Jeanne LeSage Joins DeVos Institute as Senior Consultant

April 15, 2016

Jeanne LeSage, an arts manager with extensive international experience leading cultural organizations during periods of organizational growth and change, has joined the DeVos Institute of Arts Management as a senior consultant.

Ms. LeSage, principal of LeSage Arts Management, will support the DeVos Institute’s consulting engagements and capacity building programs throughout the United states and around the world. She began working with the Institute in late March 2016.

After graduating from the University of Toronto, Ms. LeSage’s first career was in stage management, which brought her to theatres across Canada and the United Kingdom. Ms. LeSage then transitioned into management roles at the world renowned Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) at a time of rapid growth and change in the organization, working first in Theatre Operations, then building TIFF’s first human resources department and facilitating the senior team’s development of a new organizational structure for their capital project TIFF Bell Lightbox.

After completing the nine-month DeVos Institute of Arts Management Fellowship in 2009, Ms. LeSage undertook a series of international executive engagements including Managing Producer for the Abu Dhabi Film Festival in the United Arab Emirates, Deputy Interim CEO for the Royal Opera House Muscat in Oman (on behalf of the DeVos Institute), and project work for NGO FilmAid in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.  

Upon her return to Canada, Ms. LeSage was Executive Director of the Kay Meek Centre, a performing arts centre in West Vancouver, which boasts two theatres, a multidisciplinary presenting season, a highly regarded Musical Theatre Youth Conservatory, and partnerships with local school district youth and community arts groups.

Ms. LeSage has been active in arts management training and capacity building. She has served as a committee member, trainer, and guest speaker for such organizations as SFU Cultural Unit, Schulich School of Business (Arts & Media), Rotman School of Business, Zayed University Abu Dhabi, Cultural Careers Council of Ontario, Ontario Association of Art Galleries, the Arts Management program at the University of Toronto Scarborough, and Cultural Human Resources Council. She has also served as Board President for Toronto's Volcano Theatre, an internationally renowned and award-winning experimental theatre company, and Vice President of the Board for S.M.Arts: Stage Managing the Arts in Canada.

Ms. LeSage is a Certified Human Resources Practitioner and is currently earning her MBA at Royal Roads University.