Board of Directors

Photo credit: Risa Payant

“We are small but mighty here. We need to work together, across disciplines, to share resources - not just tangible resources like space but knowledge and networks - and keep pointing out how the arts make this a better place to be, a richer life, a stronger community.”

— Former Board Chair, Yvette Nolan —

CHAIR OF THE BOARD
TAIWO AFOLABI

Taiwo (he/him) is an Assistant Professor at the University of Regina. He is an applied theatre practitioner with a decade of experience working across a variety of creative and community contexts in over a dozen countries across four continents. He is the founding artistic director of Theatre Emissary International, Nigeria and a research associate at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa. Before joining the University of Regina, he served as Manager of Community and Artist Connections at the Belfry Theatre, Victoria. Taiwo has been with Common Weal since 2021.

TREASURER
CARLI DOWN

Carli (she/her/they) is Director of Operations with Prairie Harm Reduction (PHR) and has been working with the agency for over four years. She started her role as Peer Coordinator, a role that continues to mean alot to her because it upheld people or humanness first. As Director of Operations some of the things she is involved in are program design and implementation, policy, knowledge holder as a person with living experience, research initiatives, community initiatives, administration, human resources and finances. Carli upholds the strength of living experiences as primary, but also has a BA hons in Sociology from the University of Saskatchewan in 2006. Carli lives on Treaty 6 land where she spends a lot of their free time in nature with her heart and companion, Drift. Carli has been with Common Weal since 2022.

SECRETARY
SONIA STANGER

Sonia (she/her) is a student and writer living and working on Treaty 4 territory. After spending most of her 20s working as an arts administrator with Regina’s Globe Theatre, Sonia is excited to be embarking on a new scholarly adventure and continuing her post-secondary education in the field of psychology. Sonia holds a Bachelor of Arts Honours in English from the University of Regina and is grateful to have worked and volunteered with amazing community organizations like Regina Folk Festival, the Saskatchewan Council for International Cooperation, and the Regina Public Interest Research Group. She is passionate about intersectional social justice, mental health, and great books. Sonia can regularly be heard filling the role of gleeful queer/fat/feminist killjoy on 91.3 FM CJTR - Regina Community Radio, where she co-hosts Spoiler Alert, a weekly comedy show about film. Sonia has been with Common Weal since 2020.

MEMBER-AT-LARGE
ALANA MOORE

Alana (she/her) is a white settler-Saskatoon-based visual artist and arts organizer. Her work investigates vulnerability and how to create shared meaning with participatory projects using dialogue, process, printmaking, design, and often non-object-based outcomes. Currently, Alana works as an artist at Sherbrooke Community Centre, a long-term care home and is a youth mentor with Future Artistic Minds (FAM), an Indigenous-founded and youth-led artist collective. Alana's work focuses on facilitating opportunities for the artistic expression of people typically structurally excluded, such as Indigenous youth, those with dementia, physical and cognitive disabilities, and mental health patients. As an emerging artist, she has a growing body of group exhibitions and experience in art education, arts administration and curatorial projects. Alana has been with Common Weal since 2023.

MEMBER-AT-LARGE
LARA BONOKOSKI

Lara (she/her) is a lawyer with Legal Aid Saskatchewan in the Regina City Office. Prior to entering a career in law, Lara worked for a number of years in the community development field, primarily as the Director of Community Initiatives at the YMCA of Regina. Lara has developed and supported numerous projects in the areas of housing, education, and employment. Lara has an undergraduate degree from the University of Regina in Gender studies. She lives in Regina with her child, Miles. Lara has been with Common Weal since 2020.

MEMBER-AT-LARGE
TENIELLE BOGDAN

Tenielle Bogdan (she/her), born and raised in Regina SK, is a passionate professional with a keen interest in working with partnership-focused organizations. In her current role with the Saskatchewan Science Centre as their Director of Development and Stewardship, she is responsible for maintaining, growing, and seeking partnerships that align with the organization’s mission to ensure sustainability for years to come. Tenielle has a background in the tourism sector, along with a short stint in the tech/cyber industry, but has always been a part of projects/initiatives that are built on engagement and relationships. Tenielle lives in Regina with her partner, Mike, and their cat, Minestrone. Tenielle has been with Common Weal since 2023.

Common Weal Membership is made up of the Board of Directors, which has a minimum of four and maximum of ten members. The Executive consists of a Chair, Vice Chair, Treasurer, and Secretary. The board is committed to a governance model as outlined in the following statement:

The Board will govern with an emphasis on outward vision rather than an internal preoccupation, commitment to obtaining community input, encouragement and diversity in viewpoints, strategic leadership more than administrative detail, clear distinction of Board and Executive Director role, collective rather than individual decisions, future rather than past or present, and proactivity rather than reactivity.

Each member of the board also sits on a minimum of one of six committees (Communications and Marketing, Finance, Fund Development, Nominations, Personnel, Policy and Planning). Committees support the work of the staff and are governed by each committee’s Terms of Reference.

Interested in joining our board? Please contact Executive Director Danielle Richardson.