Lorna Day was the Director of Urban Design for the City of Toronto from 2017 to 2021, and began her career as an architect. Over the past 30 years she has worked in urban design, community planning, and transportation planning and has always maintained a deep love for the many physical, cultural and historic layers of Toronto. Lorna has been named a ULI Woman of Influence and her work has been recognized through numerous planning awards from the Canadian Institute of Planners, the Ontario Professional Planning Institute, the Institute of Transportation Engineers, the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada and the Toronto Urban Design Awards. She is currently Chair of the Toronto Music Experience Board of Directors.
Derek Andrews is a veteran concert and festival promoter based in Toronto. He provides management consulting services for a variety of Canadian independent folk, jazz, blues and world music artists — locally, nationally and internationally. Derek worked for the Luminato Festival as a Music Curator and was a longtime Music Programmer at the Harbourfront Centre.
A long-time figure in the Canadian Music Industry, Kim Cooke is currently a partner/co-owner of Revolution Recording, Canada’s pre-eminent recording studio. Kim is a past Board member of the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, a member of the Board of Governors of Massey Hall/Roy Thomson Hall Corporation, and was Co-Chair – Nominating & Voting for CARAS and The JUNO Awards for two decades. He was also a founding Board member of the Polaris Music Prize. As founding General Manager of MapleMusic Recordings, Kim signed and helped develop the careers of Sam Roberts, Kathleen Edwards, Joel Plaskett, The Dears, Martha Wainwright, Pilate and more. Previous to that, Kim spent 24 years with Warner Music Canada, rising to Senior VP/General Manager, U.S. Labels. In the A&R chair at Warner he signed Sarah Slean, Great Big Sea, Big Wreck, Colin James, Odds and more.
Mark is a successful business and community leader for more than 35 years. Having worked for some of the top 50 corporations in North America and has brought valuable knowledge and experience to work he does in the public sector over the last 20 years in municipalities across Canada.
He is an active champion of cities and the health of communities being a City Builder, Urbanist, Place Making Specialist with a keen interest in the Nighttime Economy and the application of Arts and Culture, specifically Music, as a key economic driver for communities.
Mark is a driving force in music-related initiatives, delivering numerous aspects of “Music City Strategies”, directly engaged and supported the work of CLMA (Canadian Live Music Association), worked with Municipal Music offices across Canada, while championing numerous organizations within the Canadian music sector.
His accomplishments include arranging heritage plaques and walking tours around downtown Toronto’s historical music sites; activating live music led by the “Play the Parks” program designed to support Artist and Audience development, now in its 14th year.
He has commissioned two 22-storey high murals celebrating Toronto’s musical legends; he is the producer of videos telling the stories of legendary venues like The Colonial Tavern; which includes the satellite Friar’s Music Museum. A permanent display in the Shoppers Drug Mart south of Yonge-Dundas Square, an iconic building that housed the Hard Rock Cafe and famed nightclubs “The Friar’s” and “The Nickelodeon”.
All this community work and passion was recognized by Music Canada, as Mark received the first “Presidents” award for his contributions to the Toronto Music scene.
Elaine Bomberry is Anishinaabe and Cayuga, from Six Nations of the Grand River Territory. Throughout her 40-year career working primarily freelance in Indigenous Performing Arts, she has worn many hats as an Artist agent (All Nations Talent Group), general manager, curator, publicist, promoter, writer, emcee, keynote speaker, panelist, host and producer for TV and radio and has emerged as a lyricist. She helped create the `Best Music of Aboriginal Canada’ recording category for the JUNO Awards in 1993 and was the first Chairperson. She created the Rez Bluez showcase with the Toronto Blues Society, then self-produced it for the next 12 years at the Silver Dollar Room, then brought it to TV as a variety show on the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) and Bravo. Elaine won awards for Rez BluezTV, and for her 3-hour radio documentary series ‘The Aboriginal Music Experience’. She served on various Boards of Directors including: CKRZ-FM; Canadian Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, Toronto Blues Society; 2 Rivers Remix Festival Society, TME, among others.
Del Cowie is a Canadian producer whose work explores the intersections of storytelling, music and popular culture. His extensive experience spans music journalism, editorial and television production with credits spanning documentary, podcasts and major Canadian cultural programming. His production and story credits include the 2025 Juno Awards and the Netflix docuseries Hip Hop Evolution and This Is Pop. Cowie has served as a Polaris Music Prize juror for two decades, acquired and edited national bestselling music books for Invisible Books and held editorial and producing roles with Exclaim! and CBC Music. Additionally, Cowie is the author of the forthcoming 2027 ECW Press music book This Is a Throwdown.
