2021 Annual General Meeting

Vancouver Folk Music Festival Standing Committees

• Executive Committee Coordinate the meetings and activities of the Board of Directors.

• Finance Committee Oversee effective and efficient financial planning and management.

• Fundraising Committee Engage appropriate individuals and organizations for financial support of the society.

• Governance Committee Review and implement society and Board policy.

• I.D.E.A. Committee Aspires to ensure the festival is a place of inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility.

• Personnel Committee Ensure a healthy work environment and culture for those engaged in society activities.

We actively invite members to come work with us, if you are interested in participating in one of the committees (other than the Executive or Personnel Committee), please contact: board@thefestival.bc.ca.

2021 AGM - Board Candidate Biographies 

Derek Bird
A dedicated woodturner and sailor, I am a passionate music lover and the more live the better. I was fortunate to spend 30 years bringing great new and established artists and their music to audiences on CBC Radio and Television. A longtime multiple festival goer and volunteer, I joined the VFMF board in early 2018. Now as a Music and Event Producer, Broadcaster and Engineer, I work with festivals and other non-profit projects in my communities, recently developing new Children's Television programming.

Lindsay Chen
Lindsay is born and raised in Vancouver and is thankful to live where both the ocean and mountains are in her backyard. She is an avid live music fan and feels that summer is never complete without a weekend under the sun at the Festival. Her professional experience includes over 15 years of live and digital event management and production as well as over eight years in various marketing roles. She began her career in the charity sector providing her with experience that covers fundraising, sponsorship, volunteer management and community engagement. Currently she is a Marketing Manager at Deloitte. Outside of work, Lindsay dedicates time to various volunteer opportunities including her current position as a Director on the Firehall Arts Centre Board. She has also previously served as a Director on the Boards of the WISH Drop-In Centre and the Starlight Children’s Foundation. In her free time she enjoys spending time outdoors with her partner and rescue dog, Bowie, testing out new recipes and cross stitching.

Karen Cooper
Karen has attended the Festival for about the last 15 years, and joined the board in 2017, where she’s been involved with Governance, and now HR and Fundraising. She has experience serving on non-profit boards, and has served in management of a non-profit society. She loved the Festival from her very first time, when her first ever workshop was one of those unique VFMF experiences, with a group from Sicily and some Mongolian rockers! She wants to contribute her time on the board to extending and strengthening the long history of the Festival as a community of souls who love music, musicians, and the community around them.

FiL Hemming
The Festival is dear to me.  I love the music, the community, and the magic.  I have volunteered wearing a Security Committee yellow t-shirt since 2007 and I have led that Committee since 2014.  I also have broad skills developed over 25 years as a risk manager, most recently in the cooperative credit union sector.  I understand finance and have been involved in strategic, organizational, and operational planning.  I have managed and developed people for most of my career.  I have set up governance structures and written policies to ensure organizational clarity and accountability.  I have also worked extensively both with boards of directors and with government regulators.  If elected, I will strive to ensure that the Festival remains a sustainable, vibrant part of the entire Vancouver community in all of its diversity.  I promise to work hard and to listen to all voices.

Virginia Hong
Virginia is an avid music fan and has been attending the Vancouver Folk Music Festival with her daughter for eight of the last ten years after moving to Vancouver. With over 20 years of working experience in the non-profit and charitable sectors, she has held a variety of roles in volunteer management, marketing and sponsorship and fundraising in a variety of organizations. Currently, as the Senior Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations at the University of British Columbia, Virginia leads a small but mighty team of fundraising professionals who oversee the complex and multi-interest relationships of some of the University’s most generous donors. Virginia loves the community she lives in and has volunteered in a number of local initiatives and with her daughter’s school community. She hopes to use her work and education background to help strengthen this festival to ensure that future generations will be able to experience the magic and spirit of the Vancouver Folk Music Festival. Virginia holds a Bachelor of Business Management (BBA) with a minor in Non-Profit Studies from Mount Royal University (Calgary) and an Executive Masters of Business Administration (MBA) from Simon Fraser University.

Len Zapalowski
My working career has been in entrepreneurial technology in North American, Europe and Asia. The areas I focussed on were marketing, sales, business development and finance. I have served on public, private and non-profit boards.  I’ve had a lifelong passion for music and experienced how it binds people together in many ways in many places around the world. The VFMF is a jewel in the crown of Vancouver. On the board, I would apply my business skills to ensure a healthy future for the VFMF and assist the VFMF to continue to embrace our growing and diverse city.

Mark Zuberbuhler
I have many years of volunteering in the non-profit sector and in executive leadership roles. I spent six years with the Alzheimer Society of British Columbia, as a Board Director, and a member of the Finance and Governance Committees.  I have also been Pacifica Treatment Centre Board President and Interim CEO. Currently I am the Executive Director of Pioneer Community Living Association, and also Board Director for Open Door Ventures. I have a great love and appreciation for music, and it has played a major role in my life. I had the pleasure to be involved in the rock music industry as a lighting director and band accountant and I spent many years producing and directing television broadcasts of musical performances.  In the 1990s I was President of the Board of Directors for the Ness Creek Music Festival in Saskatchewan. I very much enjoyed Ness Creek, just as I have enjoyed regularly attending the Vancouver Folk Music Festival. I feel they share a similar welcoming atmosphere and goal of bringing together diverse music and community.