami (he/him)
Born in Okinawa (Rykyu) under US occupation, Isaaku is a Queer Activist who devotes his time and energy to volunteering for multiple organizations he believes passionately in. In addition to Zee Zee, he volunteers with the Museum of Anthropology at UBC, as a member of the public-facing education + gallery host committees and President (2021-22). He is a board member, Vice-President of the Queer Arts Festival/Pride in Art Society, and Pacific Spirit Park Society where he was a part of the Camosun Bog Restoration Group for over 16 years. He uses his energy to subvert settler-colonialism from a gender non-conforming and environmentalist perspective.
Jackie Haywood (she/her)
Jackie is committed to being actively connected to community within a queer arts spectrum, never drifting far from her theatre and activism roots. She was active in the beginnings of the women’s movement in US. National rep for Media Watch, Canada, as women’s advocate, public speaker, activist and fundraiser. Writer, producer, performed across Canada as lesbian comedy character, Lovie Sizzle. Thirty-plus years employed in leadership roles in HIV/AIDS front-line activism and support. Retreat team creator and facilitator of peer support teams. Founding member, Positive Women’s Network. Published short-story writer, Sole Brothers, Queer View Mirror, Coin Operator, Getting Wet anthology. Oral History Project, In My Day, interviewer and interviewee. Contributing member of creative team supporting In My Day verbatim play, playwright Rick Waines, produced by Zee Zee Theatre. Co-curator Cultch Gallery Exhibition, month of December, 2022. Presently working with a small group of queer writers, artists and activists exploring a dialogue exchange platform to enhance older queer community connections through provocative arts and conversation.
Jay Pahre (he/him)
Jay is a queer and trans settler artist, writer, and cultural worker currently based on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, and səlilwətaɬ peoples. His work engages trans and queer ecologies, interspecies collaboration, and place in the context of settler colonialism. He has attended residencies at the Western Front, Banff Centre and Isle Royale National Park. His work has been exhibited across the US and Canada at traditional galleries and community spaces, and his writing has been published in academic journals and comic anthologies.
JJ Scott (she/her)
A competitive Gemini, JJ loves ice cream and a balanced cheque book. Not a fan of spicy food, but is a fan of Spice Girls. She is an Ontario transplant, don’t hold it against her, who enjoys T Accounts and is really just happy to be here. JJ served on Zee Zee’s board for two terms including acting as Board President for three years, she took a year off and is back for an unprecedented third term! She is so excited to be back and really just wants another going away party with all the diet coke in three years.
Kyra Philbert (she/her)
J. Kyra Philbert is an artist, registered nurse and scholar living, working and playing on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm, Skwxwú7mesh, and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh nations. She is a biracial (black/white), queer, ciswoman, able bodied and settler, who is passionate about health and social justice. Her MSN research, « Nurse Angélique » interrogated the ethics of social justice within contemporary Canadian nursing practice. An element of this exploration involved the creation of a 12 minute long drag-burlesque performance reimagining the historical figure of Marie-Joseph Angélique as modern nurse.
Sashka Djordjevic (she/her)
Sashka is a queer birder, a lawyer, and a settler to Canada. She has previously worked for a regional human rights organization in Belgrade, Serbia called Youth Initiative for Human Rights and interned at the UN International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia. She received her Master of Laws from UBC where she researched international human rights laws and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity expression (SOGIE) in the post-conflict societies of the Balkans. Sashka has previously served on the board of directors of the Rainbow Foundation of Hope. She is passionate about the arts and the power of arts to create social change and is excited to be joining the Zee Zee Theatre. Sashka spends most of her free time photographing birds in Stanley Park.