Mike French is President and CEO of TD Group US Holdings, where he oversees governance, risk management, and control effectiveness across TD’s Combined U.S. Operations. Mike has held a number of senior leadership positions at TD, including Deputy Head of Finance, Head of Real Estate Lending, CFO of Canadian Retail, Global Chief Auditor, and CFO of TD Securities. Prior to joining TD, he was an executive at Manulife Financial and a partner in the Financial Services practice of PwC. Mike has deep board experience, including as the treasurer of the Canadian Opera Company, treasurer of WestPark Health Care Foundation and chair of The Alzheimer’s Society of Toronto. He was also Chair of Symcor Inc, a trusted Canadian leader in payments, fraud prevention and business process automation. Mike is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) and a Fellow of CPA Ontario.
Nicholas Jennings is an author, historian and one of Canada’s most respected music journalists. From 1980 to 2000, he was the music critic and feature writer for Maclean’s magazine. Throughout his career, he has also written extensively for The Globe & Mail, The Toronto Star, eye weekly and Inside Entertainment, reviewing literally thousands of recordings and interviewing and profiling many of the world’s leading artists, from Oscar Peterson, Paul Simon, Mick Jagger and Paul McCartney to Joni Mitchell, Sarah McLachlan, Diana Krall and Shania Twain. Nicholas’ first book, Before the Gold Rush, is considered a seminal work on the Toronto music scene in the 1960s, while his third book, Lightfoot, an acclaimed biography of Gordon Lightfoot, became a national bestseller. Nicholas has worked on numerous music documentaries as a writer, researcher and producer. As an active music heritage preservationist, he is committed to creating a state-of-the-art music museum for Toronto.
Syma Shah is a passionate arts and cultural leader, a city animator, and a cultural placemaker with a commitment to inclusivity and diversity. She is currently the Vice President & Executive Director of Programming at Osmington Inc, where she contributed to the revitalization of Union Station and is responsible for overseeing and delivering Toronto Union’s programming vision. In her role, Syma works with the community to connect with major and grassroots arts and cultural organizations, both in Toronto and internationally, to create continuous contemporary programming in one of Canada’s most iconic buildings.
Stephen Stohn is a founding partner of the entertainment law firm Stohn Hay Cafazzo Heim Finlay LLP, chair of Orange Lounge Recordings, and a director of Toronto Music Experience, the Canadian Retransmission Collective and ISAN Canada. He is Chancellor Emeritus of Trent University.
For nearly twenty years, Stephen served as a director and then chair of the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) and its associated charity, MusiCounts, and as executive producer of The JUNO Awards, Canada’s national music awards. He also co-founded the Songwriters Association of Canada.
Stephen has been a longtime executive producer of the Degrassi television franchise, among several other series. A Member of the Order of Canada, he has been nominated four times for Primetime Emmy Awards, was inducted into the Canadian Music & Broadcast Industry Hall of Fame in 2011, and is a Peabody Award winner. He has received 28 Canadian Screen Award and Gemini Award nominations, winning 14 times. Most recently, Stephen and his wife, Degrassi co-creator Linda Schuyler, received a Star on Canada’s Walk of Fame on behalf of Degrassi.
Earlier in his career, Stephen spent ten years as a partner at McCarthy Tétrault. He is the author of Whatever It Takes: Life Lessons from Degrassi and Elsewhere in the World of Music and Television (Dundurn Press).
Liz West delivers comprehensive breaking news updates to viewers across the GTHA as an afternoon and evening anchor on CP24. She joined the CP24 team in January 2026. West has extensive experience as an anchor, reporter, and producer for numerous major Canadian networks, including CTV News, CHCH, and Citytv. Throughout her career, she has conducted hundreds of interviews with celebrities, newsmakers, royalty, and hometown heroes, bringing audiences compelling stories across news, entertainment, and lifestyle. Previously, West served as the host of “Afternoon Express” on Zoomer Radio. She also appears regularly as an emcee and moderator for events across Canada, engaging audiences ranging from executives to philanthropists. She founded BeWellSpoken, a Toronto-based communication coaching company, helping professionals become clearer, more confident, and more effective public speakers.
